Maltese cat

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Maltese cat.

Maltese cat is a name that is often given to any cat, whose fur is either completely, or primarily, gray or blue and is of indeterminate breed. Many cats with such colouration are present on the island of Malta, which may have given rise to the use of the adjective in this context. There are several cat breeds that always produce blue or gray fur. These are the Russian Blue, the Chartreux, the Korat. There are several other breeds that often produce blues such as the British Shorthair. The blue variant of this breed was so common that many thought it was its own breed called the British Blue.

In literature, "The Maltese Cat" is the title of a short story by Rudyard Kipling. The story is about a polo match set in British Colonial India, told from the point of view of one of the ponies, a gray named The Maltese Cat.