Bi-Color British Shorthairs

The origins of the bi-color British Shorthairs come from two honorable avenues. The first from the Persians in GCCF. Though there are many catteries that bred bi-color Persians one of the most notable was Nora Woodifield’s Pathfinders. Ms. Woodifield bred not only Persians but British Shorthairs as well. Without the Pathfinders there would not be the recognition of the various patched colors in British Shorthairs at all. There are very few lines anymore that go directly back to Pathfinders, however it would be difficult if not impossible to find a bi-color that DOES NOT have any Pathfinders behind it.

The second avenue was the street cats, of which there are many of note. If you look back, way back behind Gch, RW Appleshaw’s Tally Ho of Atocha, there is a cat called Jemima Bedmole.

This cat, Jemima Bedmole, is definitely “one of note”. She was a dominant calico actually a brown patched tabby and white. Alan Edwards' wife June saw and purchased her from a pet store in England for equivalent of $1 US. Her stunning color and pattern prompted the Edwards to register her as a foundation queen. This they did, for the cattery Taliesin. From her red tabby son, Taliesin Alexander Severous, we have the link to Vectensian (notable breeders of red tabby British) and then to Pickabob (Bobbie Tullo in the US) and then to Appleshaw (Dana Jacobs also in the US). Jemima’s calico daughter, Taliesin Augusta Severina, takes us in another direction; to SmithAvenue(Edith Mary Smith in Canada) to Samou Brocayde Castle to Castway Bowdit,Castway Chantilly Lace and on to Purrytufts. Foundation registering of street cats in England was fairly common. Just from this individual calico street cat we can see that her kind’s contribution to the bi-colors in British Shorthairs is undeniable.

Bi-color British Shorthairs were already being bred in the US before even CFA recognized the breed. When British Shorthairs did achieve championship status in CFA it wasn’t long before many of these cats were shown in CFA. Some of the earliest bi-colors registered with CFA were Pickabob’s Meatloaf, Pickabob’s Blazing Saddles and Pickabob’s Kalico Katie; breeder Bobbi Tullo. Though none made the splash of color as did Denimar’s Harrod. This blue and white male, bred by the Huemmers of Denimar took the show bench by storm and became CFA’s first bi-color Grand Champion in March of 1987. Harrod’s bi-color son Garrod quickly followed in his dad’s shoes, forever cementing a place for bi-color British in CFA. Congradulations to the Huemmers of Denimar (see breed council list) cattery for their dedication and sucess with bi-colors.

The standard for bi-colors in GCCF and CFA go back to the old “Dutch rabbit” pattern of 2/3 color to 1/3 white. This pattern can be seen in every breed that has bi-colors and can be considered the middle expression of the white spotting gene. To breed bi-color to bi-color increases your amount of white on the kittens. Stunning cats with higher proportions of white are called Harlequins and Vans, though the term Harlequin is not one found in CFA. Still these cats were bred long ago despite the requirement to have no white predominate. Here's a quote about bi-color "shorthairs" in shows. Out of the book "Pedigreed Cats" by Rose Tenent, pub. 1955.

"In addition to the Black-and-White, or Magpie cat, of which the Long-haired counterpart was fully described in the previous chapter,at one time there was also a White-and-Black variety, a very ornamental creature with white ground coloration and black markings. Although there were never any definite rulings drawn up for this rare breed, uniformity of markings was desirable. For example, a cat might be entirely white with black ears, another specimen might be all white with just a black tail, yet a third perhaps would have black feet-all would be regarded as possible prize-winners".

Nora Woodifield knew the value of the Harlequins and Vans. She kept them as breeders, calling them “breakers”, for the purpose of mating to cats with too little white. In CFA our first cat of note within this color range is Gch. Stonehaven Harley of Lallysou, a blue and white male. Harley competed long and hard for his well deserved spot as National second best of breed British Shorthair 1995-96. Congrandulations to Barbara Sinbine and Sally Johnson for their efforts in getting the recognition Harley so well deserved.

In England not only do British Shorthairs use only the “Dutch rabbit” pattern for their bi-colors,but for their Persians as well. Up until last year. In 1996 GCCF changed it’s bi-color standard for Persian to mimic our CFA bi-color Persian standard. Our CFA standard mentions a minimal amount of white needed to compete as a bi-color but not a maximum amount of white, thus allowing all proportions of color to white. Is there a future for British Shorthair cats with more white in GCCF? Will the GCCF British Shorthair standard follow the newly revised Persian one? Perhaps in a year or two we will know. There are Van British Shorthairs popping up not only in England but also in the CFA. Our OBSHC (Other British Shorthair Colors) class allows for the showing of other colors and PATTERNS. The first van I saw shown in CFA is the darling male bred by Lisa Kamm-Mischel; Gch. Purrdelis’ Chauncey’s Cherub. "CeeCee" is now the first British Shorthair Grand Champion Van Bi-color in CFA history. This promising young male incidently goes back to our sample foundation queen Jemima Bedmole; from both the fraternal and maternal lines.

From bi-color Persians and the Jemima’s of the world we now can offer a sophisticated palette of color to our British Shorthair breed. Gch. Denimar’s Harrod set the standard and cats like Ch. Purrdelis’ Chaucey’s Cherub will show us the future.