Why British Shorthairs look so plush: origins, coat and standard

A dense coat you could stroke forever, round cheeks and sturdy paws: that's how most people picture a British Shorthair. The look didn't happen by chance. Behind it are centuries of living alongside people, the cat shows of Victorian England and careful work by breeders in the 20th century. Here's where the British Shorthair's famous plushness comes from and what it means for life with one.

From farm mousers to the first cat show

The British Shorthair is one of Europe's oldest breeds. Its distant ancestors are thought to have arrived in Britain with the Romans, then spent centuries on farms, in ports and on city streets, guarding food stores from rodents. Those cats had to be hardy, healthy and able to look after themselves.

In the 19th century, the English began to value cats for more than hunting. In 1871 the artist and devoted cat lover Harrison Weir organised the first major cat show at London's Crystal Palace, and native shorthaired cats were among the entrants. Weir also drew up the first written standards that judges used to assess cats. That was when people started writing down what a “proper” British cat should look like.

Wars and a second birth

The two world wars almost wiped the breed out: in hard times, nobody had much thought to spare for breeding cats. To rebuild numbers, breeders crossed the remaining British cats with Persians and ordinary domestic shorthairs. The Persian ancestry made the breed even rounder, sturdier and more densely coated. Thanks to those Persian ancestors, longhaired kittens occasionally turned up in litters, and they gave rise to the British Longhair, which some associations recognise as a separate breed.

The work paid off. In the 1950s a blue male called Brynbuboo Little Monarch became the first Grand Champion of any breed with the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). Ever since, the blue British Shorthair has been the breed's icon.

The secret of the plush coat

The British Shorthair's coat is short, very dense and springy. It doesn't lie flat against the body but seems to stand up, which is why it feels like plush under your hand. The American association CFA notes that the breed has more hairs per square inch than any other.

There's no single special mutation behind this coat, unlike the folded-ear or curly-coated breeds. The plush texture comes from many genes working together and many generations of selection, with breeders keeping the cats with the densest, springiest coats.

The famous blue colour, on the other hand, has simple genetics. Blue is a “diluted” black, produced by a recessive dilution gene. A kitten will only be blue if it inherits that gene from both parents. Today, depending on the association, the standards recognise dozens of colours: solids, tabbies, smokes, tortoiseshells, bicolours, chinchillas and colourpoints.

Round is the key word

The standards of different associations vary in the details, but they all describe the same cat:

• a large round head with full cheeks;
• a short, broad nose and big round eyes;
• small, rounded ears set wide apart;
• a compact, solid, muscular body with a broad chest;
• short, strong legs and a thick tail with a rounded tip.

Males are usually noticeably bigger and heavier than females, and adult males often develop prominent jowls. The breed matures slowly, reaching full size at around three years old.

Eye colour depends on coat colour: blue, black and cream British Shorthairs have copper or deep orange eyes, silver chinchillas and tabbies often have green eyes, and colourpoints have blue ones.

One important point: the roundness the standard asks for comes from bone, muscle and coat, not fat. A healthy British Shorthair is solid and firm, but you should still be able to feel its ribs easily under the fur.

What it means day to day

The breed's features suggest a few practical rules:

• brush the dense coat weekly, and more often while it's shedding;
• plush fur hides extra weight, so judge your cat's shape with your hands, not your eyes;
• kittens take a long time to grow, so don't overfeed them “to help them grow faster”, and discuss the diet with your vet;
• on hot days, a cat in such a thick coat will appreciate a cool place to rest.

The Persian ancestry in the pedigree is also one reason why some genetic tests matter for British Shorthairs. We cover this in our article “British Shorthair health”.

You'll find more about the breed on the breed page. You can check the site to see whether any kittens of this breed are available right now, and if not, join the waiting list.