czarina siberians

hypoallergenic

Siberian Cats are considered hypoallergenic, which means they have low allergen levels.

Although there is no cat breed that is completely non-allergenic, the Siberian breed is known for having some of the lowest allergen levels among cats. Our experience is that most allergy sufferers are able to welcome our kitties into their homes with either no allergic reaction at all or only a mild initial reaction that tends to dissipate over the first days or weeks of welcoming their new kitty home.

Most cat allergies appear to be caused by a protein in feline saliva and sebum called Fel d 1. This Fel d 1 protein contains an allergen load that tends to be very high in most cats; however, Siberian Cats have consistently lower levels of this protein. Siberians have proven to be fantastic for those with this most common form of cat allergies.

Our first introduction to Siberian Cats came about a decade after my oldest daughter faced a life-and-death ambulance ride to Calgary Children’s Hospital. Due to severe cat allergies, she was unable to breathe. We rejoiced when our little girl survived, but our hearts grieved as we faced the necessity of rehoming our beloved pet cat to family friends. When we learned, several years later, that Siberian Cats are hypoallergenic, we were filled with new hope. What a joy to watch my daughter snuggle and play with our amazing Siberian kitten with no allergic reaction at all.

It is now our joy and privilege to place our Siberian kitties in homes of those who have also been unable to have a cat due to cat allergies.

CZARINA SIBERIANS kitties usually join families with mild to severe cat allergies. The amazement, disbelief, tears of joy, and unbounded delight that accompanies these adoptions fills our hearts to overflowing.

Because of the primal beauty and devoted nature of these gentle giants, along with their amazing hypoallergenic qualities, we have chosen to become advocates for preserving and improving this unique breed since welcoming our first Siberian into our home over sixteen years ago.

When you choose to adopt one or more of our Czarina Siberians kitties, you are receiving a beloved kitty we have cared for from conception, loved as a unique individual from birth, and personalized the socialization process backed by our years of research and experience. Our kitties are each precious to us, and we adore following their lives through the updates our Czarina Forever Families give us.

Congratulations on making a wonderful choice in Czarina Siberians providing the foundation for your newest family member - your very own Czarina Siberians kitty.

czarina siberians

history & folklore

Slavic tales attribute a rich history and folklore to Siberian Forest Cats. These large, muscular, semi-longhaired, hypoallergenic cats are known for their interactive playfulness and astoundingly sweet beauty.

Siberians have many dog-like qualities of loyalty, intelligence, calm sweetness, eagerness to please, and desire to remain near their families and other pets.

Many families who have adopted from us over the years have taught their kitties clever tricks. Some will play fetch, shake a paw, sit on command, somersault in pursuit of a good toy, play in water, or jump great heights.

Some of our kitties accompany their families for weekends to the family cottage or on camping trips or become snowbirds with winter homes down south. Some of our kitties now love to go sailing on the ocean or ‘backpack hiking’ in the mountains with their families. Van life, city life, country life, apartment life, we find our kitties adore their lives no matter what form it takes because they are with the people they love most in the world. When working from a foundation of mutual trust, sometimes the limit to what tricks and lifestyles your Czarina Siberians kitty can learn is limited only by your patience and imagination.

SIBERIAN CATS bond deeply with their families and often sense and provide needed psychological or physical support. Very often, individuals or families will adopt one (or more) Siberian kitten or cat from us to serve as an emotional support for someone in their home. We find it rewarding seeing our kitties providing such vital care to their devoted loved ones.

Although known for being fairly quiet, Siberian Cats do make comforting and melodic sounds, including friendly chirrups, gentle meows, sweet trills, and plenty of purring.

The first Siberian Cat to come to North America arrived in 1990. In 1992, TICA accepted Siberian Cats as a registered new breed for showing, where Siberians wowed judges and observers alike. Long before they graced the TICA show halls, though, Siberians had domesticated themselves to local families and monasteries from their harsh wintry natural woodland habitats of the Siberian Taiga.

The earliest known reference to Siberian Cats is from 1000 AD, although Siberians have starred in Slavic tales and folklore for generations. With the perfect blend of being both excellent hunters and gently friendly, Siberian Cats quickly won over the hearts of their new families from those early days. Thus the creativity born of oral tradition began crafting playful stories that were shared generation after generation, such as is depicted in the origins of Governor Catafay Ivanovich below:

Disclaimer: This historic folklore does not represent Czarina Siberians’ perspective and we do nor condone the choices and behaviours and thought processes of the characters depicted. Enjoy this story simply as folklore and a glimpse into the oral tradition of slavic culture carried forward generation to generation.

Once, long ago, in Siberian, there lived an elderly peasant man. On his small land he had a cat who was always getting into mischief. Thinking it over, he scooped up the cat, walked into the forest, and left the troublemaking cat to fend for himself.

The cat wandered through the forest until he came upon a woodman’s cottage. The playful cat climbed into the loft and made himself at home.

When he was hungry he would go out and catch a bird or a rat in the woods. Having eaten his fill, the furry feline would return to the warmth and peace of the loft he made home. Life was idylic.

One day as the cat went walking, he met a fox. The fox, who marvelled at the cat, thought to herself, “I’ve never seen such a beast in all my days.”

She curtseyed to the cat, asking, “Tell me, kind sir, who are you? What brings you to these parts, and what, pray, might be your name?”

Ruffling up his fur, the cat said boldly, “I have been sent from Siberian forests to be your new governor. You may call me by my name and title: Governor Catafay Ivanovich.”

“Ah, Catafay Ivanovich,” said the fox, “I had not heard of your appointment. Will you come home with me and be my dinner guest?”

Catafay acquiesced, and so went with the fox.

When they arrived at the fox’s den, the fox treated her guest to all kinds of game, enquiring, “Tell me, Catafay Ivanovich, are you married or are you single?”

“Single,” said the cat.

“Ah, so am I. Take me for your wife?”

The cat agreed. And they began to feast in happy celebration.

On the next day the fox set off to gather provisions to feed her new husband. The cat stayed home.

As she ran along the forest floor, the newlywed fox was met by a wolf she knew. The wolf, who chanced across her path, began to banter: “Where have you been, my dear? I looked in all the fox-holes, and I found no sign of you.”

“Let me pass, fool. None of your banter. I’m a married woman now.”

“Who is your husband, dear fox Liza?”

“Have you not heard that we have a new governor, who has been sent from the head of the forests of Siberia? His name is Governor Catafay Ivanovich. And I am now the governor’s wife.”

“No. I have not heard, Liza. Please may I take a look at our Governor?”

“Oh my. That Catafay Ivanovich of mine is so fierce, that if anyone displeased him he eats them up in only a moment. Get a lamb and bring it to pay your tribute. Then, you should lay down low and make yourself scarce. If my husband, the governor, sees you, brother, you’d better have prayed in the morning of your mistake.”

Off ran the wolf to retrieve a lamb.

On went the fox until she met a bear, who at once began another banter with her: “Hold your tongue, Bandylegs,” she snapped, “I’m a married woman now.”

“Who is your husband, Liza?”

“Our new governor, sent from the forests of Siberia. His name is Catafay Ivanovich and he is my husband.”

“Please may I take a look at him, Liza?” asked the bear.

“Oh my. That Catafay Ivanovich of mine is a fierce governor. If anyone displeases him he swallows them up right away. Get an ox and bring it to pay your respects. The wise wolf right now is going to bring him a lamb. Be sure you lay the ox down and then make yourself scarce, for if my husband lays eyes on you, brother, you’d better have made your prayers before then.”

The bear ambled off to get an ox.

The wolf got a lamb, skinned it, and stood thinking. Looking into the middle distance, whom should the wolf see but the bear dragging an ox beside him.

“Good day, Brother Bear.” said the wolf.

“Good day, Brother Wolf. Have you seen the fox and her husband?”

“No brother. I want to very much.”

“Then go and call on them.”

“No, not me, Brother Bear. You go and report. You are braver and larger than I am, Bandylegs.”

“No, Brother Wolf, I won’t go either. Perhaps you, Alpintongue. You are smoother.”

All of a sudden a hare dashed past the pair. The bear shouted at him to stop: “Come here, you cross-eyed beast!”

The frightened hare came scurrying up, at a safe distance to bolt.

“Well now, cross-eyed Whippersnapper. Do you know where the fox resides?”

“I do, sir.”

“Then just you run off and tell her that Brother Bear and Brother Wolf are ready and waiting to see her and her husband. You are fleet. Tell her that we two are eager to pay our tributes of lamb and ox.”

The hare flew off to the official residence of the fox as fast as his legs would carry him, sparing only a little in case of the need to beat a retreat.

Meanwhile the bear and the wolf wondered where to hide. Said the bear: “I’ll climb up the great old pine.”

“But what am I to do?” asked the wolf. “Where can I hide? I can’t get up a tree. Brother Bear, I beg of you, help me find a place to hide myself away. I must secrete myself in a safe spot.”

So the bear hid him in the bushes and covered him with dry leaves and thorny branches. Then he clambered to the thin top of the great old pine tree - to the very top. As it bent down a little under Bandyleg’s heft, he looked around to see if Governor Catafay Ivanovich and Liza the fox might be approaching the tribute below.

Soon the hare reached the fox’s house, knocked on the door, and with legs sprung for a run, told the fox the message: “Brother Bear and Brother Wolf sent me to tell you that they are ready and waiting for you and your husband. They are eager to pay their respects with lamb and ox.”

“Go back and tell them we are coming, cross-eyed.”

So the cat and the fox set off together, shortly thereafter. The bear, from the top of the pine, spotted them coming first. He called down to the wolf, “Brother Wolf, the fox and her husband, the Governor of our Taiga, are on their way to us. He is very far or he is very small to put fear in us.”

When the cat came close, the debate was settled, as he pounced on the top of the offering of an ox. With his fur bristling, he began to tear at the meat with his teeth and claws, meowing away all sign of intimidation as if in anger “Mo-o-ore, mo-o-ore!”

“He may be small, but what a glutton!” commented the bear from on high. “There’s enough for the four of us, but he wants more? What if he turns his hunger on us next?”

The wolf wanted to take a look at the fearsome governor, but could not see through the thorny brush. He began to push them aside, cutting his paws with the thorns. The cat heard rustling, and thinking it was a rat, gave the sound a great bound, planting his claws right on the wolf’s soft nose.

The wolf jumped up straight in the air and fled in terror, trailing a chaos of sharp branches and startled yelps.

The cat himself also took a fright and rushed to the tree in which bear was hiding.

“Oh my goodness,” thought the bear, “He has spotted me!”

There was no time to climb down, so he gave himself up to God’s will, and with eyes squeezed shut, and his paws on the points of the compass, he leapt out off the tip of the pine and catapulted down far too quickly to the pad of pine needles and roots below. Landing with a grand, deep “THUMP” that shook up his insides, the startled bear batted at the sparkles in his eyes and took to his heals with the fox shouting after him: “He’ll give you what-for! Just you wait!”

After that all the animals of the land feared the Siberian Governor.

The cat and fox never hunted again. Governor Catafay and Liza had enough meat offered daily beneath the great old pine, winter and summer. They lived and prospered, as their heirs still do to this day.