Animals

The European Shorthair Cat (EUR), for which a standard was not established until the beginning of 1980s by FIFe, the International Pedigree Cat Association, is one of the most popular shorthaired breeds in Finland.

European shorthair cat has been developed from house cat by crossing the most beautiful individual cats. The objective was to create a robust shorthair cat with rounded face. Occasionally the Persian longhair cats have been crossed to accelerate the appearance unification process.

It is most likely due to the fact that this originally European breed has preserved its purity fairly well in Northern Europe until these days. In Finland it has not been mixed with other breeds, neither with those that are bred artificially nor with those imported from abroad. Moreover, they have mostly been bred in Finland without any contacts with the British shorthair breed, in spite of the fact that until lately they lacked an established standard.

That is why Finland has succeeded in preserving the purity of the registered European shorthair cats – an absolute must for all these cats, presupposed by the present standard. Many international feline judges think that not only is the Finnish stock of Europeans large but also of very high quality: the cats fulfill the requirements remarkably well. Finnish cats of this breed have had pretty much success in cat shows both in Finland and abroad. Also the best shorthaired cats in the shows have often been of the European breed.

The colour range of these Finnish pedigree cats corresponds rather well with that of the original wild European breed. Although FIFe has accepted some new colour variations during the last few years – there are more than 70 of them – in Finland organized and active breeding concentrates on 15-20 classical variations. Among the types of patterned colourings, the most common variations are tabby mackerel, tabby blotched and tabby spotted. The colour combinations of these patterns are usually following: silver (-black), black (-brown) and red. The most popular solid variant is black. The so-called “tortoise-shell” variation repers to a cat with a red-and-black colour pattern. This pattern can also have a bit of white, and this type is called “tortoise-shell and white”. The bottom layer of a smoke-coloured cat’s fur is silver and the top is darker; European shorthair cats are usually of the black-smoke types.

European shorthair cat is today the natural European breed with ancestors only among European house cats. The breed is bred mainly in Scandinavian countries and especially in Finland it belongs to the most popular shorthair breeds.