A sturdy forest cat from Russia with a thick three-layer coat: friendly, playful and pleasantly quiet.
The Siberian is the pedigree form of Russia's semi-longhaired farm and street cat. Despite its name, the breed was not developed in Siberia but in St Petersburg and Moscow. Fans there wrote the first standards in the late 1980s. It is strong and athletic, jumps high and likes to be close to its people.
Friendly and people-oriented: it wants to know what you are doing and likes to be where you are.
Some love a lap, others just like to stay close by.
Loves to play, chase and jump, also as an adult.
Lively and athletic, especially when young, but not a restless cat.
Quiet: it would rather chirp, trill and purr loudly than meow.
Clever and quick to learn. Many like to play fetch, and some learn to open doors.
Usually curious and friendly towards visitors.
Patient and gentle, a good family cat.
Usually gets on with a calm, friendly dog.
Usually easy-going with other cats.
Does not like long days alone. A second cat helps.
Can live indoors with plenty to climb, but it loves to jump and wants space.
A Siberian is hypoallergenic, so people with a cat allergy can keep one.
No cat is free of allergens, and every Siberian tested makes the main cat allergen. That the breed makes less of it on average has never been properly tested by independent research.
It is an ancient breed that guarded Russian monasteries a thousand years ago.
A legend. In Russia 'Siberian cat' was simply a name for any big fluffy cat. The breed itself was only written down in the late 1980s.
The Siberian is the ancestor of all long-haired cats, such as the Maine Coon.
No. DNA research places it close to ordinary house cats of northern Europe and the Norwegian Forest Cat. The Maine Coon descends from British cats.
Semi-longhaired cats had long lived on farms and in towns in Russia. 'Siberian cat' was a folk name for any big fluffy cat. In the late 1980s breeders in Leningrad and Moscow wrote the first standards, with the colourpoint (Neva Masquerade) included from the start. In the 1990s the cats went to America and western Europe, and by 2006 every major registry recognised the breed.
A German animal book mentions 'a red Tobolsk cat from Siberia', the first known mention outside Russia.
The Kotofei club in Leningrad, now St Petersburg, writes one of the first standards. The city holds its first cat show.
The Soviet cat federation registers the Siberian as number 1 and its colourpoint, the Neva Masquerade, as number 2.
The first registered Siberians arrive in the United States.
WCF becomes the first international registry to accept the breed, with a standard based on the Russian one.
The European federation FIFe recognises the Siberian.
Britain's GCCF accepts the breed for registration, two years after the first cats came to England.
America's CFA gives the breed championship status.
FIFe recognises the Neva Masquerade as a breed of its own.
Researchers find that the golden 'sunshine' colour comes from a change in one gene, CORIN.
FIFe also accepts sunshine cats. WCF already did so in 2017.
Medium to large and heavy for its size, with solid bones and plenty of muscle. Everything about it is round and soft, made for a hard winter.
The Siberian with a mask: a light body with a darker face, ears, legs and tail, and always blue eyes. It comes from the same gene as in the Siamese. Otherwise it is exactly the same cat. It is named after the Neva river in St Petersburg.
Recognition: FIFe has treated it as a breed of its own since 2011. WCF, TICA, CFA and GCCF see it as a colour of the Siberian.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
White(w)
Brown classic(n 22)
Brown mackerel(n 23)
Red classic(d 22)
Silver mackerel tabby(ns 23)
Tortie and white(f 03)Sunshine is a warm golden colour found only in the Siberian, with a pink nose without a dark rim. WCF has recognised it since 2017, FIFe since 2025, only in black, blue and tortie.
In FIFe a colourpoint is not a Siberian but a Neva Masquerade, a breed of its own. WCF, TICA, CFA and GCCF keep it inside the Siberian.
FIFe and WCF exclude chocolate, lilac, cinnamon and fawn, also as points; CFA sees chocolate and lilac as a sign of crossbreeding. Mink (the Tonkinese pattern) is not in the FIFe or WCF standard.
Only Siberians have the golden 'sunshine' colour, and those cats have a pink nose without a dark rim.
Its coat has three kinds of hair on top of each other, with a water-repellent layer on top.
That is how long a Siberian can take to be fully grown.
The Neva Masquerade is named after the river Neva in St Petersburg and its face, which looks like a mask.
Cats without a pedigree from the former Soviet Union can still join the breed. For almost every other breed that is no longer possible.
Usually about 12 to 15 years. No study has measured it for Siberians yet.
The heart muscle thickens. Many cats never show anything, but it can lead to heart trouble. It occurs in several Siberian lines. How often is not known, and no cause in the genes has been found in this breed yet.
How it is found: A heart scan of the parents. The Maine Coon DNA test does not work for this breed.
Over the years small fluid-filled sacs grow in the kidneys, until the kidneys work less well. In the Siberian it is rare and found in only a few lines.
How it is found: A kidney scan, and a DNA test that is mainly useful in lines with Persians in the pedigree.
An inherited anaemia: red blood cells break down too early, which can make a cat tired and thin. In the Siberian it is rare. A kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Carriers are only mated with cats that do not carry it.
White cats, especially blue-eyed ones, can be born deaf in one or both ears. That comes with the gene for white, not with this breed.
How it is found: A hearing test. FIFe, WCF and GCCF require it for white cats used for breeding.
Comb about once a week, daily while it moults in spring and autumn. Some coats mat more than others: check the belly, tail and britches.
It loves to jump high. Give it a tall, sturdy cat tree, places to climb and play together every day. A safe garden or balcony is a bonus.
It grows slowly, but can breed from about 5 months. So talk to the vet about neutering early, and keep it lean.
A Siberian is not hypoallergenic. Every Siberian tested makes Fel d 1, the main cat allergen. The idea that the breed makes less comes mainly from breeders' own tests and a study of just four cats. It does differ from cat to cat. If you are allergic, visit the actual cat a few times first.
It likes being with people and does not cope well with long days alone. If you are out a lot, a second cat is a good idea.
Checked on 20 October 2026
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