Original British Shorthair late 1800

British SH late 1800s photographed by Helmi Flick

The British Shorthair today looks very similar to the English cat of 110 years ago. There would seem to be a slight difference, an enhancement of the concept of roundness and cobbiness that is so admired in the Brit SH and the refinement of its coat. This can be seen by making a comparison in the photograph below of a champion Brit SH taken at the end of the 1800s.  Courtesy of Pictures of Cats.

Best Family Cats

Cats are very homely and friendly beings to be around. They not only cheer up the atmosphere but also keep you company all the time. However, before taking the big step of adopting a cat, you must know the kind of cat you want and its general behaviour, its likes and dislikes and if it is compatible with the home environment that you can provide it with. In case you have small children, you might want to focus on cats that are child-friendly. Hence, we would like to aid you in giving you an idea on the best home cats that you can find around you.

Savannah Cat Complete Breed Profile, Pictures and Video

A cross between a wild African Serval and a domestic cat, the Savannah is a fairly new breed of cats. In a very short span of time, it has managed to catch the eye of cat lovers all over the world through its amicable nature and exotic look. It is a graceful cat which a delight to have!

British Shorthair - Breed Article

 In 1870, Harrison Weir, father of the cat fancy, "conceived the idea that it would be well to hold Cat Shows so that the different breeds, colours, markings etc., might be more carefully attended to and the domestic cat, sitting in front of the fire, would then possess a beauty and an attractiveness to its owner unobserved and unknown because uncultivated heretofore." He then contacted his friend Mr. Wilkinson, manager of the Crystal Palace, who agreed with the idea.

Common Colors of a Cat

This section is primarily intended to answer the question, "What color is my cat?" It also explains basic color terminology and gives some information about how the colours and patterns work together. There are many colors and patterns that are genetically possible in the cat, so this section only covers the colours that you are most likely to see. There are additional color mutations that are seen only in certain breeds; these colors are covered in the colour genetics section.

British Shorthair - General Breed Standard

The British Shorthair is a medium to large, solid, powerful cat of rounded contours, without any tendency to be coarse or fat. Its very dense, highly resilient coat distinguishes it from other breeds. Males can be expected to be considerably more massive than females and the breed generally does not reach full maturity for several years.

British Shorthair History

Roman soldiers brought the first cats to England. Centuries later, you could find their offspring in every street or alley in the UK. It was Mr. Harrison Weir, a cat lover who was regarded as the father of the Cat Fancy, who made the British native cat breed, the British Shorthair, popular in the late nineteenth century. 'The ordinary garden cat', he wrote, 'has survived every kind of hardship and persecution. That he exists at all, is tribute to his strength of character and endurance.' Weir's devotion to the British cats was supported Mr. Jung, one of the first Shorthair judges. Many cat lovers were encouraged by Weir's and Jung's enthusiasm and started breeding the British cats.

Recognized cattery of British Shorthair cats: La chatte

After more than 16 years of breeding British Shorthair cats, La chatte has succeeded in achieving top quality cats that fully live up to the British Shorthair standard of size, weight and colour.  La chatte specialize in the colour blue ONLY!

Classic Tabby Cat Colors

There are four different types of tabby coats (who knew?), the Mackerel, the spotted, the ticked and the classic, which we will be looking at today. Each of these patterns come in a wide variety of colors and dilutions.

Classic Tabby Cat

The classic pattern has bold, dark lines, swirls and bullseye patterns. Their sides are highly decorated and they generally have thick, dark lines running down the middle of their back.

Characteristics

Although there are different types, there are several characteristics common to all tabbies.

• Eyelid skin is dark & surrounded by light colored fur, creating a dramatic eyeliner effect
• Chin is light colored fur
• Roots of whiskers are dark
• Dark line running from outer corner of eye towards cheek
• Dark colored M on the forehead between the eyes
• Darkest color in pattern on bottom of feet & between toes
• Dark along back of hind legs and tip of tail

Blue Classic Tabby

Bi-Colored Cat Coats

There is a huge variety of different cat colors, so many in fact that we are sure to miss a few here & there. But I wanted to bring you some of the basics, so you’ll know just by looking what color & pattern a cat is.

There are five basic colors, black, red, blue, cream & brown. 

Black & White

Pointed Cat Colors

The earliest pointed cats were Siamese, although the coloring has since spread, many people erroneously assume a pointed cat is, in fact, Siamese. Today there are a variety of breeds that display this characteristic.

All of the colors & patterns are based on a few basic solid colors, from there a variety of patterns & dilutions can be displayed. Today we are looking at pointed animals which don’t just come in solid colors, tabbies can be pointed too.

Red (or Flame) Point

British Shorthair Cattery - LAZIBLUES

ABOUT LAZIBLUES Cattery:

 LAZIBLUES Cattery is a registered name with The International Cat Association (TICA) and the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA). We are located in New York City and Westchester County and specialize in breeding blue and lilac British Shorthair cats. During the first few years of the cattery’s existence we stayed true to those colors working with mostly European bloodlines from Belgium, Netherlands and France. Later on we added new lines from Australia, Denmark and United Kingdom. We have also discovered and grown to love other, more rare colors of British Shorthair such as chocolate, black, and some tabby varieties such as a lilac tabby and chocolate tabby. Our cats’ ancestors include such European titles as World Champions, Grand International Champions and Grand European Champions. We have been actively showing cats, and now our cats include Regional and International Winners. This year our youngest stud male IW SGC Laziblues Earl Grey became 6th Best Cat Internationally in TICA.

Solid Cat Colors

Cats come in a wide variety of colors, dilutions and patterns. That rainbow is part of our inspiration so we thought we look a little closer at the different patterns & colors.

Starting at the beginning, there are a number of solid colors, their coats are made up of only one hair color. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as we started researching we realized just how deep the proverbial rabbit hole goes.  

Black