Amidst the wide array of British Shorthair colors available for the breed, there’s one in particular that stands out from the rest–the Chocolate British Shorthair. How do these deliciously-colored cats compare to the other colors of British Shorthair cats? Read on to find out.
What makes the Chocolate British Shorthair coloring so distinct?
While the Chocolate British Shorthair might look like any other brown cat to you, you’d be gravely mistaken for overlooking the beautiful intricacies of the cat’s fur coloring. While there are various different shades of British Shorthair fur colors in the brown or neutral family, such as Cinnamon (which has a warmer, reddish-brown tone compared to Chocolate), Cream (true to its name) or Golden (which leans closer to a classic orange fur color), Chocolate stands apart from them all. Also known in some circles as “Havana” or “Chestnut,” the Chocolate coloring is truly reminiscent of a chocolate bar, with cooler undertones and a dark brown hue.
While the Chocolate color itself is quite distinct in comparison to the other British Shorthair fur colors, the exact shade isn’t necessarily set. As all shades within the Chocolate range are accepted by the overall breed standard–from light milk chocolate to the darkest chocolate color–the breeders who focus on producing Chocolate British Shorthairs have no need to prioritize or focus on one particular shade over all the others.
When considering Chocolate British Shorthair kittens, it’s also important to consider that the full processing time for the fur color to come into its full, long term shade is roughly one to one and a half years! In fact, some kittens that are bred to be Black British Shorthairs (considered to be quite rare, and popular due to their whimsical appearance with the contrast between deep black fur and bright, shockingly orange eyes) develop into having deep chocolate coats once their fur color fully matures around that one- to one-and-a-half-year mark.
As eye color is one of the most beautifully striking features of the British Shorthair as an overall breed, our expectations for the Chocolate British Shorthair are understandably high! The Chocolate color of the breed can have one of three eye colors–yellow, amber, or the highly coveted orange. Yellow and amber eye colors are far more common with Chocolate British Shorthairs, while orange is very rare but still possible! It’s due to this rarity that the highly saturated, deep orange eye color is considered the most valuable across all British Shorthair color combinations, Chocolate included.
As with most solid colored British Shorthairs, the standard for Chocolate cats is for the nose and paw pads to be the same exact color shade as the coat overall, leading to a beautiful cohesive appearance.
While the fur texture across different British Shorthair colors is a bit inconsistent due to breeding with different lines, such as Persian and Russian Blue cats, the Chocolate British Shorthair in particular comes out on top compared to other colors. A strict breeding process over the decades since its start as a color has resulted in a fur texture that in present day is considered to be the closest to the classic British Blue fur texture. The British Blue Shorthair is known for its highly valued (and widely beloved) chinchilla texture fur–extremely dense, soft, and fluffy, with a unique ruffle or fracturing effect as the coat breaks over the cat’s body while in movement. Due to the care of breeders over many years, the Chocolate British Shorthair today can also claim this beautifully soft coat, much to the joy of owners everywhere! Consider yourself lucky in this regard, as other colors of the breed have less fluffy, more coarse fur textures due to the crossbreeding to result in those other sought-after colors. All the better for you and your fluffy little pal!
Which British Shorthair fur colors are the most similar to Chocolate?
Depending on who you ask, there are a handful of British Shorthair fur colors that are considered “dilute” versions of Chocolate. The Lilac British Shorthair, a more common and quite popular color achieved by breeding different colors together for a beautiful, soft gray-purple tone, is considered one “dilute” color of Chocolate–the cool undertones of both are certainly related to one another.
Cinnamon is also considered closely related to the Chocolate British Shorthair–while the undertones of each hue are quite different (the latter on the cooler side of the spectrum, the former on the much warmer side), they both solidly reside on the brown portion of the color scale, so it’s hard to totally separate the two out from one another.
As mentioned above, the Black British Shorthair also isn’t far off from the Chocolate color. As the two darkest color variants of the breed, it comes as no surprise that there’s a chance that kittens born with Black fur will, within the expected color development window of one to one and a half years of age, develop into a deep Chocolate shade–resulting in a Black British Shorthair kitten turning into a Chocolate one! Unexpected, yet very exciting.
