When the mention of a British Shorthair comes up, the image that first springs to mind is the classic British shorthair Blue: a pretty kitty with a solid blue-grey coat and bright copper-amber eyes.
However, their coats actually come in an assortment of colors and patterns. These include some novel hues such as lilac, smoke, fawn, chocolate…the list goes on.
Cinnamon color kitties are considered relatively rare. Like their name, the Cinnamon British Shorthair color is similar to the diluted chocolate.
Chocolate British Shorthairs receive their coloration from cross-breeding with chocolate Persians. Like British Blues, white hairs or hair of other colors are not acceptable.
The Red British Shorthair, better known as Garfield, inherited their genes from Persian cats and other red-colored cat breeds.
White British Shorthair cats are much loved for their pure, snow-white fur, without smoky or yellow undertones, spots, and stripes.
A Black British Shorthair is challenging to find and appears almost whimsical in its jet black coat. Sometimes, a kitten is born black and changes its color to chocolate as they grow older.
The classic “British Blue” is, in many people’s minds, the essence of the British Shorthair. These kitties have dense coats with a light to medium blue-grey coloring.