Neva Masquerade

Neva Masquerade
Blue tabby point Neva Masquerade
OriginRussia Russia
Breed standards
FIFestandard
WCFstandard
ACFstandard
CCA-AFCstandard
Domestic cat (Felis catus)
The Neva Masquerade cat on a 2020 Russian stamp.

The Neva Masquerade is a breed or sub-breed of long-haired domestic cat, which originates in Russia.[1][2] It is the sister breed[3] or colourpoint variant of the Siberian cat, a centuries-old Russian landrace. The colourpoint markings are the result of a colourpoint gene originally found in Siamese cats.[4] The Neva Masquerade is believed to be derived from crossing the Siberian cat with Asian colourpoint cats, such as the Siamese or Thai, or possibly cats related to those, such as the colourpointed Persian cats.[3][5][6] Some cat registries may classify the Neva Masquerade as a colourpoint variety or sub-breed of the Siberian cat, while others consider it to be a separate sister breed. Regardless of its classification, all Neva Masquerade cats are selectively bred and pedigreed today in all major cat fancier and breeder organisations under the Siberian (Forest) cat or Neva Masquerade. This means that all Neva Masquerade cats are purebred cats with a formally registered ancestry.

The colourpoint Neva Masquerade has distinctive blue eyes and dark point markings. It is a medium to large sized, muscular long-hair breed with a bushy tail.[7] Apart from the obvious similarities with the Siberian cat, the cat bears similarities with the Norwegian forest cat, and with other colourpoint long-haired cats, such as the Birman, Himalayan, and Ragdoll.

  1. ^ Baggaley, Ann; Goddard, Jolyon; John, Katie (2014). The cat encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-1-4093-4790-3. OCLC 879716720.
  2. ^ Bryan, Kim (2021). The complete cat breed book - choose the perfect cat for you (2nd ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley Limited. ISBN 9780241446317.
  3. ^ a b Magiera, Angelika; Penar, Weronika; Klocek, Czeslaw (2020). "Occurrence of nonlinear phenomena in Siberian and Neva Masquerade cats' vocalisation". Forum Acusticum: 2767–2770. doi:10.48465/FA.2020.0201.
  4. ^ Anderson, Heidi; Davison, Stephen; Lytle, Katherine M.; Honkanen, Leena; Freyer, Jamie; Mathlin, Julia; Kyöstilä, Kaisa; Inman, Laura; Louviere, Annette; Foran, Rebecca Chodroff; Forman, Oliver P.; Lohi, Hannes; Donner, Jonas (2022-06-16). "Genetic epidemiology of blood type, disease and trait variants, and genome-wide genetic diversity in over 11,000 domestic cats". PLOS Genetics. 18 (6): e1009804. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1009804. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 9202916. PMID 35709088.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :RC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).