The British Shorthair is known for its amiable, quiet and laid back personality. The British Shorthair is believed to have been founded by Harrison Weir, who developed the breed from these working cats. These cats interbred with European wildcats which resulted in naturally robust cats with thick coats.

Colours: All colours and patterns, blue (grey) is the most well recognisedĬats were introduced to Britain via the Romans who used them to keep rodent populations down.

British Shorthair Nynke van Holten/Shutterstock Breed overview The non- agouti gene does not affect phaeomelanin (red), and therefore all ginger cats exhibit the tabby pattern. The solid pattern is the result of the non-agouti gene which overlays the agouti base colour with melanin pigment to produce a solid colored cat.

As males (XY) only have one X chromosome, they will either be orange or non-orange, however, as the female (XX) has two chromosomes, she can be orange if she inherits two copies of the orange gene, or caliby, calico or tortoiseshell if she inherits one copy of orange and one non-orange.Īll ginger cats are tabby, but not all tabby cats are ginger. The orange gene is located on the X chromosome, which makes it sex-linked. Also known as orange, or red, ginger is a common coat color that comprises of a light agouti (ticked) background and darker stripes, sworls or spots.

Big eared ginger kitten