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 My wife, Jan, had cats growing up and loves cats. Unfortunately, her first husband made her get rid of them (hmm, the shape of things to come, as it turned out), and to top it all off her first child turned out to be highly allergic to cats and dogs, both. And that seemed to put the nail in the coffin for her having cats, at least until her first-born was grown and out of the nest.
In my case, if anyone could be considered a "dog person," it's me. My parents raised champion Weimaraners and our house was filled with dogs (and the yard with horses, ducks, chickens, and a goat) all the years that I was growing up. I never hated cats, but never developed any particular empathy with them, either, particularly after a disastrous episode of "cat-sitting" while I was in college. But recently we found out about the alleged "hypo-allergenic" Siberian cats that were first imported from Russia to the United States in 1990, and after some close-in testing (lots of petting and "face in fur" time) of my stepson's allergic reaction at the home of a local Siberian owner, we decided to take the plunge and bought two Siberian kittens, Nina and Sasha.  Before I go on, I have to say that I'm a bit of an old russophile, having studied Russian quite a few years ago and done some time as a "cold warrior" back in the late 1980s. So getting a "siberian" cat, which also happens to be the national cat of the Russian Federated Republic, was a bit of a trip.
The other thing I have to say right up front is that I think Siberian cats are just flat-out gorgeous. There are lots of pretty cats - and, to be perfectly honest, some really ugly ones - out there, but the most beautiful cats I've ever seen are Siberians. That's a totally biased opinion, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! After digging around on the web, my wife found a Siberian cat breeder that wasn't too far away: the Reigning Cats Cattery in Maryland. After corresponding with the breeder, we found out that there were indeed Siberian kittens available, and so we headed over to pick out "ours." We'd decided to get a pair, preferably a male and female, so they'd be able to keep each other company when we were out of the house and to spread the love, so to speak, among the members of the family. As it happened, the breeder had a brother-sister pair from a recent litter: a tuxedo male and cream-colored color-point female. We loved them, the boys loved them, and so we went ahead and made arrangements to purchase them. After some more research, we decided on their names: Sasha, for the male, and Nina, for the female. A few weeks later they were weaned and the breeder said we could bring them home. So off we went to pick them up and bring them "home" for the first time. Neither of them were terribly happy in the crate on the way home, not that I can blame them a bit: this was the first time they'd ever been out of the basement where they were born. They meowed a bit, no doubt wondering what these four "sausages" were who were trying to keep them calm during the trip, but certainly didn't panic. We'd decided to put them in our bedroom and make that their safe room, with their food, water, and litter box in the adjacent master bathroom. Once they were comfortable with that, we'd gradually open up the rest of the house for them to explore.  Thus began about a dozen days of entertaining confinement for my wife during the days and all of us during the evenings. Since Jan works at home, she was able to spend all day with our new Siberian kittens, although she was going a bit stir crazy by the time we felt they were ready to start exploring more of the house. They tended to hide under the bed for the first day or two, but gradually they came out of their shells and got comfortable with their surroundings and their new "owners" (if cats have owners; many would contest the concept).
They only had a couple of accidents before they got used to the litterbox, which was a relief. However, as time went on, they displayed an odd behavior that I had never heard tell of with cats (not that I knew that much about them, but Jan hadn't seen this before either): more often than not they would step in their poop while they were trying to cover it over. But the kicker was that they wouldn't make any attempt to clean themselves (not, in a way, that I'd blame them - I wouldn't want to do that if it was me, either!). So we've spent a fair amount of time in the shower stall with a pitcher of water and mild shampoo cleaning off poopy kitty feet. They've been getting better recently (at the 20 week mark), but I'll be happy once - hopefully - this unfortunate phase is behind us! Other than that, though, they've been a joy. Some have termed them as being very "dog-like." I think I'd describe them more as not having the aloofness often attributed to cats. Sasha, our little boy, will sometimes just trot over to one of us and flop down to expose his belly for a good tummy rub. But, as usual with cats, it's on his terms: if he doesn't feel playful, he has no compunction about turning up his nose and walking away. Nina, our little princess, is a bit more aloof than Sasha. But when she wants attention, you definitely know it - especially when it's 4 a.m. and you wake up to this furry little face (with incredibly big pupils) and a purr like a little motorboat. It's not my preferred way to get up in the morning, but I've certainly had worse alarm clocks! Both of them, of course, are very playful and like nothing better (when it suits them) than a spirited game of chase with those crazy toys that have a stick that you hold with a lure on the end of a string. But when they don't want to play, don't even bother. Again, the cat personality: it's on their terms!  So, if you're a "dog person" or someone who might like to have a pet and hasn't really thought about owning a cat because of the aloofness attribution, consider a Siberian cat. But be forwarned: these cats are supposed to get big! Already at 20 weeks, Sasha is bigger than many other full-grown cats, tipping the scales at over five pounds, while Nina is considerably more petite (but nearly as big as many adult cats). Sasha should wind up being somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds, with Nina somewhat smaller: Siberian cats are one of the largest breeds, along with the Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cat.
But that's okay: I'm used to big dogs, so having a big Siberian cat or two isn't a bad thing at all... Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts) |
