the Russian Blue

The Russian Blue has a semi-foreign body type, lean and lanky without being tubular.  Its athletic body is often compared to a swimmers body rather than a wrestlers, although it can look heavier due to the plushness of it’s double coat.  This double coat is tipped with silver, giving the cat a shimmering, silvery look as it moves.  The coat is also plush enough that one can leave fingerprints in it, without the coat flattening back along it’s body.  The coat is silky soft, often compared to a silk scarf when touched.  Often times kittens will have ghost tabby markings and rings on their tails, this is acceptable, and should disappear with adulthood.

Medium to lighter blues shades are preferred in the coat color, but all shades should show the silver tipping as a contrast to the base coat color.

The eye color of a Russian Blue is vivid green, the more emerald color, the better.  No other eye color is allowed in an adult Russian Blue.  Kittens tend to move from blue-gray to a teal color to the full green eye color as they mature.  The eye shape is rounded with a slight oval slant, almost suggesting an oriental slant, and are set wide apart on the face.

 

The Russians ears are rather large, wide at the base, tapering to a rounded point at the top.  They are set far apart on the head, midway between the top and sides of the head.  The ear furnishings are fairly sparse, and the fur on the back side of the ear is short and fine.

Temperament    

Russians tend to like a peaceful, orderly, quiet home, where they can contemplate life going on around them.  They are comfortable in a nice warm bed watching birds outside the window.  They tend to pick one or two family members to bond closest too, giving them their undivided attention.  Russians are a quieter cat, and of average activity level.  Many will learn how to play fetch with their owners and love to regally pose so as to be admired.

Origin

Like most breeds, the origins of the Russian Blue has been lost in history.  It has been suggested that they originated in the Archangelsk area of Russia, or the northern areas of the Scandinavian countries.  What is known is in the late 1800’s, solid blue cats, blue and white cats, and blue tabby cats started appearing in England via merchant ships from northern seaports.  Eventually, the beginnings of the cat fancy picked the solid blue cat to isolate as a breed, thus, the beginnings of the Russian Blue.