Mystery Cat

Congrats on your beautiful baby!
I would say he looks much more like a Ragdoll mix than a Persian mix - he looks a lot like my Lucky, who is a Ragdoll
He is a cutie!

Because he is longhaired AND point? For this he would have to got the point gene both from ma and pa... Not so very many persians does have this gene, unless they are himalayan...

Nay, it is easier to guess on some other combination. Especielly as the face isnt no persian-alike at all. Not contempory persian in any case.

I myself would suggest the siberian, or rather, its point variation, the Neva Masquerade (?). (Masque is another word for point).

Of course without papers we are talking about type or look-alike, NOT anything like pure breed nor mix.

Congrats for getting such a nice pal!

Dont forget to pay in some money to a good cat shelter, Doctors without boundaries, or some nice church group in this cats name. You choose yourself which group.


good luck!

Looking again, Im still more on the though it is a Neva Masquerade look alike.

Even a decent quality Neva...

Although, Siberians are not that common, and Neva still more rare... So how on Earth there was an pure Neva along for rescue / emergency adoption??

But it strikes me. Among Siberian purists, the point gene is not popular, although it does occur (thus, some Points are born naturally now and then in a litter of Siberians). I know for a fact the European Siberian association was doing a big purge of all known bearers of the point - gene (not killing off them, but spaying and forbad them to breed on). 20 generations back they made their Purge... Stalin would be proud...
Of course, they have a huge genetic base, so they could.

This Neva / Neva - alike CAN be such a occasional natural Point among a litter of purebred Siberians. The breeder didnt wanted it to be known his queen has the point gene. And being a decent person, didnt wanted to pts the kitten. Thus - the kitten was adopted out as soon as he could do it... And in his case, named for a siamesian mix to hide the traces...


So. Formally it is a moggie, a Neva Masquerade look alike. Or with a nice vokabulary, a Longhaired Domestic Pointed. Without any papers you can almost never say more.
(Unless the Neva M. breed is open for novices - in that case you do have some possibilities, but that is another story).

But I wouldnt be surprised too much if somebody proved it is a pure bred, NOT registered Siberian Point = or if you want, a not registered N.M.


Enjoy,

and Good luck!



ps. Welcome to the Forums!

Keep us updated, and dont hesitate if you have any questions!

What a beauty! Welcome to the site!

He is very handsome! I agree with StefanZ, he does look like a Neva Masquerade-wannabe, I don't see a persian/siamese mix at all.
And persian/siamese mix is not a himalayan, it's a domestic longhair, a moggie. Himalayan is a colorpoint pedigreed persian, not a moggie.

He is a seal tabby point (called a lynx point in US?), that's why he has the spots. Without papers the breed is basically domestic longhair.

He looks like a domestic long hair to me, no specific breed.

Gorgeous boy!!!

Such breed description, made by the association, are not necessary a description WHAT the cat is, but HOW a very good exemplar SHOULD be. for example, if you think show or breeding.
So in a more "regular" exemplar, not everything must be perfect and according to the best of plans. For example, tail lengh may vary.
With a found wanna be, you can be contend with roughly as in description, as long you are contend with calling it moggie, but a look alike or being of a type...

Of course, if you want to pay two cat show judges to examine him and declare him as a novice in Neva Masquerade - there is no point in doing so, if he is mediocre examplar, barely fitting the standard.
It pays only if you truly believe he is of good show standard. And only in such situation he is really good he will be approved by said judges as novice.

I myself, without being an expert, and having only one good photo too look at, I think he has decent looks yes. Not barely pet quality, clearly better.

What Im concerned, is the eyes should be blue (like with many points), his are bluish, but not really blue. Or?

The cat needs to be from the old USSR region to be accepted as a novice Neva Masquerade.

I don't think he actually has any neva/siberian in him, but he looks a bit like one.

That's why I think this cat is a Ragdoll mix, not this Masquerade.... Masquerade in the US.... I would say RARE.... IMHO.
Take a look at Louis at this page, a Seal Lynx Ragdoll: http://www.midmichiganragdolls.com/kittens.html

Or, at my Lucky, also a seal Lynx Raggie.... Don't know, but this cat IMHO, being in the US looks much more like a Raggie to me than a Masquerade.... due to geography....

Lucky:

I doubt he is a Siberian/Neva. Siberians themselves are rare in the area, and I had not even heard of a Neva until now so it is very unlikely that this is what he is. A Ragdoll mix is more likely.

As they say, “when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.â€

And as I said:

If such a ragdoll mixes are possible and perhaps even common, so it is of course a good bet. I wasnt aware such ragdolls colors + long fur existed.
But a recent number of the big swedish cat paper had a thema number about Neva Masquerade - and the first big picture was the one-egg twin of our look-alike wanna be.
(btw Neva is the river through St Petersburg. The word also sounds like Nova or new).

As I said before - IF you have a Sibirian, then you CAN get also a for sibirian owners unwelcomed point. And such a point, will probably be given away, carefully called for an persian mix. As point gene is tabu for most sibirian circles.
"There may not be even an shadow on Ceasars wife´s purity and decent behavior", as the proverb says.
There shouldnt not be even a shadow on a sibirian queen, nor her husband, the Sir.

AND. If the siberians are rare, so they were bought and perhaps even imported for big money...
It is no pleasant feeling to find the investment was virtually worthless. We are talking about 1000 dollars apiece as an absolute minimum for kittens of pet quality. What th mother queen and the stud did cost, I dont even dare to guess.

Thus, there ARE circumstances where hoofbeats MAY be zebras, although zebras are otherwise rare here around.


Of course, without any papers or any proofs, all this are speculations. As it is, it is a gorgious long haired domestic, pointed (Lynx point).

Stefan, Ragdolls mixes are quite common here, and that color is not rare... That cat would very likely fit the description for a Raggie mix IMHO - coat, color, and all - Seal Lynx (don't remember the paw tips). Now you talk Neva Masquerade......... most never even heard about it, that is actually, VERY rare here in the US. I never heard of it, and had to google it to find out what it was. When researching it, it says how rare it is in the US.
It is because you and NorthernGlow are in Europe, not in the US - but here...... another story all together.

It is surely like you write, Carolina.
I do buy that.

Although my scenario is not impossible, at least theoretically. I have myself read about a polish imported frow White Russia, for breeding purposes, Russian blue, DID had such an unwelcome point gene. In this case, there was a balinese a couple of generations backwards... So the seller or his breeder, wasnt honest.



Back to my scenario of the cheated american Sibirian breeder.
I must mention another variation, not to risk the honour of all US reputable sibirian importers and breeders:

There is of course possible another scenario. A back-yard breeder.
A small, not so experienced sibirian breeder. He gets a point in his litter. He dont knows the genetics, so he talks himself into there must have been several studs, also his siamese /balinese whatever point studs was on...
And so - he sells cheaply this point as a persian mix etc...