Breed History

GENERAL

The Siberian cat, although a very ancient breed, has only become known as a pedigree breed very recently. This is because pet ownership was not allowed by the Russian Communist regime. There are records of Siberian cats going back to at least the 13th century. They are said to have patrolled the parapets of ancient Monasteries with the monks. (Many owners today will testify that their Siberians alert them to the presence of approaching visitors)

After the fall of the communist regime, cat fanciers in Russia started keeping pet cats and going to cat shows. They tried showing their large semi-longhair cats as novices of established breeds, but were soon made aware of the differences by Czechoslovakian judges and the Siberian cat was established in it's own right as the aboriginal Russian cat. In 1989 The Soviet Felinological Federation was created. One of its first priorities was to certify the Siberian cat and its colour-pointed variety nicknamed 'Neva Masquerades', hence it can be seen that right from the beginning of cat breeding and showing in contemporary Russia the colour-pointed Siberian was accepted and shown alongside all other accepted Siberian colours, the Standard of Points being exactly the same. If one were to view a colour-pointed Siberian and any of the other colours as black and white photos, they would see the same type of basic cat.

Siberian cats were exported from Russia to Europe and the USA in the 1990's, but did not find their way to Britain until early 2002 when the first cats were imported from the USA and Russia. Since then a healthy number of breeding cats have been imported from Scandinavia, EC countries along with several more from Russia and a few more from the USA. The majority of importers are breeder members of TSCC and are working together to ensure that a foundation gene pool as wide as possible is created. The priorities for selection are health, type and temperament followed by variety in colour.

HEALTH

Siberian cats are proving to be as robust as one would expect from a natural breed of cat. They are adapting well to life in Britain, from the Highlands of Scotland to the South West of England. There are no known health problems but with the possibility of other breeds in their not so distant past, we are taking precautions to screen for PKD. TSCC are affiliated to the FAB, as are many of our members, so we are availing ourselves of their testing for PKD. We are aware of one cattery in Europe that has found some of their Siberian cats to be blood type B; previously it was thought that Siberians were only type A. Fortunately, our members have established excellent working relationships with other Siberian breeders worldwide and are exchanging health data on Siberian cats.

 HYPOALLERGENIC?