American Shorthair

The first CFA registered American Shorthair was actually a British Shorthair named Belle. Belle was a red tabby sent from England to and American cat lover. He was registered around 1900, as was a silver tabby (another imported British Shorthair). They were originally known as simply Shorthairs.

In 1904, a male smoke named Buster Brown became the first CFA registered home-bred American Shorthair. Of unknown parentage, Buster opened the way for American-bred cats, which were known as Domestic Shorthairs until 1966. Fifty Domestic Shorthairs were listed in the CFA stud book by the late 1950s. Today, American cats without pedigrees are still called domestics, and these were still used as foundation stock until January 1985. Associations began to allow registration of non-pedigreed cats in order to establish it as a natural American breed.

Nearly all colors are accepted in the American Shorthair, with the exception of chocolate or lavender. Himalayan or Siamese coat patterns are also unacceptable, though any other pattern may be shown. You may find the American Shorthair in white, black, blue, red, cream, bicolor, shaded silver, chinchilla, tortoiseshell, calico, and tabby. Nose leather and paw pads generally correspond to predominant color of cat, and range from pink to black. Eyes may be gold, copper, green, hazel, blue, or odd-eyed, depending on coat color

Breyer has represented the American Shorthair in its Companion animals as the calico and tabby cats. Previous Breyer cats were known as Domestic Shorthairs and were mainly produced during the 1960s and 70s, though a short run of this mold was produced during the 1990s.

One British reference for feline breeds, Cats: An Exeter Leisure Guide, describes these American Shorthair coat colors.