Earl Grey © Helmi Flick
Photos in the above group of Earl Grey copyright © Helmi Flick
For visitors who live abroad and who are unsure, Earl Grey is a popular English tea. The blue coat is the classic Brit. SH look. See also Grey cat breeds (new window).
Introduction
It could be said that the British Shorthair Cat is as natural a breed as is possible today in that all registered breeds are now subject to human intervention. The breed originates from the British Domestic Shorthair or British Moggie, which has an extremely long history. Throughout its early history this was “the working cat of Great Britain”2. The American Shorthair is the USA equivalent and is founded upon the Brit. SH. The founder of the cat fancy, Harrison Weir, bred British Blues3.
A number of cat breeds are mutated “British Shorthair cats”; although before the cat fancy started, they were thought of as simply “cats”, on farms and streets. An example is the Selkirk Rex, the mutated gene making the fur curly and crinkly. Through selective breeding from the late 1800s the Moggie was transformed into a recognized breed; the British Shorthair. This is very definitely my kind of cat. Helmi Flick loves ’em too (see Sky and Nox below).
The outstanding features are a quiet voice and a plush dense coat to combat the typical English weather and a semi-cobby body type. This is probably the most pleasurable of all purebred cats to stroke because of the feel of the coat! This breed has been described as the “teddy bear of the cat fancy”2. See also the British Longhair Cat, a stupendous cat that trumps the Persian!
And this is what Earl Grey looks like these days
Majestic.
Earl Grey’s full name is Laziblues Earl Grey, and he still lives with us as part of our Laziblues Cattery family. He was not named after tea, but after the British Prime Minister who lifted the embargo on tea, and allowed a more cheap tea to enter the UK market.
Love his pictures as a baby here. Thank you Helmi!
Awesome cat and name and thanks for sharing Zina.
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