Final answer:
The original sentence contained an inappropriate shift in verb tense that needed to be corrected for consistency. The past tense 'had' was changed to 'has' to match the present tense 'is,' as required for proper verb tense consistency in writing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The text 'The Russian Blue is a breed of domestic cat that had a short silky coat similar in texture to that of a seal.' does indeed contain an inappropriate shift in verb tense. The verb tense should be consistent with the main verb 'is,' which is in the present tense. Therefore, the past tense 'had' should be corrected to 'has' to match the tense of the verb in bold, resulting in the following revised sentence:
'The Russian Blue is a breed of domestic cat that has a short silky coat similar in texture to that of a seal.'
When editing, it is important to ensure verb tense consistency to maintain clarity and coherency in writing, as outlined in Section 5.6 of the discussed chapter. The proofreading process often includes checking for such errors among other details.