Balucharm 

About the breed

The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively chunky body, dense coat and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", a solid blue-gray with copper eyes, but the breed has also been developed in a wide range of other colours and patterns, including tabby and colorpoint.

It is one of the most ancient cat breeds known, probably originating from European domestic cats imported into Britain by theinvading Romans in the first century AD. In modern times it remains the most popular pedigreed breed in its native country, as registered by the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF).

The breed's good-natured appearance and relatively calm temperament make it a frequent media star, notably as the inspiration forJohn Tenniel's famous illustration of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. In the more modern era, a blue British Shorthair is the subject of the original "I Can Has Cheezburger?" image, credited with popularising the lolcat phenomenon.

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The British Shorthair is a relatively powerful, sturdy and compact cat, having a broad chest, strong thick-set legs with rounded paws and a medium-length, blunt-tipped tail. The head is relatively large and rounded, with a short muzzle, broad cheeks (most noticeable in mature males, who tend to develop prominent jowls) and large round eyes that are deep coppery orange in the British Blue and otherwise vary in colour depending on the coat. Their medium-sized ears are broad at the base and widely set..[4]

They are slow to mature in comparison with most cat breeds, reaching full physical development at approximately three years of age. Unusually among domestic cats they are a noticeably sexually dimorphic breed, with males averaging (4.1–7.7 kg) and females  (3.2–5.4 kg).