From Wikipedia:
The Siberian is a domestic cat breed from Russia. The cat, that has similarities with breeds Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cat, is a natural breed and the national cat of Russia.
It is said to be hypoallergenic and produces less Fel d1 than other cat breeds…
Siberian Cats come in many color varieties, among them tabbies, calicos, bicolors, black, “blue” (actually grey), and orange. A Siberian Cat has a heavy, semi-long-haired coat, a strong, robust body, and a medium head shape (neither “pointy” like a Siamese, nor “flattened” like a Persian). An adult Siberian Cat will have a long and very fluffy tail.
Here are a few examples from Siberian Cat World; click the thumbnail images to see more:
The Siberian Cat, a trooper…in our opinion one of the best cat breeds in the world.
The Siberian Cat originates in Russia. It is a semi long-haired cat, appreciated over the years for its sweet and affectionate temperament. The registrations of the Siberian Cat started in 1987 by the Kotofei Cat Club in St. Petersburg. It was soon followed by The Fauna Club in Moscow.
The exact origin of the Siberian Cat is impossible to confirm due to lack of documentation. It’s a Russian house cat breed. Just, like any stray cat, if given some food and a warm place to stay, it will gradually become more or less domesticated. Cats are good rodent hunters and were therefore imported to cities like Leningrad ( St. Petersburg) to keep the rats under control sometimes at the end of the 1940’s or the beginning of the 1950’s.
A stray cat has mostly low status in any country, especially after the World War II when Europe and former USSR were recovering from the long war.
The modern breeding started from these cats, taken to homes from the streets of Leningrad and Moscow.In the 1960´s the breeding was in small scale, but during the second Russian “revolution” when political system was reformed, the breeding started in larger scale. Export started as well, in the end of 1980’s. The breeders used different cats as foundations; they took them often from the streets. There were also importations from Northern Asia, this started in 1999…
Dorofei, Russia’s First Cat
Dorofei belongs to a breed called Neva Masquerade, which is a descendent of the Siberian Cat breeding stock, but with blue eyes and Siamese “points” (darker fur on muzzle, ears, paws, and tail).
Dorofei (Russian: Дорофей) is a rare Neva Masquerade (Siberian breed) cat belonging to incumbent Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva. Dorofei took over the title of First Pet from Vladimir Putin‘s black labrador Koni, when Medvedev was inaugurated on 7 May 2008.[1]
Dorofei was born in 2004. The Neva Masquerade breed comes from Saint Petersburg, however Dorofei was bred by the Great Hunter breeding company in Moscow. Svetlana Medvedeva bought Dorofei from the breeders as a kitten, and took him back to Saint Petersburg.[2] Neva Masquerades with a good pedigree can cost up to twenty thousand Russian rubles.[1]…
On May 7, when Putin hands over to Medvedev the symbol of presidential power — a golden chain of the Order of St Andrew – Medvedev’s cat Dorofei (Dorotheus in English) will take over the title of First Pet from Connie.
…According to Trud daily, the four-year-old Dorofei belongs to a rare Neva Masquerade breed, revealing Medvedev’s love of St Petersburg – his and Putin’s home town on the Neva River.
Putin has brought many of his St Petersburg aquaintances to top government jobs in Moscow. St Petersburg friends form a considerable part of Medvedev’s entourage as well.
“One more guy from St Petersburg,” wrote Trud, referring to the cat.
In fact Medvedev’s wife Svetlana bought D0rofei in Moscow.
“When Svetlana came to pick up the kitten, she was not the first lady yet, just a simple and very nice woman,” Izvestia quoted the owner of a breeding company Great Hunter, Irina Ilminskaya, as saying. “She played a bit with the kittens and said they always kept cats in their home.”…
Tags: Cats, Dmitri Medvedev, felines, gatos, hypo-allergenic
