Russian Blue

raksha

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I recently adopted a 1 y/o make Russian Blue, who seems to have taken to everything in my apartment, but refuses to sit in my lap or cuddle. He sleeps on the bed with me, and has bursts of energy at particular times of day.

I'm terrible with patience, but is it a good thing that he hangs out on the couch with me, plays fetch (sometimes) with me, and sleeps in my bed? He sort of greets me when I come home from classes... The thing is, he's basically gummed everything in the apartment but me.

Am I doing something wrong? I read that RuB's are loving cats... Mine still looks at me like I'm some kind of alien when I try lying near him or cuddling.

Hilariously, he will sit and watch The X-Files with me, but will not sit or come near me if the laptop isn't showing anything.

Help?
 

StefanZ

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I recently adopted a 1 y/o make Russian Blue, who seems to have taken to everything in my apartment, but refuses to sit in my lap or cuddle. He sleeps on the bed with me, and has bursts of energy at particular times of day.

I'm terrible with patience, but is it a good thing that he hangs out on the couch with me, plays fetch (sometimes) with me, and sleeps in my bed? He sort of greets me when I come home from classes... The thing is, he's basically gummed everything in the apartment but me.

Am I doing something wrong? I read that RuB's are loving cats... Mine still looks at me like I'm some kind of alien when I try lying near him or cuddling.

Hilariously, he will sit and watch The X-Files with me, but will not sit or come near me if the laptop isn't showing anything.

Help?
My RB arent no kneecats they either.  Although they do have lotsa of other ways to show affection.  Including they happily sleep in the same bed.  Nowadays, as seniors, they even sleep one between my knees in body contact, the other on me (somewhere on the hip, so he doesnt bother my breething, as long as Im completely still).

Otherwise they are happy with laying and resting nearby.

They were both studs as young males.

Re cuddling: its usually easier to cuddle them if they are on a chair or a sofa or such. Being comfortable there.  Its just one of them who sometimes wants cuddling being on the floor.  The other never does it on the floor.   Although if he sees me wanting cuddle, he jumps op on the sofa, lays down and accepts cuddle...

Sometimes they both begin cuddle session with sticking their behind towards me.  That is the allowing smelling ritual!   The trick is to blew a little at their behind, they feel it alike I smelled on them from nearby.  The ritual done, they turn around and continue the cuddling as usual...

Yes, I think your RB behaves like a typical RB does.

Some pics are welcome!

Good luck!
 
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raksha

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StefanZ

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Uh-huh!   I dont see clearly his colors on body nor eyes, but the silhuette and head profile is of a RB-type.   I mean, if his coat and eyes match this, I will believe he is a RB for real, and not "just" a look alike.    :)

That head profile is even pretty good  by what illtle I can see.

More, good pics are needed and welcome!
 

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The eyes arent really green?   I hoped so....  His head profile seen from aside saw promising...

That last photo is very clear.
 
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raksha

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His eyes have a very slight yellow-green tint with a significant green ring around the pupil. I've read that as they mature, RB eyes grow greener, is this not true?
 

mdaisy

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Russian blues are elegant, intelligent cats with a double coat. You'll see a soft undercoat with silver tipping on the top coat. Both the CFA and TICA list the breed standard which includes emerald green eyes and a double coat. They do like to play fetch with people they know and are shy around strangers.

My first pet rescue was a Russian blue mix I found behind a trash dumpster in Virgina. I was 14 years old when I brought home a gray kitten with a white locket. Smoki had many of the characteristics listed for breed standard including his desire to play fetch. His eyes were more of a yellow green and not a deep green.  He had the beautiful soft double coat with silver tipping too. Smoki lived 12 years before dying of cancer. 
 

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His eyes have a very slight yellow-green tint with a significant green ring around the pupil. I've read that as they mature, RB eyes grow greener, is this not true?
Yes, thay say so.   Mine had nicely green eyes alredy as youngsters.  But for example, the son got a nice head first as adult, while the father HAD stunning skull and all over already as kitten...   So yes, some mature into the fully  looks first as adults.

Of course, not all are show quality.  These we do see on shows getting prizes, and getting into books  are these of show quality...

Yeah, OK,  The last pic is again nice.  I choose and want  to believe he is a RB - although sooner of pet quality than an incognito show exemplar.   :)

Another nice label could be a Maltese cat.  Which is all blue cats whom we dont have a clear cut label on.

