British Shorthair. History of the breed.

British Shorthair - one of the oldest breeds, the history of which, according to one version, began 2000 years ago when the ancestors of the modern British cats arrived in England with the Roman conquerors. In ancient Rome and Egypt cats lived side by side with a man, and in the chronicles of ancient Rome, there is mention of the "huge powerful gray cats with sharp claws and a large, bright, round eyes." In 43 AD the Roman conquest of Britain began territories.

In the second version, it was the cats who came to the British Isles, along with sailors from the territory of modern-day France. In France, at the monastery of Chartres, once lived and fished rats large blue cats are similar in description to the modern British Shorthair.

Whatever it was actually, but after arriving on British soil, these cats were wandering lifestyle. Wildlife helped British cats become large, strong and hardy, well-muscled, short, dense fur and practical, to protect them from insects and wet, cool climate. These cats were in good health, has excellent hunting qualities.

Subsequently, these cats have given rise to breed "British Shorthair". A father of motion cat lovers, and, in particular, the founder of the British Shorthair breed has become famous English artist and cat lover Garrisson Weier.

He was a fan of this breed, which wrote: "Normal domestic cat, able to survive in the most difficult circumstances. The fact that it exists - the best proof of the strength and endurance of nature. " In 1887 Garrisson Weier registered British club cats «National Cat Club» and became its president. Next there were other clubs, they are now merged into a single organization British cat lovers - GCCF. He first began to organize exhibitions feline, and at these shows is the British Shorthair cats have had great success, won many victories in the final Best in Show, medals and awards.

World War I led to a decline in traffic cat lovers. Quality livestock, the result of years of work by the British manufacturer, has been lost. After the war, interest was revived, and continued to work with breeders British Shorthair. To restore type breeders for a long time had to resort to crossing with other breeds of cats as well as domestic shorthair cats.

The current view of the British - the result of continuous selection, through careful selection and infusion of blood Persian cat, Cartesian (chartreuse), European and American shorthair shorthair, was formed by a large cat with a massive bone structure and diverse range of colors. But the most popular is still used British cat blue color obtained under the influence of Cartesian breed. Cartesian breed is closest to the British Shorthair, and many breeders believe that they were originally the same breed. In 1982, were finally approved standards on British and European short-haired breeds, as well as Cartesian cats (chartreuse).

Modern British cat - a strong muscular beast of medium to large size with a broad chest, squat on powerful legs with rounded paws. Round (ideally like a ball) massive head resting on a short strong neck. The eyes are round, large, widely spaced. In general, expression faces calm and good-natured. Dense double coat is short, ie, spine and equally developed undercoat, coat texture resembles plush.

British Shorthair very independent, yet extremely gentle. They enjoy the presence of people and will happily follow their own around the house. Easy to care for them, because their fur does not tangle and easy to comb. They - the perfect pets for families and for a person living alone.