The long-haired sister of the British Shorthair: the same round face, sturdy body and calm nature, in a thick semi-long coat.
The British Longhair is really a British Shorthair with long hair. Everything else is the same: the round head, the full cheeks, the sturdy body and the calm nature. Only the coat differs: semi-long, thick and with a frill. The gene for long hair came in with Persians long ago. Dutch breeders made it a breed of its own.
Attached to its people and loving, without following you around all day.
Usually prefers sitting next to you over your lap, and often dislikes being picked up.
Enjoys a short game, but is not a cat that wants to play all day.
A calm, rather lazy cat. Kittens play, adults mostly take it easy.
A quiet cat that rarely meows and mostly shows it is content by purring.
Clever enough to learn a trick for a treat, but at its own pace.
Calm and a little reserved with visitors, but rarely scared or cross.
Patient with children, as long as they handle it gently.
Usually fine with a calm dog, if they get used to each other slowly.
Tolerant and gets along well with other cats.
Copes with a working day alone better than many cats, but does like company.
Very content as an indoor cat, also in a flat, if you play with it a little every day.
A long-haired kitten from two British Shorthairs must be a cross.
No. The gene for long hair can be hidden. If both parents carry it, on average 1 in 4 kittens has long hair. A DNA test shows which cats carry it.
The Lowlander is a Dutch breed of its own.
No. Lowlander was a name Dutch breeders suggested in 2006 for the same cat. The name chosen was British Longhair.
The cat with the loudest purr in the world was a British Longhair.
Probably not. Record holder Smokey was a grey and white tabby from an English rescue. Guinness and the newspapers name no breed.
For a long time British Shorthair breeders crossed in Persians, to keep their cats round and sturdy. That brought the gene for long hair into the lines. Long-haired kittens kept being born and were sold as pets. Around 2004 breeders, many of them Dutch, began breeding them on purpose. Between 2008 and 2021 the big registries recognised the breed.
British shorthaired cats take part in the first big cat show, at the Crystal Palace in London. The Longhair's story starts there too.
Breeders cross British Shorthairs with Persians. This brings the gene for long hair into the breed.
After the Second World War only a few British cats are left. They are crossed with Persians and house cats again.
Around this time more and more Dutch breeders start breeding the long-haired Brits on purpose.
Ten Dutch breeders ask the Dutch federation FNK to recognise the breed.
The FNK gives the breed provisional recognition, under the name Brits Langhaar.
The American registry TICA gives the British Longhair championship status.
The FNK fully recognises the breed.
The European federation FIFe recognises the British Longhair, and Britain's GCCF accepts the name.
In Britain's GCCF the British Longhair can now become a champion too.
FIFe opens the British to corin and more golden colours, provisionally at first.
Exactly a British Shorthair, but in a thick, semi-long coat with a frill and 'trousers' on the hind legs.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Blue(a)
Cream(e)
Silver shaded(ns 11)
Silver tabby(ns 22)
Blue and white(a 03)
Seal point(n 33)Britain's GCCF lists silver shell in its Longhair standard, but not silver shaded.
FIFe fully recognises golden in black and blue; in the other colours it is provisional since October 2025. Corin, a warm golden-copper coat with an ivory belly, is new in FIFe since October 2025.
WCF recognises colourpoints only without white.
FIFe does not recognise golden or silver shaded with white, nor corin with silver or with white. Nearly every other colour is fine for a British Longhair.
If two shorthaired British parents both carry the hidden gene for long hair, on average 1 in 4 kittens has long hair.
Dutch breeders came up with three names: Lowlander, Brits Langhaar and Brittanica. Brits Langhaar won.
TICA was the first big international registry to give the British Longhair championship status.
In kittens the colour comes slowly: colourpoints are born white and their points darken over months.
A British cat grows slowly and is sometimes only fully grown at 5 years. The full coat and bushy tail only come at the end of the first year.
Usually about 12 to 17 years. There is no study of the Longhair alone yet; this is what vet and pet-care guides say.
The heart muscle grows too thick. Among screened British Shorthairs about 1 in 12 had it, males far more often than females. Many cats notice little of it, but it can become serious.
How it is found: A heart scan by a specialist, regularly for breeding cats. There is no DNA test for British cats.
Small cysts slowly grow in the kidneys, so they work less well later in life. British cats get it less often than Persians.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents, which FIFe recommends. A scan shows how far the cysts have grown.
Blood type B is much more common in British cats than in ordinary house cats. For the cat itself that is harmless. But if a type B mother has type A kittens, her first milk can make those kittens ill.
How it is found: Knowing the blood type of both parents before mating.
Brush the semi-long coat once or twice a week, and every day while it moults in spring and autumn.
It does not move much on its own. Play a little every day with a wand toy, and give it a cat tree to climb.
It loves food and gains weight easily. Give measured portions and keep an eye on its weight.
A British Longhair is not hypoallergenic. What causes allergy is in saliva and skin, not the hair, so the long coat makes it neither worse nor better.
With long hair it swallows more hair. Brushing and cat grass can help; if it often brings up hairballs, see the vet.
Checked on 21 October 2026
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