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Russian
Blue
Cat
Russian Blue Cat
Photo ©
copyright Helmi Flick
Introduction
As is the case for many natural cat breeds the origin of this cat is
hazy. On the basis that she is indeed a cat that has
evolved naturally
without mankind's involvement until becoming a pedigree cat, the
Russian Blue, as the name suggests, comes from Russia. More
particularly, the town of Archangel in
North Russia (see map
underlined in red).
The city (or is it a town) is now called Arckhangelsk.
If you want to see a bigger and better map plus bigger high quality
Helmi Flick pictures of the Russian Blue cat in a slide show
accompanying a description of this breed with reference to a breed
standard then click on the link: Russian Blue.
Far from me to suggest it, but it does seem a very happy coincidence
that a cat that comes from cold and icy Russia should naturally be cold
and icy in appearance. Perhaps this cat breed's appearance has been
refined, by careful breeding. Amanda Bright who has been breeding
Russian Blues for almost 39 years says, "the Russian Blue did originate
in Arkhangelsk and was developed in England AND the USA beginning in
the late 1800s and early 1890s. Early USA cats included Peterkin,
Peterkin II and Fiametta -- and we have pictures of these American
Russian Blues. There was also a cat called Olivette who was a Bayard
daughter." Thank you Amanda.
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Photo:
© copyright Helmi Flick
Update
28-7-09: I
have had a welcome message from a mysterious contributor who has the
following to say about this breed - to add to what I have written. I
judge it to be accurate and quote it verbatim for accuracy. Thanks for
the input by the way!:
First RB (Russian
Blue) shown in the crystal palace had domestic parents, see "Our
Cats" by Harrison Weir, who organized the show, where he describes the
parents of this first "russian blue" as being VERY non-blue..LOL
Blue cats of many kinds were imported into England from supposedly
"Russia", ie blue and white, solid blue, blue tabby...it was the humans
who decided to work only with the solid blue...there are no natural
barriers in the area of Archangelisk to keep shorthaired blue only cats
separate from any other hairlength or color.
So, what I am saying is they are not a "natural" breed, just a common
blue color that the breeders decided to make into a breed. ACFA, TICA
and GCCF DO recognize the whites/blacks/tabbies for showing in
provisional classes, just not for championship yet.
The "colors" are accepted by, as you mentioned Australian and New
Zealand registries, plus LOOF in France, South African cat registry and
many smaller independant cat registries all over europe--ie Neocat etc
(Europe has a different system and it is hard to find out exactly which
independant registries accept what breed and colors).
You are correct that CFA only recognizes the russian in the color blue.
Also, those first two Russian Blues registered in the 1940's in
the CFA studbooks actually have a British Blue for a dam! There is also
a question about some of the earlier "russian blues" pedigrees, ie
coming from Brits or alley cats, imported into the USA in the early
1900's.
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An engraving
from Popular Science 1890
History
| Date |
Event
- this should be read in the light of the above |
| 1860 |
Informally
imported in UK and Europe from
Russia |
| 1890 |
Formally
imported into UK? |
| 1875 |
Shown
at Crystal Palace Cat Show. Crystal
Palace was the premier arena at that time for exhibitions in London |
| 1912 |
Classified
as a Russian Blue as opposed to
a
blue cat by UK cat fancy |
post
ww2 |
Development
of the breed takes place in
earnest |
| 1947 |
Imported
into USA |
| 1949 |
CFA
recognize the Russian Blue Cat |
| 1970s |
Solid
white Russian Blue (renamed Russian
White) bred by Australian breeder |
| Current |
CFA
only recognize Russian Blue. TICA and ACFA do NOT recognize the white,
black and tabby colors that some breeders are attempting to develop.
They are accepted for registration. However, they are not accepted for
championship which would be full recognition.
