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British Shorthair Facts

British Shorthair Facts
British Shorthair is very old breed of domestic cat. It is a descendant of the shorthair cats that were brought to the Great Britain by Romans to protect their food supplies from rodents. Thanks to its excellent hunting skills and ability to quickly eliminate rodents from the farms and houses, British Shorthair instantly became popular and widespread in the UK. After introduction of Persian and other longhair cats to Europe, popularity of British Shorthair started to decrease at the end of the 19th century and this breed nearly became extinct after the WWII. Thanks to the efforts of few cat enthusiasts, British Shorthair is still alive and widespread today. British Shorthair is mostly kept as companion and show cat today. It is the most popular cat in England and 5th most popular cat in the USA.
Interesting British Shorthair Facts:
British Shorthair can reach 8 to 20 pounds of weight.
British Shorthair has short, thick, plush-like coat. Aside from the most popular bluish-grey coat (known as "British blue"), British Shorthair is available in 30 different colors (black, blue, red, cream, silver, golden, chocolate, lilac..) and various patterns (tabby, tortoiseshell, calico, pointed...)
British Shorthair has large, round head, broad face, big, round eyes, thick neck, broad chest, sturdy, muscular body, powerful legs with rounded paws and thick tail with blunt tip. Its eyes can be blue, green, hazel, golden or copper-colored.
British Shorthair is also known as the "bulldog" in the world of cats because of its size and shape of the body.
British Shorthair is calm, affectionate and laid-back by nature. It is suitable for families with children and other pets. British Shorthair likes to spend time close to the family members and to follow them through the house, but it doesn't like to be carried around.
British Shorthair is moderately active breed. Its playfulness starts to decline when it reaches the age of one year.
British Shorthair is not destructive by nature. It rarely produces mess in the house.
British Shorthair sleeps 14 to 16 hours per day and spends most of the time on the couch (hence the nickname "couch potato").
British Shorthair is one of the least vocal cats.
British Shorthair served as an inspiration for the creation of Cheshire Cat in the Lewis Carroll's novel "Alice in Wonderland" and fairy tale "Puss in Boots".
British Shorthair has short coat that requires weekly brushing.
British Shorthair gives birth to 4 kittens on average. Young British Shorthair reach physical maturity at the age of 3 to 5 years.
British Shorthair is prone to gingivitis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and polycystic kidney disease.
British Shorthair requires well-planned meals because it likes to eat and it easily gains weight.
British Shorthair has an average lifespan of 12 to 17 years.


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