Chartreuse and British Blue - Separated Relatives

Representatives of the breed, the British blue cat was seen by almost everyone, who at least one eye and looks advertising on TV. "Face" of "Sheba" fodder was a graceful gray, with a short plush fur, a cat with large expressive eyes. However, there were times when they were hardly noticed, and periods when the breed blithely crossed with others. In the years of two world wars, animals of this type almost died out, and a long and painstaking work was required to restore the species. So where did this powerful, tiger-like scabbard, like an English bulldog, a cat with a short and thick fur resembling an otter skin of various shades of blue - from light gray to the color of wet asphalt?

British blue was bred in England by crossing the British Shorthair and Persian cats of blue color, who were brought from the province of Khorasan. Breeders worked on the elimination of the "stop", flat nose, over the length of the coat, as well as over the compaction of the skeleton and development of the cheeks, to give the Briton a remote resemblance to the English bulldog. In parallel, long before the work on the British Isles, at the Chartres monastery near Paris, the monks produced a similar short-haired breed of cats of blue color, whose ancestors they brought from Africa. In the north of Russia (Arkhangelsk) and in Siberia (Tobolsk) "sable" subspecies with a characteristic long reddish shade of fur were known for a long time. True, the Russian handsome men differed from the British and Chartreuse with their fragile physique.

This breed was so popular in France that even a certain shade of blue there was called - "charret" - in the coat color. Monks did not need to eliminate the "stop" of the Persians, they just worked to compact the body of the animal. As a result, the Chartreux came out very similar to a completely different breed - the British blue. Representatives of both species were stocky, with a powerful and large torso (cats weigh 5 kg, males reach 8-10 kg), with broad shoulders and a developed thorax. Their head is round, large, with prominent cheeks, large round amber-yellow or golden eyes. The only difference not visible to a specialist is the tail: the chartreuse has a long tail, a pipe, and the British has a shortened one, with a bent tip.

Despite the name of the breed - "British Blue" - allowed a variety of animal colors, not only shades of blue: white, black, red, tabby, tortoiseshell, colorpoints. These "Anglo-Saxons" without any doubt previously mixed with Chartreux, considering the French and English cats close relatives. However, in 1982, finally, a new standard was adopted, and two short-haired, similar to each other, the rocks were separated. Chartreses, as before, was given an independent status.

However, only the specialist can determine the difference between them. Blue color and short coat are the dominant signs, so it is difficult to distinguish 100% of the Briton from the half-breed. Do not buy these kittens in the bird markets, because at a young age is still not visible characteristic features of this species. Even acquiring an aristocrat with a pedigree, you run the risk of encountering forgery of documents. You can show papers for one animal, but they will sell a completely different kitten. Only by purchasing a cub in a nursery with a reputation, one can be sure that this is a purebred British blue cat.

In Russia, this breed is very popular, it combines all our ideas about the ideal cat: soft, plush, thick. Yes, and care for a blue Briton requires a minimum: sometimes it needs to be combed. This breed does not have any kind of ancestral diseases. True, for the development of characteristic cheeks, the animal must be given raw meat, cut into large cubes, so that the pet can work, chewing it. The nature of the representatives of this breed is the most ideal: they are not sluggish, like distant ancestors are Persians, but also not excessively noisy. Cats are very clean, but if you have a British white or light-colored, it is recommended to clean the edges of his eyes so that there is no unaesthetic browning of the fur.