History of
the
Siberian Cat
The Siberian Cat originates from the Taiga forest in Siberia, Russia. It is truly a natural bred cat because it began from domestic cats mating with wild cats unintentionally by humans. This is their story:
Cats were first brought into Russia by Nobles because they were considered to be exotic pets. The cats were let outside and multiplied. At the end of the 16th century Russians (Ukrainians and Moscovites) immigrated to Siberia enticed by the land and fur. These Pilgrims brought their cats with them to the country. The domestics cats mated with the European and Asian wild cats (Felis Silvestris) that were already there. Only a few of those cats who were strong adapted to the harsh Siberian climate and survived. The aboriginal Siberian cat naturally developed semi long-haired fur that has a dense undercoat with a fairly long slightly oily outer coat. They also developed a thick ruff, tufted ears, large paws with fur underneath and a bushy tail. The layered coat ensured that the wind would not reach their skin and the oiliness gave them water repellent fur so that their skin could stay dry. The extra hair on the ears and paws helped insulate them from the cold. The thick ruff is equivalent to us wearing a scarf and the bushy tail helped them to keep warm up to the face when they curled up in a ball to sleep. The Russian cat became hardy with a very good resistance against infectious diseases. They developed a heavy build that is well muscled and takes up to five years to reach full maturity. The Siberian cat breed had to progress to be avid hunters, astounding leapers, excellent climbers and good swimmers.
Under the Soviet Union the citizens of Russia did not think of breeding the Siberian. Life under Communism was very tough, and their only thought was survival. Cats were used only for purposes such as rat control rather than pets. Cat breeding was not taken seriously until recently. By the late 1980's the Persian cat, came to Russia. If anyone wanted a cat as a pet they thought only of the Persian because by this time a brown tabby cat (Siberian) was considered common but the Persian was unique and glamorous.
When the breed eventually came back over the mountains of Ural to Moscow and St. Petersburg, the breed clubs discovered the fantastic qualities of the Siberian cat. The first cat show held in Russia was in 1987 and thus the registered breeding of the long haired Russian country cat had begun.
It was still not easy developing the Siberian into a breed. The cats from St. Petersburg and Moscow were considered Russian cats not Siberians. As with Russia being quite a large country, Siberians looked different in various areas of Russian since they had mated with an assortment of natural cats. So a foundation cat was pronounced a Siberian by bringing it to the show and letting the judges decide if they thought the type matches their standard of a Siberian.
