Their laid back personality makes them the perfect breed for seniors and families. Kittens are playful but tend to calm down as they mature into adults. During WWI the British Shorthair went into a sharp decline and breeders used Russian Blues and Persians to save the breed from extinction.īritish Shorthairs are a gentle, amiable and quiet breed who prefer to be close to their family without being clingy. Harrison Weir, the father of the cat fancy is credited with developing these domesticated cats into the breed we now know as the British Shorthair. British ShorthairĬats were introduced to the United Kingdom by the Romans and were used to keep rodent populations down. Its head is large and round, with a moderately short nose, and large round wide-set eyes.Īll coat colours and patterns are accepted. The British Longhair is a compact, and powerful cat with a cobby body, broad chest and strong legs. These traits make them the perfect breed for families and retirees. Words used to describe the British Longhair include laid-back, independent, relaxed, calm and quiet.

Eventually, breeders developed the British Longhair into its own breed.īritish Longhairs share a similar personality to their British Shorthair and Persian cousins. Longhaired kittens would occasionally be born, these kittens were referred to as British Shorthair Variants and sold off as pets. The British Shorthair lines were almost lost after World War II, breeders used domestic shorthairs, Russian Blues and Persians to re-establish the breed. Shorthaired cats remained a part of the British Shorthair programmes and the longhaired cats went into Persian breeding programmes. Persian cats were used in the early twentieth century to develop the breed which introduced the recessive long-haired gene. The British Longhair (BLH) is a close relative of the British Shorthair, which is one of the first breeds in the cat fancy. Other names: British Longhair Variant, British Semi-Longhair, Lowlander (United States), Britannica (Europe).Colours: Blue, black, red, fawn, lilac, chocolate, cinnamon in solid and bicolour.Temperament: Good-natured, quiet, independent, amiable.Related: Black and white cat breeds British Longhair Image Nynke van Holten, Shutterstock

The cat fancy refers to the grey colour as ‘ blue‘. The grey and white coat colour is common in both random-bred and purebred cats. These white patches are caused by the white spotting gene. Also known as piebald or bi-colour, grey and white is a coat combination that consists of solid grey and areas of white.

Grey and white cat tabby