British Shorthair Temperament

Blue British Shorthair Cat - Photo by kitty.green66 (Flckr)

I will quote four sources for the British Shorthair temperament, Myself based on personal experience of handling (but not "owmning") British Shorthairs, The Encyclopedia Of The Cat, Legacy of the Cat and British Shorthair cat by Esther Verhoef.

I have found the Brit SH very solid, reliable and laid back. A great companion where limited space is allowed perhaps but I personally do no advocate permanent indoor living for cats. I advocate a nice bright and large enclosure and/or supervised walks.

Esther Verhoef does not have a section on British Shorthair temperament in her book. This tells us something...that there is in all honest almost no such thing as a cat breed personality because the personality of individual cats will be more pronounced than the differences in cat breeds.

Dr Fogle in The Encyclopedia Of The Cat says that this breed is, "genial and relaxed" - agreed.

And Gloria Stephens the author of Legacy of the Cat (with the photographer Tetsu) says that they are "independent yet affectionate". She says they are relaxed yet as for all cats they are curious. Male Brit SH are, she says, more friendly to people than the female (this is subject to individual characters obviously).

The Brit SH is therefore a relaxed, somewhat independent cat breed that is quiet. They have a very quiet voice, sometimes a silent voice. The mouth opens and no sound emanates! Strange and cute.