We British Shorthairs are known for our cobby round bodies, which is why many humans think that we were the inspiration for the Cheshire Cat character from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. As the story goes, Carroll saw a British Shorthair on the label of Cheshire cheese and it inspired him to create the round tabby Cheshire Cat. Take one look at a contended British Shorthair today, and you’ll recognize that iconic Cheshire Cat smile!

We British Shorthairs can trace our ancestry as far back as the ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire! The humans think that the Romans imported my early ancestors from ancient Egypt so we could keep their food and shelters clean of nasty rodents. When the Romans invaded Britain in 43 C.E., they brought my ancestors with them, and for centuries we mixed with the local native cats. By the late 1800s, my ancestors had long been British street and farm cats, but one human named Harrison Weir (who is considered “The Father of the Cat Fancy”) took an interest in us. Weir started a selective breeding program to develop the British Shorthair breed as it is today. Initially, the focus was on the British Blue variety (a solid blue coat with copper/orange eyes). Today, this is still one of the most popular colors of British Shorthair cats, but over the years more colors and patterns were introduced, and now we come in every color and pattern combo under the sun! We were featured in the very first cat show (organized by Weir) at the Crystal Palace in London in 1871 and were beloved in Britain for our good looks and sweet temper – that is until the pesky Persian showed up. The popularity of the exotic Persian cat nearly wiped us out (although crossbreeding between us created the British Longhair). By the end of World War II, we were practically extinct, but the humans rescued up by breeding my remaining ancestors with Russian Blues, Domestic Shorthairs, and Chartreux. We were saved! British Shorthairs were finally recognized by The International Cat Association in 1979 and the Cat Fanciers’ Association in 1980. Today, we are the most popular cat breed in our native Britain and the 3rd most popular cat breed in America!