what makes that cat a Russian Blue?
“That looks like my smokey cat! He must be a Russian Blue too!”
Russian Blue breeders across the country have surely heard this at almost every show they attend, just as breeders of Siamese (and Colorpoint Shorthair and Birman, and Himilayan) hear it in reference to restricted cats by points, and other breeders about their breeds.
People have a natural tendency to want to classify things, to be able to name the group to which something belongs. and so it is with cats. we all want to be able to put a breed name on our favorite companion. But the truth is, the vast majority of cats in the United States are randomly bred (often called domestic) cats that don’t belong to any breed. this does not mean that it is a minor cat, just that it is not a member of a defined breed.
To the untrained eye, a blue cat may appear just like a Russian Blue with a pedigree of 8 generations behind it. how then to determine what distinguishes a Russian blue cat from another blue cat. these differences fall into two main areas: appearance and genetic background.
appearance
Russian Blue has a very distinct appearance and several unique identifiers. the easiest identifiers are:
green eyes (not yellow, blue or orange but dark bottle green)
· solid blue all over with only the tips of the guard hairs silver and producing a shiny effect. domestic blue cats will be devoid of this tip and will be a flat blue. no white or other colored markings at all, except for the occasional white locket on the throat (considered a disqualifying foul)
double thick coat. the first layer consists of the longest guard hairs. The second is the undercoat, which is very soft and gives the Russian Blue coat its unique feel. looked closely, these fine hairs appear wavy
mauve pads. most domestic blue cats have slate gray paw pads
for more additional features such as body structure, profile, ear placement, please see the Russian Blue breed standards at:
Russian standard of the blue breed of the association of cat fanciers
russianblue.net description of russian blue
genetic background
The breed we know as the Russian Blue did not arise from the union of a pair of cats of other colors. it is a natural breed, which other breeders then took and refined and selectively defined their distinctive traits. but they did this using only known Russian blues (except for the brief case after WWII when blue-point conjoined twins were used as crosses to increase then-decimated genetic ranges). because of this selectivity, the breed as a whole has a coherent appearance. mating two Russian blues will always produce another blue genetic copy of themselves. the exception to this is the occasional “spiky” Russian blue which is the result of a recessive gene dating back to that brief Siamese cross over 50 years ago.
household blues cannot be reproduced with this genetic precision. it is entirely possible (and in fact, likely) that that same randomly bred blue had littermates and parents that were not solid blue and would not produce purely blue kittens when mated with another blue cat.
“so how do I tell if my cat is Russian Blue?” one would ask. the only sure method is through his pedigree, that piece of paper that documents the cat’s heritage several generations back and shows that all of his ancestors were also Russian Blues. there are occasional cases where the undocumented cat is in fact a Russian Blue, but these “finds” are usually the result of a pedigreed pet ending up in a pet store without its papers or a pedigreed pet being separated from its original owner (either due to leaving or gone and lost). an experienced eye might pronounce it Russian in that case. but most blue cats just found on the street are not Russian Blues.
does this mean they are a less valuable companion than a purebred russian blue? Of course, no. it simply means that she does not have documentation certifying her origins for generations. she still has her place on your lap and in your heart.
originally written by teresa keiger and ingeborg urcia for the russian blue support site
what’s wrong with calling that blue cat a “Russian blue rescue mix?” read this article on a common myth.
