Russian Blue

The Russian Blue is a breed of cat.

It has a lean medium-sized body and a short, plush, blue coat.

The colour is a blueish-gray that is the dilute expression of the black gene.

The coat is unique to the breed as it is a double coat, with the undercoat being soft and downy, and the longer guard hairs an even blue with silver tips.

This "tipping" gives the coat a shimmering appearance. Its eyes are green and ideally should be dark and vivid. Common imperfections include yellow eyes, white patches on the underside and dark banding on the tail.

These cats are highly intelligent and playful but tend to be shy around strangers. They also develop a close bond with their human companions.

Unlike many modern cat breeds, the Russian Blue is a naturally occurring breed which is believed to have originated in the port of Arkhangelsk, Russia (hence the name), although the evidence for this is purely anecdotal.

They are also sometimes called Archangel Blues. During and following World War II, due to a lack of numbers of Russian Blues, some cross breeding with the Siamese breed was introduced.

The Siamese traits have now been largely bred out. The majority of their modern breeding program has been carried out in the United States.

Although they have been used on a limited basis to create other breeds (such as the Havana Brown) or add type to a breed in creation (the Nebelung], Russian Blues themselves are shorthaired, blue cats.

Russian Blues should not be confused with 'British Blues' (which are not a distinct breed but rather a British Shorthair with a blue coat), nor the Chartreux or Korat which are two other naturally occurring breeds of blue cats.

During the early 1970s, Mavis Jones, a Russian Blue breeder in Australia, mated a domestic white cat with a Russian Blue with the intent to create a solid white Russian Blue.

By the late 1970s, the Russian White and Russian Black colors were accepted by cat fanciers in Australia as true Russian cats. These hybridized colors are accepted in a few other registries and only on a limited basis.

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