About the breed

Siberian cat is a national treasure of Russia – and with good reason!

It’s hard to say just how long Siberian cats have existed in Russia, but based on Russian fairy tales and children’s books, they have likely been around for hundreds of years and maybe as long as 1,000 years.

Siberians are cuddly, affectionate and perfect in every way. Their dog-like temperament means they’ll always want to be with you and ‘help out’ whenever they can. Be prepared to have a chirping shadow following you around the house if you decide to get a Siberian cat. They will supervise you while you make dinner or take a shower. They love to cuddle and remain playful for their whole lives.

Orgins of the Siberian cat

Siberian cat is one of the breeds still considered to be a natural breed and not human-made. They originated in Russia’s Siberian forests and are classed as one of the forest cats. The earliest reference to this semi-long-haired breed was made around 1000 AD, and Siberians were formally registered as a breed in 1987.

This breed is still relatively new in the UK, with the first officially registered cats being brought in 1990 and 2002 respectively. In the UK, it has been steadily growing in popularity, with both all the good and bad things that go with it, including a rising number of unregistered, backyard breeders, and illegal outcrosses selling for prices higher than pedigree cats, which will impact the breed in a negative way.

The first standard of the Siberian cat breed was created by cat fanciers of the Kotofei club. The breeder/owner of the first registered cats was of the Kotofei club also. Her name was A Ivanova and the cats were Rysja and her son, the famous Roman who became the true start of the Siberian breed.

Kotofei club, even though it’s not a cattery, was hugely important for the Siberian breed. Most of the standards were created thanks to this club and nearly all early foundation Siberian cats come from the Kotofei club. This includes the aforementioned Rysja, Roman, as well as the colourpoint Mars and his son Nestor.

The very first catteries mentioned in the history of the Siberian cat breed are Gel and Marcell catteries, who both worked on the breed from very early on. The information about them is very limited, however. Other two catteries mentioned from early years of the Siberian breed are Newskij cattery and Knyaz Gvidon cattery.

In the UK, Siberians made their first official appearance in 2002. It was a small group of breeders at first – Heather Sabine of Silkiestar cattery, Sue Bellew, Lorraine Brown and Caroline Gilyeat.

A hypoallergenic breed

Siberians are also one of the ‘hypoallergenic’ breeds. This means that people suffering from allergies to cats, may well be able to have a Siberian cat. Their hypoallergenic qualities do vary from bloodline to bloodline, even from cat to cat, so it is essential not to give up after only visiting one breeder. A person who is allergic, should spend at least an hour with just one cat – the mother of the litter they’re hoping to have a kitten from. It is worth bearing in mind that entire males produce more of the protein Fel d1 (found in cat saliva) which is what most people are allergic to. This is why it’s not recommended to meet the sire, as the mother will have lower leves of Fel d1. Neutered cats have the lowest level of the protein.

Quick overview

Weight: 4 to 8 kilograms
Length: 17 to 25 inches
Coat: Moderately long to longhaired triple coat with a full collar ruff. Top coat should be quite coarse with soft undercoat
Coat colour: Any colour combination or pattern you can think of. There is also a separate strain of Siberians called Neva Masquerade (recognised as a separate breed by Fife, though can be bred with traditional Siberians; TICA on the other hand still sees Nevas as Siberian cats) which are colour point.
Eye colour: Yellow, green and, occasionally, even blue
Life Expectancy: 10 to 18 years
Health: Siberians are one of the primitive breeds, which means that their development was not much influenced by people. They are very active and athletic, and generally very healthy so you don’t have to expect problems.
There are two conditions that do affect the breed though:
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency
Hypoallergenic?
By definition hypo in scientific terms mean ‘less than’. By this definition Siberians are hypoallergenic. Most allergies humans experience when in the presence of cats are due to a Glycoprotein known as FEL D1 found in cat dander. This protein is present in all cats, however, it is found at substantially lower levels in Siberian cats. At Silva Carus we are happy for anyone wanting to check if they’re allergic to visit and spend some time with the cats. We can also send you fur samples which provide a good indication whether a Siberian could be for you.

Breed type

The Siberian cat is a medium-large breed, with males growing up to 7-8kg, and females being slightly smaller at 4-5kg on average. They are meant to be round cats, which separates them from Norwegian Forest cats and Maine Coons. Their body is meant to be barrel-shaped and massive, their head and muzzle should also be round.

Profile should be rounded, with slightly flattened top of the head. The muzzle should be short, gently rounding, with the chin slightly slanted back.

Ears should be small, hairy, rounded and not too close together.

Eyes should be gently rounded, slightly oval. Eyes can be green or yellow, with green being preferred. Blue eyes are only accepted in Neva Masquerades (pointed cats).

Legs should be powerful and short, with the hind legs slightly longer than front which helps Siberians jump very well.

Coat should be triple-layered and thick, with the overcoat slightly coarse and waterproof. Siberians have two distinctive coat types – shorter and thinner for the summer and dense and longer for the winter. The coat should be shiny, not lying flat, which adds to the rounded appearance of this breed.

The tail should be medium-length, full and bushy, to go with superb, fluffy pantaloons and impressive lion’s mane.

A little about Siberian cat colours

Siberians come in a variety of colours – black, red, dilute, white, colour point (which are also known as Neva Masquerades in some registries, i.e. FIFe).

Only colours which are not permitted are cinnamon, chocolate, lilac and fawn – both in Siberians and Neva Masquerades. Sadly, some breeders are now known to outcross Siberians to achieve these colours and certain registries, such as TICA, allow such colours to be registered as Siberians. This is very damaging to the breed, and anyone wishing to breed must be aware of it and check pedigrees carefully. Outcrossing should not be permitted.

Recently, a new gene responsible for sunshine (gold) colour has been found. It’s called CORIN and is responsible for changing the black coat colour to bright ‘golden’. Sunshine cats have light, almost cream muzzles and bellies, and pink noses. The tip of the tail, some tips of guard hair on the back and their paw pads remain black. This colour mutation appears to be unique to Siberians and Kurilian bobtails and ToyBobs. Siberians also have another mutation, extreme-sunshine, which makes even brighter golden cats.

What’s interesting is the relationship between gold and silver. This combination (when a CORIN cat is mated with silver who is also a carrier of the CORIN gene) produces what we call bimetallic, or silver sunshine colour. Such cats are both silver and gold, with the golden colour most pronounced around their face, undersides and lower legs. These cats retain pink noses from CORIN, black paws and black eyeliners around the eyes. It also appears that tabby patters are somewhat affected by this colour and most bimetals lose their tabby pattern with age.