Turned Up Cat Whiskers!

Here is a beautiful Siberian purebred cat with what appears to be a silver smoked type coat. The cat has whiskers that turn up like Salvador Dali’s moustache but not quite as much! I don’t remember seeing whiskers that turn up when in a relaxed position before.

Photos by Inke. Click on the picture to go to the original (the top photo).

A cat’s whiskers do point forward when prey or a substitute for prey (a cat tease) is put before a cat as the whiskers are preparing to “feel” the prey. However, this is not the same as whiskers that turn up when in a relaxed position.

I think this Siberian cat looks a bit like the real Turkish Angora (in respect of the face) and the original traditional Persian by which I mean the Persian of 100 years ago. As I have said earlier there is a certain amount of mashing up of the breeds which makes things difficult.

Tootsie, a well known polydactyl Maine Coon has a similar coat and actually looks similar from certain angles. Her whiskers don’t turn up though.

Note: My thanks to VG for finding the picture.

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Comments

Turned Up Cat Whiskers! — 12 Comments

Ruth aka Kattaddorra on May 28, 2013 at 7:06 am said:
What a beautiful cat, magnificent whiskers! I always remember a cat who used to come and board with us in the cattery part of the vets I worked at many years ago. He was a cream Persian and he had the longest thickest turned up whiskers ever! I used to secretly call him Jimmy Edwards, can anyone remember him, he was a famous comedian with a very bushy moustache, that cat was the pot model of him lol
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Valley Girl on May 27, 2013 at 9:16 pm said:
Michael, I can’t remember having read the page about Siberians that you link at the top of the article. It’s really great. Seems like Siberians and Maine coons share personality traits.
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- Michael on May 27, 2013 at 9:21 pm said:
  There is a big question mark as to whether they are two breeds! The cat fancy has blurred the boundaries between cats (the mashup) and left the origins far behind. I wrote the Siberian cat page about 5 years ago now. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun.
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Valley Girl on May 27, 2013 at 9:03 pm said:
Hi marc!
Kind of you to think of Tootsie. I can’t remember how I found Inke’s photostream on flickr, but we are now contacts. It’s rare to see photos of Siberians on flickr.
I was interested b/c of the fact that Siberians and Maine coons (and Norwegian forest cats) got scooped up by the cat fancy, having previously evolved in a natural environment.
I flickr- mailed Inke saying how much her pictures of Fussel reminded me of Tootsie in many respects, though I could see differences as well.
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- marc on May 28, 2013 at 5:21 am said:
  Oh that’s nice – you made contact. I don’t very often see such nice fur like that. I mean with the smokey colouring, it’s a bit unusual and it looks really very nice. I think Tootsie has a ever so slightly longer face – if my memory serves me right. By the way I hope things are going ok with Tootsie’s visitors and social life 🙂
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marc on May 27, 2013 at 6:15 pm said:
I immediately thought of Tootsie when I saw that beautiful smokey fur 🙂
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- Michael on May 27, 2013 at 6:31 pm said:
  Me too. I keep in touch with VG and she showed me this cat. I think this cat is German.
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  - Valley Girl on May 27, 2013 at 9:07 pm said:
    Hi Michael, I hadn’t picked up on the possibility that Fussel (cat in pictures) had smoke element in her coloring, but I see what you mean now.
    Interesting b/c Tootsie’s sire was a Black Smoke, while dam looks very similar to Tootsie. I can def. see the “smoke” element in Tootsie’s coat, and I think you may have in fact pointed this out to me.
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    - Michael on May 27, 2013 at 9:23 pm said:
      It looks like a smoke coat to me. The owner will know and probably tell me I am wrong. I have a picture of Helmi’s Quinn who is a black smoke MC.
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      - Vasquezz on May 29, 2013 at 4:55 pm said:
        Thanks for your nice comments. Fussel is really a very special cat, and not only because of her whiskers 🙂
        You asked for the colour: I had a look in her papers and it says she is “black silver mackerel tabby”. But the last two years her face got this little beige touch, so maybe this is not correct anymore.
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        Michael on May 29, 2013 at 5:04 pm said:
        Thanks for visiting. We think Fussel is a special cat too 😉 in many ways. Black silver mackerel tabby it is then but I don’t see any stripes that are typical of the mackerel tabby pattern. What I see is a smoke effect coat with dark coloration above a paler coloration lower down some of the hair strands. However, it is not really clear except I don’t see a mackerel tabby! But one thing I do see is a stunning and special cat so thanks for letting me publish your excellent photos on my site.
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- Valley Girl on May 27, 2013 at 9:17 pm said:
  hi marc, I replied below- meant to reply here. Thanks.
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