Russian Blue

Named for their believed country of origin and their uniform blue-grey fur, Russian Blue cats are a beautiful, clever and agile breed.

There is no official origin story for the Russian Blue cat. Originally known as Archangel Blues (or Foreign Blues), some tales have them hailing from the port of Arkhangelsk, Russia – known as the Archangel Isles. According to these stories, this naturally occurring cat breed is believed to have first traveled out of Russia by ship, arriving in the UK and northern Europe in the 1860s. Another more fanciful origin story has Russian Blues being the direct descendants of the royal cats of Russian czars. Unfortunately, the only completely factual statement about the history of the breed is that the first “official”  showing of a Russian Blue occurred at a cat event in London in 1875.

Russian Blue cats have a long, lean, muscular build and a short, luxurious grey-blue coat with a silvery sheen. Their coat is very thick, plush, and exceptionally soft. These cats are medium sized, and generally weigh 8 – 12lbs. Their ears are large and pointy, and their eyes are large, round, and very green.

Russian Blues are often confused with British Blues, the grey or blue coated type of the British Shorthair cat, though they are quite distinctly different apart from their common coat color. The quickest way to tell a Russian Blue cat from other blue coated breeds is eye color. Russian Blues have green eyes ONLY.

The Russian Blue is an intelligent cat. Clever, but cautious. They enjoy toys, playing fetch, and can develop very strong bonds with their humans. They’re clean and quiet, and seem very sensitive to human emotions.