It is believed that the British breed originated from the Romans and came to England when the Roman troops invaded Britain around 1000 years ago. The British cat is seen in all parts of the world under different names because the sailors would have them on board the boats for vermin control. The American Shorthair standard is very similar and the standard of the British Shorthair.

BRITISH SHORTHAIR
GENERAL TYPE STANDARD

The British cat is compact, well balanced and powerful, showing good depth of body, a full broad chest, short strong legs, rounded paws, tail thick at base with rounded tip. The head is round with a good width between the ears, round cheeks, firm chin, small ears, large round and well-opened eyes and a short broad nose. The coat is short and dense.

Head:	Round face with full cheeks and good breadth of skull with round underlying bone structure. The head should be set on a short thick neck.
Nose:	The nose itself should be short, broad and straight. In profile, a rounded forehead should lead to a short, straight nose with a nose break which is neither too pronounced nor too shallow.
Chin:	A strong, firm and deep chin is essential. Any deviation from this to be considered a fault. The bite MUST be level, the tip of the chin to line up with the tip of the nose in the same vertical plane.
Ears:	Small, rounded at the tips. Set far apart fitting into (without distorting) the rounded contour of the head. External ear to be well covered with fur, internal furnishings not to be excessive.
Eyes:	Large, round and well-opened. Set wide apart with no tendency to Oriental shape. No squint.
Body:	Cobby type with short level back. Low on legs with broad deep chest. Equally massive across the shoulders and the rump. Medium to large, but not rangy.
Paws:	Round and firm. Toes carried close, five on each forefoot (including dew claw) and four on each back foot.
Tail:	Should be thick and of medium length, thicker at the base with rounded tip.
Coat:	Must be short, dense and crisp. A soft and/or over-long and fluffy coat is incorrect.
Condition:	Perfect physical condition, muscular with alert appearance.

SCALE OF POINTS

Head and Ears	–>20
Eyes	–>10
Body Legs and Paws	–>25
Tail	–>10
Coat: Texture and Length	–>20
Colour	–>15
Total	–>100

1.	Over-long, soft or fluffy coats. Fluffy tail. (In kittens).
2.	Weak chin.
3.	Pronounced whisker pads.
4.	White hairs.
5.	Ghost tabby markings. (In kittens). NB: Ghost markings in kittens should not militate against an otherwise good example of the breed.

The British come in most colours starting with the solid colours, tortois-shell, blue cream, bi- colours, colour points, silver tabbies, tipped and smoked.

They are a very loving breed of cat with quite soft voices for their size. They are home loving and tend not to wander far. They love to be in charge of humans and come to your call when they are ready to.
If they are brushed as kittens then they will love it all their life but if grooming was not started until later they usually detest it with a vengeance and you will give in easily.

They are the Boss