Gus & Lionel explore their new home

Little film of Gus and Lionel's first moments in their new home... as you can see they settled in pretty well...

Hunt for the Cheshire Cat

Did the British Shorthair inspire the Cheshire Cat?

1. John Tenniel's illustration of the Cheshire Cat (copyright free)

The Cheshire Cat in Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland has fascinated readers since the book was first published.

There are about a dozen theories speculating the origin of the Cheshire Cat - itself not a named or known 'breed'.

The theories range from everything from curiously shaped 'Cheese Moulds' (used to pack Cheshire Cheese)... to the dockyards cats of the town of Chester (who would wait for mice and rats leaving the ships in the port and were apparently the happiest cats in all of England!) to distinctive stone carvings of cats found in several churches in Cheshire.

What is certain is that the term "grinning like a Cheshire cat" was in use at least 100 years before Lewis Carroll ever invented Wonderland... being mentioned by satirist "Peter Pindar" (aka John Wolcot) in 1785.

Here's where the British Shorthair comes in!

First of all when John Tenniel drew his famous illustrations to the first edition of Alice in Wonderland (top of this article)... he depicted a cat that was distinctly like the early British shorthair (see below), albeit a tabby variety. Stocky body, domed head and a wide grin (although Tenniel made the grin of his cat slightly more sinister and human-like).

2. Image of a 'British Shorthair' from late 1800s (copyright free)

This raises the intriguing idea that the British Shorthair is actually the Cheshire cat!

An interesting essay by a David Haden seriously puts forward the argument - and it makes for a fascinating read about the whole history of domestic cats in mainland Britain!

The mystery of the grinning cat continues to beguile and intrigue as does the cheeky personality of the British Shorthair!

Read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_cat

http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/fabled/cheshirecat.html

http://www.pictures-of-cats.org/british-shorthair-cat.html

Note: Both images shown above are not copyright protected (see 1 and 2)

Hello!

Today we brought home two British Shorthair kittens. They are brothers from the same litter, and there names are Lionel and Gus.

Lionel is a 'lilac colour point' (white with lilac on his nose, ears and tail)

Augustus, "Gus" is a 'lilac self' ('self' means that have a uniform colour)

For years now - I have been looking at photos and YouTube clips of the BSH (British short haired) and had completely fallen in love with them. After spending quite a bit of time looking at breeders... we decided on Felesamor (based in Dartford, Kent). Although we have never had pedigree cats before we can honestly say that every dealing we had with the breeder has been amazing.

It's easy to see from the website alone that they are extremely professional and experienced. In addition we received a brilliantly information book (written and compiled by Felesamor), pedigree certificates, veterinary documentation, food packs and vouchers, insurance for a limited period... and invaluable advice.

The plan was just to acquire Gus - but when we went to pick him up - we learned that the intended buyer of his lilac-point brother had backed out.

We had considered getting a fellow cat to keep Gus company - and well ... when we learned his brother was available we were pretty helpless to resist.

So here they are Lionel and Gus... watch them grow up and learn about the beautiful British Shorthair cat breed!