Siberian Cat

Please note that the article is split into sections with links to the next for technical reasons.

Introduction

The Siberian is the national cat of Russia, a “stately cat” and my kind of cat.

Helmi Flick, a renown, professional cat photographer who knows cats well, calls this breed one of the “natural breeds”. This means evolving in nature perhaps as a semi-feral cat (household and farm cats) without interference by breeders until discovered and refined by the cat fancy fairly recently. Until then it was a long-haired moggie living in the harsh regions of northern Russia. But it is said that of all cat breeds the Siberian is “more reminiscent” of a wild cat. And this could well be true when we see the Scottish wildcat (a wildcat species of the European wildcat).

The supporters of the Siberian cat in Russia like to preserve the wild look. Although in the USA (TICA for instance), the standard encourages a less wild appearance. However, being a natural cat, it developed a tabby coat, the predominant coat type for this breed encouraging breeders to breed for self and shaded colors.

Apparently, both the Russian president Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev keep Siberian cats (as at 2010)⁷.

This cat is a thick coated, distinguished and stately cat that comes from Russia, a country of harsh winters. This is a large, strong cat with a triple coat refined by nature not by humans. It is one of the heavier cats (see domestic cat size comparison). Its body type gives the impression of power and strength¹. The size is nicely offset by the sweet face. The Siberian reflects the environment in which it evolved over a very long time with an oily top coat to two further coats (awn and down hairs) to keep out the wind.

The Siberian cat is an accomplished jumper through its agility and power. Its hind legs are longer than the forelegs. Another good jumper, the Manx has a similar leg conformation. Another excellent jumper is the similar Norwegian Forest Cat. The strong back is arched when the cat is not moving. The head is a modified wedge¹.

The Siberian is also called the “Siberian Forest Cat”². This is not a lapcat.