Cat breed · Tsardom of Russia
The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace (natural variety) of domestic cat in Russia, and recently developed as a formal breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late-1980s. Since 2006, the breed is recognised for registry and championship status with all major cat registries.
The formal name of the breed is Siberian Forest Cat, but it is typically referred to as the Siberian or Siberian cat. Formerly, sometimes the names Moscow Semi-Longhair and Russian Longhair were also used. The colourpoint variant or sister breed, called the Neva Masquerade, is categorised as a separate cat breed by some registries, including FIFe, WCF, and ACF.
The breed developed from an ancient, natural landrace from Siberia, and is the national cat of Russia. While it began as a landrace, Siberians are selectively-bred and pedigreed in all major cat fancier and breeder organisations. This means that all Siberian cats are purebred cats with a formally registered ancestry. It is a medium- to large-sized, muscular breed with a bushy tail.
Behaviour: The energetic Siberians are known for their playful and adventurous personality, while at the same time being very friendly and easy-going. The breed is known for its dog-like behaviour, due to its affectionate and highly loyal personality. This intelligent breed learns easily and is even known for its ability to learn the "dog game" fetch. They are very social and prefer to be involved in all activities of a household. Siberians are often fascinated by water, and do not mind getting a little wet, as their guard hairs are water-repellent.
The Siberian is a vocal cat, although not in loudness but in frequency. It is known to produce a wide range of different sounds including its melodious chirping voice and a deep, resonant purr.
Coat: Siberians express the three natural types of feline fur: guard hair, awn hair, and down hair. These three layers form a semi-long to long, well-developed, very dense triple-coat, of which the guard hairs are water-repellent. This unique dense triple-coat protects the cat from the Russian weather extremes. The thick fur is textured but glossy, and needs frequent grooming to prevent matting. The summer coat is distinctly shorter than the winter coat. Because the Siberians are a slow-maturing breed, it can take several years for the coat of young Siberians to fully develop.
Siberian cats moult twice a year. They will shed their heavy winter coat during spring. This winter moult is instigated not by a change in temperature but by a change in day length. Many Siberians will experience a less intense "mini-moult" at the end of the summer season to prepare for their thick winter coat, unlike other cats, which will experience a "heavy moult" more than twice a year. However, they will still lose fur year-round and require grooming multiple times a week in order to prevent their dense triple-coat from matting.
Health: The Siberian is developed from an ancient natural landrace, which makes it a relatively healthy cat breed. In fact, the Siberian breed has the highest heterozygosity degree (genetic variation) among all cat breeds, comparable to random-bred cats.
In a study with almost 550.000 cats of 18 breeds, the disease risks of the different cat breeds were evaluated based on 24 diagnostic categories. Due to the athleticism and energy of the breed, injury is the most common cause of morbidity. The Siberian has the highest score in injury risk of all purebreds, whilst it scores lowest, together with the Ragdoll, in the overall morbidity risk. Siberians had a significantly lower risk in 11 of the 24 diagnostic categories compared to other breeds, including endocrine, ear, neurological and neoplasia. Apart from injury, the Siberian had a higher incidence rate of locomotor and female reproduction-related conditions compared to other cat breeds.
History: Siberian landrace cats are Russia's native forest cats and are known to have existed for a long time in the dense forests of Siberia, appearing in records of Slavic folktales, rural lore, and artwork dating back to the 10th century. It was long speculated by cat experts that the ancient breed was the distant ancestor of all modern-day long-haired breeds. However, phylogenetic studies showed that for example Maine Coon cats are descendants of British cats brought to New England by Puritan settlers. It is not relatedness that makes them look similar to the Siberian, but convergent evolution. These breeds all formed in harsh climates in which natural selection pressures for similar qualities. However, Siberians are genetically closely related to Norwegian Forest cats and the random-bred Northern European cat populations.
