These pretty cats have rich cream markings against a lighter ground colour of pale cream with a cool tone. Nose leather and paw pads in a lilac tabby should be pinkish.Ĭream tabby coloured British Shorthair cats Lilac tabby BSH cats have markings of lilac - that is to say, a warm grey with a distinctly pink hue. Lilac tabby coloured British Shorthair cats The paw pads need to be chocolate or pink. The cat’s nose leather should be chocolate brown in colour. The ground colour should be a warm-toned bronze, neither too light nor too dark. The coat colour standard for this variant specifies markings of rich chocolate brown. Chocolate tabby coloured British Shorthair cats The nose leather may be blue or pink, as may the paw pads. The stripes and other markings should be a deep blue. The ground colour for this variant should be a soft bluish fawn. Blue tabby coloured British Shorthair cats Nose Leather can be black but brick red noses are preferred. An overly pale brown ground colour constitutes a fault in this combination. These cats have a deep and subtle colouration, with markings of dense jet black on a rich copper brown ground. Brown tabby coloured British Shorthair cats This is one of the oldest pattern colours in the breed and is very popular. The cat’s nose leather should be brick red in colour. The cat’s markings should be deep rich red. Not to be confused with the red silver tabby, these cats have a light red ground colour (although not too light, as an overly pale ground constitutes a fault). Red tabby coloured British Shorthair cats Tail rings need to be complete on a classic tabby. On each flank there should be an oyster-shaped oblong mark with at least one unbroken ring around it. This line should be unbroken and there should be lines on either side of it, running unbroken down the length of the cat’s back. The classic tabby pattern features a line leading from this butterfly, down the back to the tail. The butterfly’s wings should be broken up with patches of the lighter ground colour. Both this butterfly pattern’s wings, upper and lower, should be clearly defined and crisp. The classic tabby cat’s markings should include a butterfly shape across the shoulders. Classic tabby body markings in British Shorthair cats The ground colour and stripe colour should be evenly balanced with neither dominating. Symmetry is important the markings should be exactly similar reflections on either side of the cat.
![cream tabby cream tabby](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/37/bf/c0/37bfc0e09a42d2b7e58c38295177c4ba.jpg)
In spotted tabbies the pattern on the legs should be spotted rather than barred we shall go into more detail about the spotted tabby’s colouration in a later section. On the hind legs, the markings need to extend from the hock to the sole of the foot. In classic and mackerel tabbies the cat’s legs should be barred with even markings the “bracelets” ringing the tabby’s legs need to extend from the body markings to the cat’s paws. The belly should show spotted markings and a tabby’s toes should also be spotted. The tip of the tail should be the same colour as the stripes. In both varieties of tabby, the cat’s tail should have ring-shaped markings that are narrow and as numerous as possible. There should be lines running from the M, over the cat’s head, and down to the markings on the cat’s shoulders. In classic, mackerel and spotted tabby cats, the face markings should include a letter “M” on the forehead that looks rather like a frown. The tabby’s ears should be the same colour as the stripes, with a “thumbprint” of the ground colour at the base. The cat’s cheeks should have narrow lines and there should be an unbroken line of “mascara” running from the outer corner of both eyes. Orange-eyed white BSH cats should have copper, amber or deep gold eyes. A white British Shorthair cat can have sapphire blue eyes (known as a blue-eyed white BSH).
![cream tabby cream tabby](https://66.media.tumblr.com/7f7697bd118cb781f5812924e738d0a6/tumblr_inline_nn5qhsID2t1tqfdb3_1280.jpg)
To be a show-quality cat the white needs to be clean and pure, with no tinge of yellow or other colours. Self or solid colour BSH cats can be pure white - the only time that any white hair is accepted on this breed.
![cream tabby cream tabby](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/16/e8/9d/16e89df853cd3cc266f0b1fc22603a91.jpg)
White self-coloured British Shorthair cats The cat’s eyes should be a strong coppery orange or rich amber this can take a few months to fully manifest, with many British Blue kittens having eyes of flat brown until they grow into their adult colour. Nose leather and toe pads should also be blue to match the cat’s coat. In kittens, silver tipping is permissible but the cat needs to outgrow it in order to become a really top-class show animal. In particular, there should be no white hairs anywhere. To be a real British Blue the cat’s colour must be completely solid and very pure: a dense, crisp coat of light to medium blue-grey, without any spots or even a hint of tabby striping.