The British Shorthair is a large and powerful-looking cat with a broad chest, strong thick-set legs, and rounded paws. It has a medium-length, blunt-tipped tail. Their heads are relatively large and rounded, with a short muzzle, broad cheeks, and large round eyes that are deep orange in the British Blue variety and vary in color depending on the coat. The ears are broad and widely set.
One of the defining features of the British Shorthair is its coat. It is very dense but lacks an undercoat, giving it a plush texture rather than a woolly or fluffy feel. The coat has a firm and 'crisp' pile that breaks noticeably over the cat's body as it moves. While the British Blue is the most familiar variant, British Shorthairs come in many other colors and patterns. Accepted colors include black, blue, white, red, cream, silver, golden, cinnamon, and fawn, either in solid or colorpoint, tabby, shaded, and bicolored patterns. Some standards also accept chocolate and its dilute lilac versions. Tortoiseshell variants are also present in all colors and patterns.
