European Shorthair

Many people incorrectly refer to any stray cat as a European Shorthair.

The European Shorthair's dense coat is short, soft and glossy, and should lie flat.

The European Shorthair is a muscular, medium-sized to large cat, with a broad, well-muscled chest.

Because the breed has been developed from ordinary domestic cats, which have very different temperaments, the character of the European Shorthair is impossible to summarise.

In terms of personality and appearance the European Shorthair is comparable to ordinary domestic European short-haired cats.

The European shorthair (or Celtic shorthair) is a breed of short-haired cat originating in Sweden.

First, Dr. Kuiken's team introduced the Vietnamese virus into the airways of three European shorthair cats, the breed generally used in animal experiments.

This is not the first breed to be developed from street cats, as the American Shorthair, European Shorthair, and American Keuda all show.

It was confusing for Scandinavian breeders that the British Shorthair was also called European Shorthair at that time, even though it looked different.

European Shorthair has its counterparts in Great Britain (British Shorthair) and USA (American Shorthair), that have been bred much longer.

Since freely-breeding domestic short-haired cats form distinctive landraces in wide geographic areas, they have been the basis of several recent formal breeds such as the European Shorthair a.k.a. Celtic Shorthair, and American Shorthair.

In 1968, the lineage hinged on the efforts of the GDR cattery vom Grund who acquired the last 3 Rex offspring of Lämmchen not sold abroad, and amplified the lineage with European Shorthair and mixed-breeds.

Felinological associations recognized both types of cat as a single breed, meaning they were judged by the same standards during cat shows, until 1982 when FIFE registered the Scandinavian type of European Shorthair as a separate breed with its own standard.