British Shorthair Breed Standard

The breed standard of a cat breed is the guidelines that breeders follow to ensure that the cats they breed meet the requirement of the breed in terms of appearance.

There are a number of cat associations (registries). Are there too many? They may have different breed standards although similar.

Breed standards cannot be that precise. This allows interpretation differences by breeders, breed councils and cat show judges. This flexibility can lead to a gradual shift in appearance of the breed in question. The breed standards are updated from time to time to meet changes in opinion. Breed standards follow the opinions of the breeders not the public in my opinion.

Below are the breed standards for the British Shorthair of some major cat associations:

• Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) - USA.
• The International Cat Association (TICA) - USA and international.
• The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) - UK. In the UK the premier cat association does not publish the breed standard and the two main clubs don't either! Sorry, can't find the standard in the UK!
• Fédération Internationale Féline - (FiFe) - Mainland Europe