Australian (ACF) and New Zealand (NZCF) cat fanciers also
recognize the Russian White and Black. GCCF recognize the White and
Black as "preliminary" and give full status to the Blue (& see
below) |
| 18-10-08 |
A
Russian Blue cat won the Best of the Best award at the CFA/Iams
Championship at Madison Square Garden 19th October 2008. His name is
Runner. Full name is Platina Luna Blade Runner. The proud
owners/keepers are not cat breeders, just exhibitors. There names are
Teresa Keiger and Rob Miller. |
Russian
Blue -
Bali - photograph © copyright Helmi Flick
Associations
and the Russian Blue
TICA and CFA have breed standards specific to the Russian Blue. GCCF
(UK) uses the Russian
Blue standard for the Nebelung
as apparently the only
difference is the length of the hair. The GCCF does not formally
recognize the Nebelung, however (see above- history as well).
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| Russian
Blue Cat photographs © copyright Helmi Flick - click for
larger
images |
Appearance
and Character
She is a nice medium sized cat (see cat
size/weight comparison).
The Russian Blue Cat always has
blue-grey
hair and green eyes, which simplifies a description of this
cat. Anyway Helmi's photographs say it all. Looking at the eyes of the
cats (Bali, Beauty and the cat below right) it is noticeable how wide
open they are. This seems to be a characteristic. They should be "vivid
green" color and I think that they are. The coat color is as
a
result of the dilution of black. You can see a bit more
on dilution by clicking on this link .
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Photo:
© Sensual Shadows
Photography
Other
cats with similar color configuration are the British Shorthair
(one of the colors is
blue/grey),the Chartreux
(exclusively grey), Nebelung
(the Russian
Blue has been used to add "type" to the Nebelung i.e. make the
Nebelung
look more like she is meant to look) and the Korat.
Both
the Nebelung and Korat are also exclusively grey - see Grey
Cat Breeds.
The coat is the outstanding feature of this cat. It is a double coat
with dense
fur, fine in texture and "plush". The top coat (guard hairs) are blue
with silver tipping giving the special chilly Russian appearance that
you can see in
Helmi's photographs.
Reports say that this is an intelligent
breed of cats (although most
admirers of a breed will
say this) and that she possesses all the usual attributes of a sociable
pet.
They are perhaps a little shy, it seems, with strangers (this maybe
anecdotal).
The European breed is apparently slightly heavier and larger than the
American breed. However, the cat above right, by Sensual Shadows
Photography, is an American cat and I think heavier than the show
cats taken by Helmi in America. So, I'm not sure this is true.
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Photo of
Bali © copyright Helmi Flick
Breeders
Click on the link to read about buying Russian
Blue Kittens
illustrated by some
really nice pictures.
Top ranked cattery websites breeding this cat in the order listed by
Google:
Otis Russian
Blues
Located in the UK, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Breeding this cat since
1993.
Siblu Cattery
Run by Cheryl Steffe. The Cattery is located in the Lower Blue
Mountains, one hour's drive west of Sydney. This is one of the best
cattery sites that I have seen.
Enchanting
Diety Cattery (new window)
This is based in Estonia and owned and managed by Eduard Maandi.
Would you like to
be listed on this site? Please contact me.
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Photo:
© copyright Helmi Flick of Tonkinese
cat (left) and Russian Blue
Russian
Blue cat - Sources:
- http://www.nebelung.nl/nebelung_standard.html
- CFA
- Breedlist
- Wikipedia
- Messybeast
- About
- Amanda Bright
who says, "I've been breeding cats
under the prefixes of Kyina and Talisker since 1970 and am currently a
Provisional Allbreed judge with TICA. I've had Russian Blues for most
of those 39 years and am one of the people who does the most historical
research on the breed." Thanks Amanda. I always welcome information.
Map:
this is courtesy www.embassyworld.com and is copyright free as I
understand it. The map has been modified to make it smaller and to
highlight the town of Arckhangelsk. It is made smaller for
practical reasons.
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Russian Blue Cat to Home Page
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