Need help; Russian blue purchase -__-

By just looks, I would personally go for the first one. The older one should adjust fine to a new home but I personally think you can bond to a kitty stronger when you get them young. I recently adopted a 5 mo. old which is much older than I was planning on originally because he had such a wonderful personality, so really you should chose which ever one you like most, no matter the age. If you exclude animals of certain ages then you could end up missing the perfect cat for you.

Nice moggies. (or possibly perhaps, RB of a low pet quality).


I say as said above, age doesnt really matter much. They will bound to you if you are nice and friendly.


Although, if you are perfectly happy with moggies somewhat resembling RB, I myself would rather seek after a rescued cat from a good shelter or something like that. Getting a friend and doing a praiseworthy good deed at the same time.

If money is an issue to you, but you really want a purebred RB, you can look for a retired queen, or such.

In the parallell thread there are some adresses to look up.

Good luck!


ps. My opinion about these cat pictured is perhaps too a trifle too harsh. Im spoiled by our scandinavian RB. We dont have backyard breeders, so we are lucky having a high overall standard. Some say ours arent necessarily the very best in the world. But we dont have hardly any "pet quality" either. Very few.
So practically all CAN be showed without being ashamed nor forced to show them in domestic class. Few will win the Show, but they all will get their Excellent.
And some in between will get their Champion title.

Thus, seeing a supposed purebred RB but apparently being as best of lower pet quality becomes very striking for me. Im spoiled!


ps2 Welcome to the Forums!

While the kitties are adorable, I don't believe they are pure Russian Blue. Like above, they appear to be adorable tabby's and I'm sure either of them would make wonderful friends.

As far as age is concerned, I take in older cats, much, much older than 5 months and have never had one problem bonding with them. Even the 18 year old we took in 2 years ago has bonded deeply with both my DH and I....it's like he's been with us forever. Age, IMO, is not an issue with bonding.

Don't let age be a factor, I adopted a senior cat three years ago (he was ill & going to be euthanized). Despite medicating him up to 6x/day for 4+ months non-stop, he is incredibly bonded to me. How old is he? He was anywhere between 13 - 15 years (at the youngest) when I adopted him!

These are not Russian Blues.... They are taking your money and giving you a moggie.... This is not expensive by any means, and you will pay this in some rescues - which will pay the vet care, vaccines, etc..... the difference? You will be supporting rescue efforts and saving lives, as opposed of supporting backyard breeders or someone who is breeding moggies, and selling as purebreds.
If they are purebred cats, there is no reason why you should not have papers if you are getting them from a breeder. If the breeder is telling you no paper.... sorry... something wrong.
Plus, sorry to say, they do not look like RB.
The first one IMHO looks a little more..... The second IMHO is a Domestic Short Hair - moggie...completely.
Another thing - Be careful, be very very careful when buying a purebred cat. You might think you are saving $$$ by buying a "cheap" cat.... But I can personally testify what problems a poorly bred purebred cat will have - it can take you to bankruptcy - I am not kidding! Breeding cats is serious stuff (or at least should be) - to get a healthy line is no joke. I deal with the consequences of that day in and day out with Bugsy. More vet visits than you can count, and he is only 4. Bugsy has stomatitis, has had UTI, multiple cases of acute diarrhea, unexplained fevers that took him to the emergency vet, reaction to vaccines, reactions to medications that affected his liver, and a reaction to an antibiotic that resulted in a year-long diarrhea. So please reconsider this and either get a cat from a reputable breeder, or get a cat from a shelter and save a life.
Age means nothing - from my four, Lucky came at 7 months, Bugsy at 18 months, Hope at 2 years old, and Gracie at 12 years old - they are all amazingly attached to me.
Good luck!!

Regardless of whether both cats have a papered parent (which I doubt), these kittens are moggies and should be priced accordingly ie enough to cover 2 vaccinations, worming, microchipping and altering.

If you want a Russian, find a reputable registered breeder. You might sometimes find an older kitten they've run on, or a retired breeding cat for a lower price, otherwise keep saving your money and get a kitten at 12 or so weeks old.

Ok, you do understand you are not getting a Russian Blue - you are getting a mixed breed gray cat - that's all you are getting, right?
This is a Russian Blue:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Russian_blue.jpg (OK to share)

Now, if you are really going to get the kitten, look around for cleanliness, lift the fur and look for bald spots, look for runny eyes and nose, cloudy eyes, lift the gums and see if they are red/inflamed, lift the tail and look if the bottom is dirty or have diarrhea signs - things that resemble grains of rice is Tapeworm.
Get a string, feather toy and play with the kitty. See if it plays. Try holding it and see how it reacts.
Check mom, check health of mom and siblings.
Get WRITTEN vet records.
And since they are saying mom and dad are purebred, ask to see their papers.

Or, since your not in the US your Russians might be the style of ours



I'm not sure where you getting the BR breed code? The usual EMS code for Russians is RUS

Or ours (although I'm in Europe) : pic

Neither of the cats in the first post look like Russian Blues, so this doesn't really matter in your case as the cats are not RUS. Domestic shorthairs (the pics you showed) vary a lot so there really aren't any special breed characteristics in their behavior.

Personally from the pictures I'm going for number 2, especially since you obviously are leaning toward her too. What really matters is the cat, not the breed, if you aren't going to be showing or breeding her.

The breed does matter if these kittens are being represented as Russians, then that is what they should be. False advertising otherwise, and/or supporting a BYB

There is also nothing wrong with wanting a certain breed for a pet, even without breeding or showing.

.................................

I think it's important that the breed you choose fits your lifestyle. For example I don't think I'd be too fond of living with more active breeds like orientals. I'm much more suitable for calmer breeds like BSH, Scottish Fold, Persian etc.

Same goes for dog breeds too. You don't get a chihuahua if you want a sleigh dog to work and be active with.

Absolutely