As with all British Shorthair solid colors, there is also the tortoiseshell variant, fondly nicknamed “tortie.” The Chocolate Tortie British Shorthair presents as a mixture of Chocolate and Red (also known as Gold) fur colors, resulting in a beautifully rich, mottled golden brown coat. The Tortie requirements demand that the color itself is deeply saturated, both colors are evenly distributed across the coat, muzzle, and paw pads without a visibly discernable pattern. As with other British Shorthair fur colors, it’s to be expected that kittens may take up to a year for the full saturation of their fur color to develop and set in.
Finally, we have the Smoke Tortie Chocolate British Shorthair! Smoke Torties combine the classic Tortie color combinations with a Smoke undertone–literally manifesting in a smokey gray color in the undercoat of an otherwise normal-looking Tortie British Shorthair. Typically, one would need to fully spread apart the cat’s fur to see the smoke color in the undercoat to fully realize it as a Smoke Tortie. However, the Smoke undercoat provides a beautiful blurred diffusion of the two Tortie colors across the coat, resulting in another elegant version of the Chocolate Tortie we know and love.
How did the Chocolate British Shorthair come to exist?
The Chocolate British Shorthair first came to be during the British Shorthair shortage of World War II. Similarly to World War I, the war’s effect and presence in England resulted in an inability to carry on the breed during such a fraught and unstable time for the country (and the world overall), resulting in a shortage of British Shorthair cats that threatened the breed’s very existence. In order to remedy this, breeders introduced various different breeds, particularly the Persian cat, to bring the British Shorthair breed back to its pre-war prevalence and beyond. As the Persian breed had an existing Chocolate color genetic expression, the Chocolate British Shorthair first came to be due to this crossbreeding to save the breed overall. Initially, this crossbreeding led to a fur length and texture that was inconsistent with the classic British Blue chinchilla-furriness that is widely known and loved. Thankfully, due to high breeding standards in the decades since, the Chocolate British Shorthair now has what’s considered to be the closest fur texture to the treasured British Blue incredibly soft fluffiness.
The Chocolate British Shorthair, as well as the Lilac color (which is considered to be a dilute of Chocolate), is accepted by the GCCF (the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy), FIFe (the Fédération Internationale Féline), and TICA (The International Cat Association) as an official British Shorthair color. The CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Association), however, does not accept the Chocolate British Shorthair as an official color of the breed, as it does not meet the association’s standards–which explicitly forbid hybrids of any breed. While the Chocolate British Shorthair is undoubtedly a British Shorthair, the fact that the Chocolate color specifically was bred into being via the Persian Chocolate gene expression does indeed make it a hybrid rather than a contained offshoot of the British Shorthair breed. However, you can rest assured that the vast majority of feline associations recognize the Chocolate British Shorthair in all its deliciously hued glory.
Where can I find a Chocolate British Shorthair?
The Chocolate British Shorthair is considered a somewhat rare color for the breed, and has been meticulously curated over generations to achieve the proper British Shorthair fur texture along with the beautiful color. Therefore, as you begin your search, it will be best to find a breeder that specializes in producing the Chocolate color. There are likely fewer breeders that do focus intently on producing the Chocolate color, particularly those who focus on submitting their cats for competitions, as those who are part of certain organizations such as the CFA that don’t recognize the color are unable to focus their efforts on producing Chocolate British Shorthairs alone. However, there are many breeders who end up producing Chocolate British Shorthairs alongside the wide variety of other colors! It’s best to keep an eye on a few breeders that meet the highest standards for the health and wellbeing of the cats, for your lucky chance to get a Chocolate British Shorthair of your own.
Alternatively, you can always try your luck at a local shelter or rescue (we encourage it!) or adopt an older Chocolate British Shorthair who has aged out of the breeding or competitive process, but your best bet overall is to find a specialized breeder for your new furry friend.
Accessories for your Chocolate British Shorthair (or other furry feline friends)!
Hi-Lo Scratching Pad ($59)
Give your favorite buddy an exercise they’ll enjoy with this unique spin on the traditional scratching post.
NomNom Bowl ($39)
This bowl helps with whisker fatigue – a big problem for our (rather) flat-faced british shorthair friends.
