The Siberian cat

Origin
The Siberian cats have existed for  already 1000 years in Siberia/Russia. How the race has arisen there, is not certain. Due to the strict communist government from 1917, it was not possible to breed this race of cats seriously. For some time it even had been illegal to keep or feed pets in Russia. Only since the 1980’s was it in fact, possible to breed seriously, Siberian cats in Russia. Since that time Siberian cats have been registered. In 1991 the Siberian cat was recognised officially by the World Cat Federation (WCF) as a specific type.

Health
The Siberian cat comes from a rough climate with harsh extremes. It has lived there for more than a thousand years with relatively little help from humans. They reproduced themselves on the basis of natural selection. This has resulted in a strong race. People began to breed the race since the end of the previous century. From that moment onwards humans have played an important role in the development of this race. The health and strength of the Siberian cat in captivity depends on the care, wisdom and knowledge of humans.
Thankfully there are still a lot of Siberian foundation cats in Russia. They live according to the rules of nature and are mostly not related to the cats with a pedigree. This presents the possibility of keeping the race strong when they are to be used in breeding programmes. However, for that to continue, it is important to search  for a suitable foundation of Siberian cats and use them for breeding at the opportune moment and also in combination with carefully selected Siberian cats with a well-known healthy pedigree.

Character
Siberian cats are playful, gentle, good-natured and intelligent. They love attention, like to be handled and are in their own way affectionate to acquaintances. If you have a Siberian cat in your house, it is difficult to avoid a daily good morning cuddle. Most Siberian cats don’t like insistent people and keep distant from unknown people. They can amuse themselves very well, as long as there are several cats in the house, or people continuously in their environment. Not every Siberian cat will sit on your lap all the time, but most of them like to be around you for some attention. The character of a Siberian cat is comparable to that of a dog. They welcome you in a friendly manner when you arrive at home, they crave your affection and have their own preference for people. About dogs barking: usually they are not a problem for Siberian cats. Especially when they have not been in contact with them in the first weeks of their life. Siberian cats are happy to be involved in an active way in family life. Because of their friendly character, they tolerate being handled, lifted and caressed by adults and children alike. It is imperative to remember that a Siberian cat is an animal therefore, they can feel pain and have their own individual needs. Young children may not always know this or bear it in mind. Siberian cats are good at climbing and like to do that often. If you have a Siberian cat at home it is also important to have one or more large trees in your garden – the bigger, the better! This is a perfect diversion for your cat.
There are always exceptions to the rule, and not every Siberian cat is completely the same in character as the other. However, it is certain that Siberian cats are gentle, possess a strong character and are good-natured especially with people.

External Features
The Siberian cat is a  semi-longhaired and solid built cat with short legs and a comparatively heavy bone structure. The information what is used for following description is from NOK (August 2006) and siberian catworld (January 2008).

The Head
A Siberian cat has a short wedge-shaped head with a broad skull, wound up muzzle and firm cheeks, which are accentuated by its broad jaws. The head is broader than it is long. It possesses a wide round nose bridge. Profile: The nose profile shows a slight indentation, but without an end. The forehead is broad and slightly rounded with a firm chin. The ears are quite large with pointed tops, wide at the base. The space between the ears amounts to the breadth of an ear. The ears are open at the base and have well-developed hairs inside and tufts. The eyes are large, oblique and slightly oval and are situated beneath a round eyelid.

The Body
The body is medium in dimension, firm, muscular and rather long with a horizontal back line. The neck is short and firm. The legs are solid, muscular and short and it has strong, round feet with hair between the toes.

The Tail
It has a long tail which is well covered with hair. The tail is wide at the base, is thick and has a rounded tip.

Coat structure
The coat is semi-long haired, well developed and very dense. The undercoat does not lie flat,  the overcoat is water-repellent and slightly hard to the touch.
Its summer coat is distinctly shorter than the winter coat.

Eye colour
The eye colour is a uniform colour -  green or amber. The exception apploes to cats with a Van-pattern or white coloured cats. The Neva Masquerade (a Siberian cat with a pointed pattern) or bi-colour, have blue eyes.