White British Shorthair: Beautiful, Official, and the One Color With a Test
The white British Shorthair comes in three official eye colors, and the UK registry requires a hearing certificate before one can breed. Here is why, told straight.
Published August 20, 2026 3 min read
Contents
A solid white British Shorthair is a fully standard color, the first one named in 's own Self list. It is also the only color in this breed that comes with a hearing test written into the UK registry's rules. A buyer who knows why holds the most useful fact on this page.
Three official eye colors
's standard gives white three separate classes by eye color, each with its own code; means one blue, one orange. The same white coat, three official looks. The blue-eyed class is the one the hearing rule exists for.
| Class | code |
|---|---|
| Blue-eyed white | BSH w 61 |
| Orange-eyed white | BSH w 62 |
| Odd-eyed white | BSH w 63 |
The hearing rule, in the registry's own words
's Registration Policy for the breed states: "A or OAE certificate of freedom from unilateral or bilateral deafness must be provided for epistatic cat male or female before the cat can be registered on the active register and used for breeding. Cats with a hearing problem in one or both ears will be registered on the non-active register." Translated: before a white British Shorthair can breed in the GCCF system, a hearing test (BAER, a quick, painless brainstem response test) must show it hears. A deaf cat is not banned from anything except breeding.
Why white coats and hearing travel together
The mechanism, in one careful paragraph. The gene works by suppressing pigment cells, and those same pigment cells play a role in the inner ear's development. In some dominant-white cats, especially blue-eyed ones, the ear structures develop without them, and the cat is deaf on one or both sides. Not all white cats, not even most in tested populations.
But enough that wrote the test into its rules. A deaf white cat, to be clear, lives a full indoor life; this is a breeding-decision and buying-question fact, not a welfare alarm. If a kitten seems to startle only at vibration or sleeps through loud noises, that is a vet conversation, and something wrong with your cat means call your vet, out of hours an emergency clinic.
Buying a white kitten, the two questions
Ask for the parents' hearing status (in the UK, the /OAE certificate is a registry document a breeder can simply show you). Ask which eye-color class the kitten is: blue-eyed whites are the ones where the certificate matters most. Odd-eyed whites, the rarest look of the three, price accordingly at some catteries. Market figures, as always: the price page.
The vet's take
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Frequently asked questions
Are white British Shorthairs rare?
Scarcer than blue at most catteries; no registry publishes color counts. The rarest look within white is the odd-eyed class (one blue, one orange eye).
Are white British Shorthairs deaf?
Some blue-eyed whites are, on one or both sides, which is exactly why GCCF requires a hearing certificate before a white can breed. Ask for the parents' BAER/OAE results.
What eye colors can a white British Shorthair have?
Three official classes: blue-eyed, orange-eyed and odd-eyed, each with its own GCCF code (61, 62, 63).
Is a white British Shorthair albino?
No: white here is the dominant white gene masking color, not albinism, and the cat underneath carries ordinary color genetics it can pass to kittens.
Community questions
Got a question this page doesn't cover? Ask it: the best ones get published here with their answer.
This is information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with your cat. Our rule is a simple one: if something is wrong with your cat, call your vet, and call an emergency clinic if it is out of hours. Nothing you read here is a reason to wait.
Medical information applies to every reader. Prices, legal duties and common practice do not: unless stated otherwise, they are given for the United States, and they differ in the UK, Canada and Australia, and often between states or provinces. Check with your own vet and your own local authority.
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