Siberian FAQ

The Siberian Cat

The Siberian is a large, strong cat which can take up to five years to mature. The females being smaller than the males as in all breeds. They are noted for being very agile and can leap great distances. Their muscles are outstanding and powerful. The back is long and very slightly curved but appears horizontal in motion. The compact rounded belly develops with age. The hind-leg of the the Siberian is slightly longer than the front legs, with large and powerful firm rounded paws. The overall appearance should be a cat of great strength and size with an excellent physical tone. The facial expression is alert but sweet. The general impression of the cat is one of circles and roundness rather than angular as in some of the other breeds.

The head of the Siberian is a modified wedge of medium size with rounded contours broader at the skull and narrowing slightly to a full rounded muzzle with well rounded chin. The cheek bones are neither high set or prominent there should be a good distance between the ears and the eyes. The forehead being flat and the nose has a slight curvature before the tip the neck is medium in length and round and well muscled.

The tail of the Siberian is medium in length wide at the base with a blunt tip and the end which is evenly and thickly covered with fur from the base of the tail to the tip of the tail.

The ears on the Siberian are medium to large wide and set as much on the sides of the head as on the top the tips are rounded and the ear tilts forward.

The eyes of the Siberian are large almost round eyes set wide apart with the outer corner slightly angled toward the base of the ear. There is no relationship of eye colour to coat colour however the typical colour seen is yellow- green.

The coat is the Siberians crowning glory, this is a moderately to long haired coat with the fur on the lower chest and shoulder blades being slightly shorter. There should be an abundant ruff around the neck setting off the large impressive head. There is a tight undercoat, which becomes thicker in colder weather. The coat gives the impression of lacquer and oil when ungroomed. The fur on the belly and legs may thicken and curl, but this is not  feature of the breed. The skin may also appear to have a bluish cast. Clear strong colours and patterns are desirable but are secondary to type.

Colour varieties of the Siberian vary and all colours are genetically possible, such as tabby, solid colours tortoiseshell colours and colour point varieties.

There is some depute as to the origins of the colour points in the breed but as long as records have been kept in Russia colour points have been noted to have been produced. The Russian believe that the feral pointed cats mated with the other colours along the Neva River region in Leningrad (which is now named St Petersburg) in the 1960’s.Soon Russian breeders were including this pattern into their breeding programs and created the nick name for them  “Neva-Masquerade”. Neva for the river, and masquerade, for the mask. These are not a separate class of the Siberian but another colour. Some countries still do not accept the colour pointed version in  the breed acceptance standard. No outcrosses are permitted for this breed.

Personality Plus. The Siberian has a very dog like temperament and are very affectionate. They come out to greet the visitors in the house and are not shy. They are very intelligent and very quick learners. They also have a triple purr and unlike other breeds have a chirping sound they use when they come to greet you. They are interested in water and may drop toys in water left in sinks to play. The Siberian makes the ideal lap cat and will live quite happily indoors with you.

Siberian Cat History

The history of the cat fancy in Russian has been controversial, there has always been cats in homes and strays in the streets, but they had only really been thought of as mouse catchers. Before 1917 there are isolated facts testifying cats being thought of as a breeding animal. There were some catteries but no breed clubs existed. In the memoirs of an old Muscovite there is an episode describing the merchants in Moscow having competitions for the cats and the fattest cat was the winner! Siberians first appeared in documented history in the year 1000.

During the war in 1941-1945, the city suffered a 900 day siege, and the citizens died of hunger and cold, there is no wonder there were no cats left in the city, after the siege the rats invaded the city and to fight them thousands of cats were brought in from different regions in the USSR and brought to Leningrad by train. This fact is documented and as a result cats of all possible phenotypes mixed in the streets. Thus when the cats started to breed one could find very different phenotypes.

Earlier every large fluffy cat had been called “Siberian” not because they came from Siberia the North Eastern part of Russia but because their appearance was associated with the cold and severe climate there. In the cold humid and windy climate of St Petersburg, a large sturdy cat with a waterproof coat and dense undercoat had a better chance of surviving the climate, which is why so many of the cats of this phenotype was seen amongst the strays. One of these was the well known Roman who was used in the first description of the Siberian, and the basis of the first standard written by the President of the Kotofey club Olga Mironva and assisted by Irina Katzer.

The years between 1917 and the late 1980 there was a large gap. In the late 1980’s the first imported breeds appeared, these were mainly Persians and the interest in cats started to grow. The very first cat shows were held in Riga, Moscow and St Petersburg, these shows drew huge public interest.

When breeders first had access to the large European shows after the lifting of the Iron Curtain they saw many other semi-long hairs and decided the new breed had to be developed and become more distinct.

Between 1988 and 1990 the new breed attracted attention in other countries. Judges visiting shows in St Petersburg developed an interest in the Siberian and quite a lot of first and second generation Siberians were exported. This was the beginning of the acceptance of this breed.

The Siberian was imported into America by Mrs Elizabeth Terrell of Baton Rouge, Louisiana “Starpoint Cattery”, and David Boehm of Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1990. Mrs Terrell was a Himalayan breeder and sent some to Russia to establish the breed into Russia in exchange for some Siberians. Mr Boehm was visiting Moscow and arranged to bring home some Siberian kittens, these were the first imports and the beginning of the breeds arrival into the United States of America.

The Siberian Cat Breed Standard

Treskuchiy Sibirskiy Moroz Mur of Cooncreole
TICA cat of the year 2002

Many thanks to Judy Chapetta for allowing me to use his photo on this page.

Siberian Breed Standard

Faults

Breed Scoring