This is an easy one. And it is going to be a short one. Thirdly, I’m going to quote verbatim a lady who knows cat breeding and cat show judging, Gloria Stephens, whose book, Legacy of the Cat, explains why British Shorthairs are so soft. This is what she says about the coat of the British Shorthair.
“Like the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Siberian, the British Shorthair adapted to the cold weather of England by developing a very thick, short coat. The blue British Shorthair’s fur feels like a plush rug and should cause the hands to tingle when stroking the cat. This breed of cat is easy to groom, since the fur does not tangle.”
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It is all down to the coat. I think you could add to Ms Stephens’ description by saying that selective breeding over many years has enhanced this dense coat. Let’s remember that the British Shorthair is one of the world’s first cat breeds. They were shown in the first cat show ever to take place in the world at Crystal Palace, England on July 13, 1871.
The “father of the cat fancy”, Harrison Weir, was very involved in the selective breeding of the British Shorthair. So, this cat has been selectively bred for 150 years. You are going to achieve a very beautiful, dense and refined coat and it looks like that when you look at this picture.
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I had the pleasure of running my fingers through the coat of a British Shorthair and I can confirm that it does feel very nice. Some say that this cat breed is the most pleasant cat to stroke. So that’s it in a nutshell. It’s not so much that the fur is softer than the fur of any other cat breed. It’s more about the density of the fur which as a whole creates this luxurious feeling when you put your fingers through it.
Note: The English weather is not always cold by the way! We do get some nice, warm weather for a couple of months in the summer. 😎.
Below are some more articles on the British Shorthair.
