Neva Masquerade: the magic of blue eyes

 

he signature Russian breed is of course the Siberian cat. That breed of cats came into our lives a long time ago and is now quite a common. But here we will not talk about the classic Siberians but about their "younger" siblings; color-pointed Siberian cats, better known as Neva Masquerade.

 

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About the breed

 

The Siberian Neva Masquerade cat is one of the largest breeds second only to the Maine Coon. An adult male can weigh 8 to 10 kg. Females weigh much less and more elegant than males. Neva cats are slow to mature. Sometimes it takes 5 years for them to reach full maturity. They are massive, heavy-boned and well-muscled, their neck is short and strong, their legs are powerful and medium sized, the paws are also strong with dense lock of hair between the fingers.

 

The tail reaches to the shoulder blades. It is even in its thickness, wide and strong at its base and gradually tapering towards the tip.

 

The head is short and broad with wide cheeks, rounded muzzle and chin. The top of the head is flat with a smooth transition from a low forehead down to a wide, straight nasal bridge.

 

The nose is medium sized, wide, straight, not snub-nosed. The chin is prominent, wide, well-marked, strong, but not protruding.

 

The eyes are large, rounded, set wide apart, sky-blue in colour, evenly coloured.

 

The ears are of medium size, wide at base with slightly rounded tasseled tips. The external part of the ear is vertical. The external border of the ear base is slightly above of the level of the eyes, there is a lock of long hair from inner side of the ear. The ears tilted slightly forward.

 

The coat is medium length, thick, water-repellent, with hard guard hair, forming a "fox" collar and trousers. Despite its opulence, Neva Masquerade fur coat does not require any special efforts to care for it, since their fur never rolls, and Nevas themselves are very cleanly, especially females.

 

A very elegant color-point color which has become a truly adornment of the Siberian breed. The points: mask, socks, ears and tail – give a special charm. The range of colors is wide. They come in four variations: dark brown (seal), blue, red, or cream. In additions, they come in combi-colors (tortie-point): dark brown with red or blue with cream spots; that are traditionally thought to bring happiness.

 

In the “tabby” color group there are the same colors, the only difference being the striped muzzle, legs and tail. Less common variant is the "tabby" color with dots on the body – the so-called "lynx". Color-point lynxes look very impressive.

 

An extremely rare "silver" color differs from the main colors by a silvery effect created by a unique coloration of only the hair tips.

 

The Neva Masquerade bicolors look very beautiful – they have white socks on their paws and white spots on their muzzles. The presence of white on points is possible for Siberian color-points of any color, and the location, shape, size and symmetry of white markings are not regulated by the standard.

 

A unique feature of both traditional and color-point Siberian cats is their hypoallergenicity. Despite popular belief, hair is not a source of allergies. The real cause of allergies is the protein Felis domesticus allergen 1 d, produced by the sebaceous skin and salivary glands (Fel d 1). Fel d 1 is first released on the skin and then transferred to the coat. It is believed that Siberians’ water-repellent coat and thick undercoat isolate the skin reducing the spread of the allergen. Many people who are allergic to cats keep Siberians without any discomfort.

 

Neva Masquerades have a calm, balanced character. Their owners do not have problems with bad behavior of their pets: good manners are in the blood of Nevas and are fixed at the genetic level. Affectionate, friendly, very companionable, love to chat "about life" with the owner. But they are never intrusive and have an inborn sense of their worth and dignity. They see themselves as partners to their owners. They love communication that is “on equal terms” and that respects outstanding intelligence. Females are more freedom-loving and independent, whilst the character of males is softer and more flexible.

 

When it comes to habitation requirements, Nevas are very undemanding. They adapt easily to detention conditions; Nevas bond with their owners not the physical surroundings. Consequently, they can move from apartment to apartment as long as their beloved owner is with them. They have excellent immunity, good health, and long-life expectancy.

 

Some history

 

Disputes about the origin of the Neva Masquerades do not quiet down: it is not known where Siberian cats got the color-point gene from. According to one version, the color-point color was obtained by crossing Siberian cats with color-point cats, such as Siamese, Balinese, Persian. Another explanation is that the color was the result of hereditary recessive albinism.

