The Breed

Hypo Allergenic

Siberian cats are known for their hypo-allergenic characteristics. Allergic reactions to cats, an occurrence more common than allergies to dogs, is caused by a protein in the saliva called Fel d1. Siberian cats have the lowest level of this protein in the cat world.

Some statistics state that about 75% of all allergy sufferers are not allergic to Siberians, we have however only had less than 1% of our customers react to their Siberian cat.

Read about the most hypo-allergenic cat breeds in this article from Purina

Dog-like Cat

Probably the most important trait is that Siberian cats have a dog-like character, that is obvious right away. When strangers come into the house, these cats come out and greet them and want to interact with people all the time. This is not a cat breed to feed and ignore.
Behaving like a dog means they follow you around all day, wait at the door for you to come home, can be taught to fetch a ball, can be trained to walk on a leash and generally don’t mind water. They also get along with other animals very well, but like to be the boss.

The less well known third trait is that Siberian cats bond exceptionally well with children and more importantly, seem to sense which child is supposed to be its Human. Even though the mother generally feeds the kitten, we have never had a case where the cat did not bond with the right child, even when there was more than one child or two kittens came into a multi-child household at the same time.

True to their dog-like nature, these cats will not walk through a field of dominos and not through any over, they are as clumsy as dogs in that regard. Just because they can, Siberians will knock things off tables, walk on shelves and ‘happen to’ bump glasses or jars off and then look surprised as things hit the floor.
If you get a kitten, pack everything away that is precious for the first year and don’t think about curtains, best climbing toy ever.

Information on the Breed

The Siberian, Russia’s native forest cat, first appeared in recorded history around the year 1000 and hails from the unforgiving climate of Siberia. It lived about 200 years in a natural state in Siberia and is a natural breed with no human intervention.

Siberians are considered one of the largest domestic feline cats because of its large and dense bone structure. Its coat is semi-long haired and comes in many colours and patterns. Because of the extreme cold, the Siberian has developed superior surviving qualities such as thicker skin and dense water resistant fur.

Newskij’s Cattery in Germany began in 1987 with Mussa and Tima from St.Petersburg. In another part of Germany Siberian Cats were bred even before 1985. The German cattery “vom Schlosspavillon” was founded in 1987 and has been actively breeding Siberian Cats until today. The breed was introduced to the USA in the early 1990’s by Starpoint Cattery.

The breed is extremely slow to mature, taking as long as 5 years. Adult males (8-10 Kg) are usually larger than the females (5-7Kg) and allowances should be made for a size differential between males, females and young juveniles.
No outside breeding is allowed.

The Siberian tends to be both a great problem solver and also, rather like dogs, is loyal to its adopted family which is why they are so well suited to the households in which one spouse, usually a husband or significant other, professes to be a “dog person” not a “cat person.” Often it is that same “dog person” who is greeted at the door by their Siberian and after being dutifully followed around the house by their Siberian then decides that one Siberian is simply not enough!

They are more dependent on human interaction than and tend to bond closer than other feline breeds. This also creates a situation that provides for easier training. Siberians are powerful cats, but rarely injure their human friends, even in play. They purr very loudly and love to head butt their favourite humans.

They are not very vocal but quickly establish communications through body language. Because of the obvious reasons above and many amazing others, the Siberian cat and kitten are rapidly becoming the pet of choice for many families. Siberians are extremely agile and can leap great distances and heights to “fly through the air with the greatest of ease!”
Grooming of the Siberian is not very demanding. A bath is not a necessity unless they have an accident (mud, diarrhea…). They will shed intensely twice a year, in spring and autumn.