Siberian Cats & Kittens

This breed may be new to North America, but it’s far from new to the world. Longhaired Russian cats have been around for many hundreds of years. Exactly when and how longhaired cats made their way to Siberia is not known, but it is speculated that the breed arrived with Russian emigrants. According to some Siberian fanciers, Russians immigrating (or being exiled) to Siberia brought their cats with them. The mutation for long hair seems to have occurred in three separate areas—Russia, Persia (Iran), and Asia Minor (Turkey). However, it’s possible that the longhair mutation originally occurred in Russia and that Russian Longhairs spread from Russia into Turkey, crossbreeding with local cats to become the Angora, and into Persia, crossbreeding with local cats to become the Persian. If so, all longhairs are derived from the Russian Longhair.

Long fur in domestic cats appears to be an adaptation to cold, and it’s certainly cold in Siberia. Due to the merciless climate, these cats developed, or acquired through mating with the local cats, longer hair, all-weather coats, and larger, stockier bodies. The cats survived and developed into a hardy, longhaired breed able to withstand the unforgiving conditions of the region.

According to Russian stories, Siberian cats once weighed up to 45 pounds and protected their human companions and households. In Harrison Weir’s 1889 book, Our Cats and All About Them, he noted in the chapter on longhaired cats the varieties of longhaired cats that existed in his time, and were shown in his famous modern cat show in July 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London, were the Russian, Angora, Persian, and Indian. Weir, known as “the Father of the Cat Fancy,” wrote that the Russian Longhair differs from Angoras and Persians in a number of ways, including its larger size, longer mane, large prominent bright orange eyes, and its long, dense, woolly textured coat including the tail that’s thickly covered with very woolly hair. However, the Russian longhairs who shared the limelight at the show may or may not have been Siberians, since apparently no records of these cats were kept in Russia at that time.

Until the 1980s, the government of the former Soviet Union discouraged its citizens from owning household pets because of housing and food shortages. In 1987, the government lifted restrictions on house pets, and breeders and fanciers formed cat clubs and began keeping breeding records. In 1988, the first Russian cat show was held in Moscow. Terrell sent four Himalayans to Nelli Sachuk and in exchange received three Siberians on June 28, 1990—one male (Kaliostro Vasenjkovich) and two females (Ofelia Romanova and Naina Romanova). Soon after, she received the kittens’ metrukas (certificates of birth), which detailed their names, dates of birth, and colors and patterns. Before long, the Siberian had captivated Terrell’s heartstrings and purse strings. She invested thousands of dollars and expended many hours obtaining more cats and establishing the Siberian as a recognized breed in America. Just a month after Elizabeth Terrell received her Siberians, breeder David Boehm imported a number of Siberians of his own. Instead of waiting for cats to be sent, he booked a flight to Russia and bought every Siberian he could find. On July 4 he returned with a collection of fifteen cats. His Siberians produced the first litter in North America, and were invaluable in enlarging the Siberian gene pool.