British Shorthair cat: Nutrition, character, training and much more about the British Shorthair

By Roswitha Berger

Distinctive features of the British Shorthair are small rounded ears on a round face with large expressive eyes. This gives the cats a childlike appearance. They almost remind of a teddy bear. This is matched by the friendly nature of the animals, which form a close bond with their owner. Unlike other cats, the British are not loners. They love the company of other cats and also make friends with dogs.

The book informs you about the breed's requirements. The book answers questions like:
- Are British Shorthair cats suitable for apartment-only living?
- How time-consuming is the coat care?
- What food does the cat need?
- What do I have to consider, so that my British Shorthair remains healthy?

One thing we would like to reveal already: A British Shorthair has a calm and balanced nature, but it also needs exercise. If you keep it only indoors, you must make sure that she does not lack it.

Contents:
- Breed characteristics
- History of the breed
- Character of the breed
- Demands of the breed
- Healthcare & nutrition
- With illustrations

Become a team with your British Shorthair cat and learn how to handle it with love!

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: Apr 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9783986469283

Book preview

Breed characteristics

Cat clubs and breeding associations define the characteristics that a breed must have and monitor their compliance. The main umbrella organizations that operate internationally are FIFe, WCF and TICA. Accordingly, British Shorthair cats short BKH cats are muscular and powerfully built. Their proportions make them appear childlike even as adult cats. The short stocky legs and the large round paws contribute to this. The round head with the broadly set short ears and the large, expressive eyes underline this effect.

The breed is characterized by a short and dense coat with a firm handle (crisp) and a lot of undercoat. As a result, the coat bounces easily. The cats appear thicker than they actually are.

Typical for BKH cats is the slow development. They are usually fully grown only with 2 years. Males then bring 7 to 8 kg on the scale, cats are somewhat lighter with 4 to 6 kg.

The breed associations recognize more than 50 color variations, which are divided among others into the categories solid colors, bicolor and point (masks). The light beige shades Lilac and Fawn are very popular. However, British Shorthairs are also available in bicolor and tricolor as well as tabby in mackerel, brindle and spotted with a wide variety of color combinations (red, cream, black, white & brown). The eyes of the British Shorthair are mostly orange or copper, in the Siber green eyes predominate, the Points have rather blue eyes.

The British Shorthair cat is an extremely robust cat breed, in which no breed-typical hereditary diseases are known. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) are common diseases in every cat breed. Serious breeders do genetic and ultrasound examinations, respectively, to rule out these diseases. In general, pure white breeders are more susceptible than other color breeds.

Eyes and nose

The breed standard prescribes a short, broad and straight nose with a slight indentation. A steep stop (transition from the root of the nose to the top of the skull) as in Persian cats should not be present. Some breeders go to the limit and try to breed a face shape as flat as possible. This usually leads to respiratory and eye problems, because the restricted airway makes breathing difficult and too narrow or blocked tear ducts hinder the drainage of tear fluid.

Breeds with BKHs normal face shape do not have these problems. But the large round eyes of the cats are sensitive, so the animals should not be exposed to drafts.

History of the breed

All domestic cats are not descended from the native wild cats, but from the African dun cat. This is the least aggressive of all cat species and therefore easier to tame. Domestication is documented from 7,500 BC on Cyprus. The first tame cats were probably brought to Great Britain by the Romans. Due to the island location, the British cats developed isolated from their relatives on the continent. A purposeful breeding did not take place at first. The animals were primarily used to eliminate mice and other pests. The harsh climate on the island caused the development of the dense undercoat, which is typical for all BKHs.

At the beginning of the 19th century, people around the world began to specifically breed dogs and cats for visual characteristics. In England, the domestic cats native to that country became the origin of the British Shorthair breed, which were specifically bred for color and type. In 1871, the first presentation of the British Shorthair breed took place at Crystal Palace. In the USA the British Shorthair was recognized by the CFA only in 1980.

From the beginning, a problem was the relatively close genetic relationship of British domestic cats. This was compounded by the decline in breeding stock during the World Wars, so breeders began to cross unregistered domestic cats and the Persian and Carthusian cat breeds. Eventually, the two cat breeds led to breeding success, but with not only positive results.

The breeds Carthusian and British Shorthair became very similar, so in 1970 the FIFe breed association listed all blue BKHs as Carthusians. The classification was withdrawn in 1977 after protests from breeders of the original Carthusians, but the vernacular still calls the blue variety of the shorthaired British Carthusians. The breeds are easily distinguished today through selective breeding, as the last named cats have the rather slender figure of the domestic cat, while blue BKHs are massive, short and stocky.

The Persians have influenced the British pedigree cats until today, because again and again longhaired kittens can be found in the litters of pure British Shorthair cats. FIFe determined in January 2002 that the animals with semi-long coat may not be called British.

This changed from 2008, because now there is also the breed British Longhair (BLH), which is recognized as a breed by most associations. These cats have semi-long hair with strong undercoat in contrast to the Persian Semilonghair, which has no undercoat.

A salient character

Figure 2: The nature of the British Shorthair cat

From the nature British Shorthair cats differ significantly from other domestic cats. For example, they are rarely shy of water, some of the animals even splash or play with water running from a tap.

They are also less solitary than other cats and very fixated on the people with whom they live. At the same time, they usually do not choose a single caregiver, but join