Grey Long Legged Cat

Is Isabel a Russian Blue or a grey Oriental Shorthair? The Helmi Flick picture below of “Isabel” shows an oriental style cat with an all grey close short haired coat, long limbs and green eyes. There are four cat breeds that have to be grey (gray). They are:

  1. Korat – a “cousin” of the Siamese in that it is said the cat breed originates in Thailand.
  2. Russian Blue – chilly Russian cat with a slender body.
  3. Nebelung – long haired version of Russian Blue.
  4. Chartreux – European blue cat that looks like the British Shorthair in a blue cat.

Of these four, the only breed that in any way matches the cat in the Helmi Flick photograph is the Russian Blue. The Russian Blue has vivid green eyes and a short, dense double coat that stands out from the body. The legs are long and fine boned. Is Isabel too slender to be a Russian Blue? And is the coat not dense enough?

A cat breed that allows a grey coat under the breed standard and which is slender and oriental in shape is the Oriental Shorthair. The Oriental Shorthair has a wide range of coat types and colors. The solid color class allows: “BLUE: even blue, color may range from pale blue-grey to deep slate-grey. Nose leather and paw pads: blue.” (CFA breed standard). Isabel could therefore be an Oriental Shorthair cat. The Oriental Shorthair also has long, slim limbs and the coat should be fine textured and lying close to the body.

Grey short haired cat with long limbs
Isabel – grey short haired cat with long limbs.

The reason why I have decided that Isabel is a grey Oriental Shorthair is because she has:

  • close lying and not dense fur (Isabel does not have a coat that is dense enough for the north of Russia) and;
  • a head that is very much a “long tampering wedge” as opposed to the Russian Blue’s “medium wedge” which should be neither “long and tapering nor short and massive”.

This Helmi Flick photo shows off the very slender, elegant conformation of the Oriental Shorthair. This picture would have been taken at that split second when Isabel was about to place both feet on the photographic prop.

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