European shorthair cat has been developed from house cat by crossing the most beautiful individual cats. The objective was to create a robust shorthair cat with rounded face. Occasionally the Persian longhair cats have been crossed to accelerate the appearance unification process.
These cats have been bred in Northern Europe, in Scandinavia and in Great Britain. There has been one significant difference - Scandinavian breeders have denied the crossing with Persian longhairs and other breeds, because they intended to keep the breed as pure as possible. They have used in breeding only domestic cats which met the desired type. Scandinavian breeders named their breed as European shorthair cat. In other parts of Europe except of Great Britain cats named "European shorthair cat" have been bred also, however these cats were carrying the same genes and had the same origin as British shorthair cat from Great Britain - i.e. they were also carrying Persian longhair cats' genes.
In international cat shows "European shorthair cats" from all European countries were appearing next to each other and it started to be obvious that Scandinavian cats were looking differently. The same name for two different cat types was very confusing. Hence the Scandinavian breeders registered in 1980s the official request to FIFe to separate their breed. As of 1982 only cats of Scandinavian type are named as European shorthair cat and they have their own breed standard.
European shorthair cat is today the natural European breed with ancestors only among European house cats. The breed is bred mainly in Scandinavian countries and especially in Finland it belongs to the most popular shorthair breeds.
Character of European shorthair cat
European shorthair cats are intelligent, active and independent, curious and playful.
They are friendly and sociable but sometimes suspicious of strangers. They like human company and are extremely nice to "their" people. They show their devotion to their people e.g. by greeting their people when they return home from work, assisting them by everyday activities and sleeping in bed of their person.
European shorthair cats are characterized by considerable adaptability. They get on well with other cats and other pets, provided they have been raised in a group of cats and have not spent several years as the only cat in the household.
Each European shorthair cat is an individual personality. Due to crossing with cats with unknown origin cats with different personalities can be found in the breed.
Recognized colour varieties
Unlike the British shorthair cats, the European shorthair cats are recognized only in natural colours, i.e. in colours which historically belong to Northern European domestic cats. These are:
- white
- black / blue / red / cream
- black / blue tortie
- black / blue / red / cream / black tortie / blue tortie smoke
- black / blue / red / cream / black tortie / blue tortie tabby
- black / blue / red / cream / black tortie / blue tortie silver tabby
- van / harlequin / bicolour
Other
The European Shorthair is a breed of cat that at present (2010) comes third in the trio of nationally named shorthaired cats. The others being the better known American Shorthair and British Shorthair cats. That is not to say that this “ranking” will remain the same. This page is shorter than usual as build time is commensurate to popularity.
Introduction
This is a relatively little known cat breed that is said to originate in Sweden1 and which is better known in Sweden for that reason3. I suspect that this is incorrect and its place of origin is the European mainland2.
Perhaps it is less well known because the breed is found on continental or mainland Europe (essentially Europe excluding the United Kingdom and Ireland). The UK is the home of the cat fancy and there is arguably less cat fancy activity on mainland Europe.
Another possible reason why the breed has not caught the imagination of the cat fancy is because the mainstream shorthair market is already fully subscribed. Is there really room for a very similar cat to the American and British SHs? Finally, the history of this cat is much shorter. Both the American and British SHs have long histories going back to the beginning of the cat fancy in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
So, notwithstanding the breed occupies a vastly larger area than the UK it is less well known and less popular than the Brit SH. Indeed I have not listed it in the most popular breed poll (probably unfairly).
Until 1982 the British and European Shorthairs were classified together. FIFe, having then classified the breed separately created an instant new breed, which through selective breeding become less cobby than the rather square, slightly flat faced British Shorthair. It is also longer in the body. These differences is it said might reflect the generally warmer climate on mainland Europe and the less cobby cats that occupy it. I think that this cat looks more like the American Shorthair. When breeding this cat today (2010) no British Shorthair crosses are allowed2.
The European Shorthair is a regular looking cat, nicely balanced with similar traits to the British counterpart. It looks like a British random bred cat, in fact – utterly normal in conformation and character (calm and affectionate2 is well socialised).
Appearance
The body is medium to large and well muscled. It is not a cobby cat, however .
The coat is short and dense. It does not lie flat against the body as is the case for the single coated cats. However, it is said that it “should lie flat”3. This is either incorrect as a dense coat should not lie flat or the wide open breed standard allows for single coated cats in which case the coat would lie flat.
The face should “give the impression of being rounded” but be longer than it is wide. The is triangular to rounded with well defined muzzle.
The ears should be medium sized and upright. Eyes: large round and well spaced with a colour that matches the coat. Legs: medium length and muscular. Tail: medium length, thick at base, tapering to rounded tip2.
The FIFe breed standard probably sums up the objectives for the this breed in saying that it should look as if it has not been bred but developed naturally. In short it should look like a moggie cat but have a pedigree. The FIFe breed standard is shorter and more open than those of the American cat associations.
The weight range is between 8 and 15 lbs (3.5 to 7 kg)
The breed colours are: (1) the three traditional tabby patterns of classic (blotched), mackerel and spotted coats in brown, blue, red, cream, tortie and blue tortie. The Abyssinian type ticked coat is not recognised. Variations on the tabby coats are naturally accepted and the high contrast silvers are popular2. Tabby markings should be symmetrical (2) Self (solid) colours of black, blue (see picture above right), red, cream, tortie, blue tortie, white (3) Smokes (colours as for selfs and tortie excluding white) (4) Bicolors (standard and Van patterns), colours are all self colours and torties with white.
Pointed European Shorthairs are accepted. These cats look very similar to the traditional Siamese except the “body tends to show more shading”2
