1
Getting a Cat or Kitten
17 min read
| Family-friendly: | 3/5 |
| Playfulness: | 2/5 |
| Intelligence: | 4/5 |
| Likes Other Pets: | 4/5 |
| Grooming needs: | 2/5 |
| Shedding: | 4/5 |
Russian Blue
The Russian Blue is an attractive, medium sized cat with a moderately ‘foreign’ type body (‘foreign’ in cat terms means ‘like a Siamese cat’), long and lithe and very muscular, yet graceful. The head is a wedge shape but the wide cheekbones give the Russian Blue an open, smiling face framed with large flared ears. Legs and long and lean with neat, small, oval shaped paws. Russian Blues are famous for their dense, thick and plush coat.
Lifespan
10 - 15 years
Weight
3 - 7kg
Colours
Medium silvery-blue shade without any white markings or ghost patterning.
The need-to-know
- Great for first-time cat owners
- Enjoys playing games and is active at home
- Calm cat
- Sociable and dependent cat
- Quiet cat
- Average build cat breed
- Requires grooming once a week
- A bit of both indoor and outdoor space
- Not ideal for family homes
- Can be left alone all day
- Needs a calm environment
Generally healthy breed
There are no widely recognised health problems in the Russian Blue cat breed.
Personality
The Russian Blue is an engaging and elegant companion. They are somewhat aloof with strangers, preferring to observe from a distance and evaluate a new person’s worthiness of friendship, rather than diving straight in with head rubs and lap-time! Once a Russian Blue has assessed you and approved you, they are extremely affectionate and will expect you to meet their every need and desire! Playful and loving, they can make enjoyable and relatively undemanding feline friends.
Developed in Arkhangelsk, Russia somewhere in the 1800’s, little more is known of their origins. There is also a Russian White and Russian Black variety which are closely related but almost never seen in the UK. They were first seen in shows in the UK in the 1880’s.
The Russian Blue is well equipped to cope with life as a cat who has access to outdoors, however they are attractive and striking in appearance and unsupervised access to an insecure garden is a theft risk. Consider providing a secure cat-run with branches and tree trunks to climb and platforms to sunbathe on, or a fully cat-proofed, secured garden.
The Russian Blue will enjoy cat playtime, the provision of food dispensing toys and puzzles, and time spent on your lap. They are accepting of time by themselves as long as their needs are otherwise met and this time alone is not excessive. Russian Blues should be carefully socialised with visitors and children as they can be quite wary of strangers, but this should not be too difficult as they are adorable kittens.
Every cat is unique and each has their own particular likes, dislikes, and needs when it comes to food. However, cats are carnivores and every cat must obtain 41 different and specific nutrients from their food. The proportion of these nutrients will vary depending on age, lifestyle and overall health, so it's not surprising that a growing, energetic kitten needs a different balance of nutrients in her diet than a less active senior cat. Other considerations to bear in mind are feeding the right quantity of food to maintain 'ideal body condition' in accordance with feeding guidelines and catering to individual preference regarding wet or dry cat food recipes. Find out more about cat feeding guidelines with our article.
The Russian Blue will take care of their own coat for the most part, however it’s sensible to get into the habit of a weekly cat groom to check the coat for parasites such as cat fleas, and check the cat over for any scrapes and scratches.
Remember that a greasy coat can be evidence that your cat is no longer attempting to groom themselves, which can be indicative of poor or failing health. As with all cats, Russian Blues benefit from regular vaccination, parasite control and an annual veterinary cat health check.
The Russian Blue will enjoy a home with older children and adults, they are a little too wary and aloof to enjoy life with very young children, or in a household with a constant stream of visitors as this would cause them to spend most of their time in hiding. Find out more about kitten socialisations with our quick article.
Found your perfect breed?
Have a read through these articles selected by our in-house vet.