 

In 1960s, Siberian color-points were first noticed in Leningrad. They were picked up from the street, their offspring passed around as gifts amongst friends and began to be regarded as domestic cats. Soon after, their charm and noble appearance inspired ideas about breeding these cats. Later, in the club "Kotofey", under the leadership of Olga Mironova the selection of these cats began. Neva Masquerades are named in honor of the glorious city on the Neva, famed in the past for its bright balls and masquerades. With their intricate masks and luxurious outfits these Siberian cats are worthy bearers of the poetic name Neva Masquerades.

 

In 1987. the first cat show was held in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, organized by the clubs "Kotofey" and "Kis". In it, for the first time, Siberian cats were officially presented to the general public. Soon, breeding work with Siberian color-points, starting in Leningrad, spread out to Moscow, where it was most developed.

 

In August 1990, the International Public Organization "Felinological Federation" (CFF) registered the Siberian breed and assign the code "SIB" to it. At the same time, the color-point Siberian cat was registered under the name "Neva Masquerade". From this moment the official history of Nevas begins.

 

In 1992, the Siberian breed was recognized by the WCF (World Cat Federation), the standard emphasized that the Neva Masquerade cats are color-point cats.

 

Nevas today

 

Today, in addition to WCF, Neva Masquerades are recognized by the systems TICA (The International Cat Association), ACFA (American Cat Fancier's Association), GCCF (The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy), TCA (The Traditional Cat Association), CFF (Cat Fanciers Federation), IPA (International Feline Organization), FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline), and CFA (Cat Fancier’s Association).

 

Outside of Russia, the first Siberian color-points appeared in Germany in the late 80s from German breeders Hans and Betty Schultz. Yarmila Markova brought the Neva Masquerade cat to the Czech Republic in 1992. Siberian color-points were introduced to the United States by Dana Osborne in February 1997 and a year later the first masquerade kittens were born. Today in these countries the Siberian color cats are the most widespread and are especially popular; there are even mono-breed clubs in Germany.

 

In Great Britain, the Neva Masquerades appeared only in 2001, and newspapers even wrote about this event. In 2003. The first Siberian color-point cattery appeared in South Korea, a great interest in our aboriginal breeds is shown in the Republic of South Africa. The triumphant march of Nevas around the world continues. In the past, foreign Siberian catteries could be counted on the fingers of a single hand. Nowadays, dozens of new ones appear each year. Neva Masquerade cats enjoy special respect and are willingly purchased by enticed foreign breeders. Today Siberian cats are the most exported from Russia. The majority of the exported felines are color-points.

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In Russia, the Neva Masquerades are most popular in Moscow and St. Petersburg. There are many Neva Masquerade catteries in other large cities of Russia, although 20 years ago this was a rare phenomenon.

 

In Novosibirsk, the first Neva Masquerade cat Taisia Valenor appeared in December 2003, she also became the ancestor of the first Siberian Neva Masquerade cattery in Novosibirsk – Ellbrante. Today the Novosibirsk cattery Ellbrante includes 4 cats (Poeziya Iz Tverskogo Knyazhestva, Kuvshinka Iz Lukomorya, Joanna Iz Lukomorya and Bianka Zhemchug Nevy) and 2 males (Archibald Ellbrante and Diamond Ellbrante). The cattery bred such colors as seal point, seal-tabby point, seal-tabby point with white, tortie point, red point, blue point and blue-tabby point. At cat shows, experts noted the growing quality of cats. Kittens from Ellbrante cattery mostly "settled" in Novosibirsk, some "dispersed" in the cities of Russia: Moscow, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Saratov, Tyumen, Nizhnevartovsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Irkutsk and Yakutsk – and abroad: Ukraine (Odessa), Finland (Helsinki), Italy (Milan), USA and China.

 

20 years ago, the population of tribal Neva Masquerades in Siberia was very small; they were just making their first steps on the Siberian land. But even then, it could be said that these were confident steps towards recognition and popularity of the breed. Since then, interest in the breed has grown rapidly. Today, many catteries have appeared in Novosibirsk and nearby cities. This has greatly facilitated the breeding work in comparison with past times, when Novosibirsk Masquerade brides had to go on dates to Moscow. 20 years ago, when people saw Nevas at the cat show in Novosibirsk they exclaimed in surprise: "Look, here is long-hair Siamese!" Today, approaching the Siberian color-points, a visitor of a cat show will not proudly proclaim: "Here are the Neva Masquerades!"

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