British Shorthair

Cobby

Coat

Blue
Solid:
Tortoishell: Blue tortie only.
Tabby: Blue tabby or blue silver tabby in the Classic, Mackerel or Spotted pattern.
Torbie: Blue or blue silver torbie only.
Smoke/Shaded/Chinchilla: Blue or blue tortie smoke only.
White Patterns: Any of the above colours can come with or without in tuxedo, bicolour, harlequin or van pattern.

American
Solid:
Tabby: Brown, red, cream, black silver, red silver and cream silver tabby is accepted in the Classic, Mackerel or Spotted pattern.
Tortoishell: Black tortie only.
Torbie: Black torbie or black silver torbie.
Smoke/Shaded/Chinchilla: Black, red, cream, and black tortie in any pattern, silver base only. Blue and blue tortie silver shaded/chinchilla are accepted. Black golden shaded and black golden chinchilla also permitted.
White Patterns: Any of the above except shaded/chinchilla can come with or without in tuxedo, bicolour, harlequin or van pattern.

European
Solid:
Tabby: Chocolate, lilac, cinnamon or fawn tabby as regular, silver, or golden tabby in any tabby pattern.
Black, red, blue, and cream golden tabby in any tabby pattern.
Black, red, blue, and cream regular and silver tabby in the Ticked tabby pattern.
Tortoishell: Chocolate, lilac, cinnamon or fawn tortie.
Torbie: Chocolate, lilac, cinnamon or fawn torbie as regular, silver, or golden in any tabby pattern.
Black and blue gold torbie in any tabby pattern.
Black and blue regular or silver torbie in the Ticked tabby pattern.
Smoke/Shaded/Chinchilla: Chocolate, lilac, cinnamon or fawn in any of the patterns, silver or gold base. Blue, red, cream, black tortie or blue tortie are accepted as golden shaded/chinchilla.
Colourpoint/Himalayan: Any of the above listed colours/patterns in any of the varieties in the colourpoint pattern.
White Patterns: Any of the above except shaded/chinchilla with or without in tuxedo, bicolour, harlequin or van pattern.

Eyes

Blue

Blue silver tabby and blue silver torbie:
Catz with at least 75% white spotting may have one or two

American

Silver tabbies:
Black and blue silver/golden shaded/chinchilla:
Catz with at least 75% white spotting may have one or two

European

Chocolate, cinnamon, fawn & lilac silver shaded/chinchillas:
Red, cream and all tortie silver shaded/chinchillas:
Golden shaded/chinchillas:
Silver tabbies:
Golden tabbies:
Colourpoint:
Catz with at least 75% white spotting may have one or two

Nose

Matches surrounding coat.

Faults

Wrong nose colour. Wrong eye colour.

Disqualifications

White trim on an otherwise solid cat. This is a gradual DQ and will be fully DQ by January 2020.

Varieties

Blue, American, European

Notes

The British Shorthair is the refined version of Britain’s native shorthaired cat. They are relatively calm cats with quiet voices and a relaxed intelligence. They enjoy living life with all four paws on the ground, and are rarely enthusiastic jumpers or climbers, and often resent being picked up by their owners. Some call them clumsy; most British Shorthair owners soon discover that although their cat may jump when they need to, there is a good reason they avoid it! They are sturdy, dense, quick to purr and cuddly, although stud males especially have been known to vocalize impressively. Described as the Mastiff of the cat world, the British Shorthair can also trace its ancestry back to Rome’s working animals, where they were prized for their physical strength and hunting ability; today, the most they usually hunt for is their food bowls.

Originally known as the British Blue Shorthair, the breed has split into several opposing breed types around the world. Blue remains the classic and dominant colour, particularly in CFA, but many other colours are also accepted. PKC’s varieties reflect the allowed colours based on regional associations: CFA sets the standard for North American populations, with only traditional colours allowed; FIFe and GCCF in contrast allow outcrossing to other breeds to produce a wide range of colours including colourpoint, chocolate, cinnamon, and golden that can all be combined in a spectacular array of colours.

Type & judging remarks
The British Shorthair is a compact, muscular cat while remaining well-balanced and in proportion. Its broad chest, thick tail, round head and short strong legs emphasize its power and strength.

Breed Files

Filename: British Shorthair
Offset: 1023
Base: Persian
SCP: Russian Blue
Accepted: August 30, 2010
Notes: Four addball tail variations.

Filename: Tortie Mix British SH
Offset: 8364
Base: Persian
SCP: Persian
Accepted: December 31, 2005
Notes:

Filename: BritishShortP
Offset: BA93
Base: B + W Shorthair
SCP: B + W Shorthair
Accepted: February 11, 2005
Notes: Includes female and male differences. These traits may be mixed in 2nd gens. Females (shown to the left) are preferred as femimine as possibles, males (shown to the right) as masculine as possible. Includes several furfiles - they are all accepted, and most of them are shown in the picture. The P3 and P4 versions have different SCPs, so may pose with different eyelids.

Filename: SH British Shorthair
Offset: FFF8
Base: Persian
SCP: Persian
Accepted: October 31, 2004
Notes: