The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace (natural variety) of domestic cat in Russia,[3] and recently developed as a formal breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late-1980s.

[3][4][7] While it began as a landrace, Siberians are selectively bred and pedigreed in all major cat fancier and breeder organisations.

This fact led to much confusion in other countries when the first Siberians were arriving and many appeared quite different from each other, depending on what area of Russia they originated from.

[26] These standards represent the phenotype of the Siberian breed and may include criteria of physical and morphological appearance,[31] genetics, and of athletic or productive performance.

[41] Half of these cats (17.000) were born between January 2015 and September 2023,[41] again showing the rapid increase in popularity after the mid-2010s of the Siberian breed.

[13] This shape and the power in their hind legs contribute to their incredible agility and enable them to jump exceptionally high.

Their round face consists of a broad forehead at the top of their skull and narrows slightly to a full-rounded, short muzzle.

[45] They are slightly tilted forwards[42][45] and should be set as much on the sides of the head as on top,[42] preferably one to one and one half ear width apart.

However, they will still lose fur year-round and require grooming multiple times a week in order to prevent their dense triple-coat from matting.

[32] All Western coat colours and patterns are genetically possible in the breed, such as tabby, solid, tortoiseshell, and bicolour.

[4][44] All major registries do not permit the Eastern colour varieties of chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, and fawn in the Siberian breed.

[47][48] The gene is located on the wide band locus, and the responsible allele is only found in the Siberian breed.

The Eastern colourpoint pattern is found in the Neva Masquerade, and is non-permitted in registries where the breed is separately registered.

[6][17] Completely white (solid-white) Siberian cats are not considered Neva Masquerades, as they do not have the Siamese colourpoint markings.

Solid-white traditional Siberian cats can also have blue eyes, however, this is due to a lack of melanin pigment and not a result of the colourpoint gene as is the case with the Neva Masquerade.

[10][13][43] However, several registries only allow blue and odd eyes in the solid-white and bicolour varieties, leaving only colours in the golden-copper to green spectrum for the other coats.

It is known to produce a wide range of different sounds including its melodious chirping voice and a deep, resonant purr.

It bears the Siamese[51] colourpoint gene, which results in darker markings on the extremities of their body and bright blue eyes.

The gene pool of the Siberian and the Neva Masquerade share a big overlap, as the two have been crossbred for many years.

[55] The Siberian is an ancient naturally developed landrace, which makes it a relatively healthy cat breed.

[56] It may not come as a surprise that injury is the main cause of morbidity in the athletic, energetic and adventurous Siberian breed.

While it scores lowest, together with the Ragdoll, in the overall morbidity risk, making the Siberian a relatively healthy cat breed.

Siberians had a significantly lower risk in 11 of the 24 diagnostic categories compared to other breeds, including endocrine, ear, neurological and neoplasia.

Apart from injury, the Siberian had a higher incidence rate of locomotor and female reproduction-related conditions compared to other cat breeds.

[56] While there is no hypoallergenic cat or dog breed, the decreased dander qualities of the Siberian coat have been noted and commented on for almost ten years.

While there is no scientific evidence, breeders and pet owners claim that Siberians can be safe for many allergy sufferers.

Allergy sufferers are advised to check their reactivity directly with the parent cats from whom they plan to adopt a kitten.

[58] In 1999, Indoor Biotechnologies tested the fur of four cats for Fel d 1; a mixed breed, two Siberians, and an Abyssinian.

[59] This test of fur allergen levels is cited by many Siberian breeder websites as evidence the breed is hypoallergenic.

About half of Siberians were found to have Fel d 1 levels lower than other breeds, while under twenty percent would be considered very low.