But lets call on another of  our forumists who owns RB:   @MServant
 
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mservant

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Hi @Raksha  , Binx is lovely.  
   That last photograph in post #5 shows a lovely blue tinge to his fur and a suggestion that he does also quite like a cuddle from time to time.   It is worth being patient,  getting any snuggle time with a 1 year old cat is pretty good going.  I would get cuddles with Mouse but always on his terms i.e. when he was waking up or tired after play he would lay down on the floor, roll over and 'tell' me he wanted belly rubs.  He still only comes to sit on my lap if he wants attention and I am on my laptop!  I had to teach him to do that in place of chewing my arm....  Like StefanZ says, it is more wanting to be near, like a little gray shadow.  (He is beside me on the sofa just now).

MDaisy has given a good account of what you should look for with the fur.  If you want to see what this looks like take a look at the close up photograph album for Mouse here-  http://www.thecatsite.com/g/i/245005/a/147872/double-coat-back-of-shoulders/      You can see the even and dense texture of the double coat and the lack of pigment at the tips of the fur which give the RB coat its silver sheen.  Both the double coat and lack of pigment at the tips of the fur are requirements for Russian Blue cats, together with no patches of white or other colouring, green eyes (though shade can vary), and the blue/mauve paw pads and nose.  

Binx' fur looks to have a lovely colour and is shiny in your pictures but I am unsure of the texture which is always best to tell from the touch.  It also has a strange quality in that you can run your hand both backward and forward and the fur will give similar resistance and feel soft to touch even when against the normal direction.   It would be interesting to hear more about his fur.  The bursts of energy and playing fetch all sound very typical, as does the constant companion behaviour although all cats have their own personality and never fit in to a tick box.  I think most RB cats I have heard people talk about are intelligent and mischievous cats that love attention on their own terms, and are experts at training their humans to know exactly what they want without ever needing to make a sound.  As for that tummy pouch, LoL, I believe RBs are also known for liking their food!   Mouse certainly does.  He is working on being as round as he can and tries to pretend he is all fur. 
 
     Sounds a bit like Binx to me.

Without papers Binx may resemble a Russian Blue very closely but would not have pedigree status, so my description would probably be Maltese as StefanZ has mentioned earlier.   That is - unless you can find out more about his past and his family heritage.  And like many blue cats Binx sounds like a very cheeky character who is going to make sure you stay on your toes while he gets up to all sorts of 'stuff'.  
 
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raksha

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Hi @Raksha  , Binx is lovely.  
   That last photograph in post #5 shows a lovely blue tinge to his fur and a suggestion that he does also quite like a cuddle from time to time.   It is worth being patient,  getting any snuggle time with a 1 year old cat is pretty good going.  I would get cuddles with Mouse but always on his terms i.e. when he was waking up or tired after play he would lay down on the floor, roll over and 'tell' me he wanted belly rubs.  He still only comes to sit on my lap if he wants attention and I am on my laptop!  I had to teach him to do that in place of chewing my arm....  Like StefanZ says, it is more wanting to be near, like a little gray shadow.  (He is beside me on the sofa just now).

MDaisy has given a good account of what you should look for with the fur.  If you want to see what this looks like take a look at the close up photograph album for Mouse here-  http://www.thecatsite.com/g/i/245005/a/147872/double-coat-back-of-shoulders/      You can see the even and dense texture of the double coat and the lack of pigment at the tips of the fur which give the RB coat its silver sheen.  Both the double coat and lack of pigment at the tips of the fur are requirements for Russian Blue cats, together with no patches of white or other colouring, green eyes (though shade can vary), and the blue/mauve paw pads and nose.  

Binx' fur looks to have a lovely colour and is shiny in your pictures but I am unsure of the texture which is always best to tell from the touch.  It also has a strange quality in that you can run your hand both backward and forward and the fur will give similar resistance and feel soft to touch even when against the normal direction.   It would be interesting to hear more about his fur.  The bursts of energy and playing fetch all sound very typical, as does the constant companion behaviour although all cats have their own personality and never fit in to a tick box.  I think most RB cats I have heard people talk about are intelligent and mischievous cats that love attention on their own terms, and are experts at training their humans to know exactly what they want without ever needing to make a sound.  As for that tummy pouch, LoL, I believe RBs are also known for liking their food!   Mouse certainly does.  He is working on being as round as he can and tries to pretend he is all fur. 
 
     Sounds a bit like Binx to me.

Without papers Binx may resemble a Russian Blue very closely but would not have pedigree status, so my description would probably be Maltese as StefanZ has mentioned earlier.   That is - unless you can find out more about his past and his family heritage.  And like many blue cats Binx sounds like a very cheeky character who is going to make sure you stay on your toes while he gets up to all sorts of 'stuff'.  
Thank you @MServant!!! He really is a handsome kitty. He does have the mauve paw pads (forgot to mention that in my previous post), and his coat is extremely plush and silky, but what is the nose supposed to look like?

Personally, I won't be upset to learn he's not a pedigreed RB, because he came from a shelter to an exotic cat rescue group, and from there I adopted him (literally love at first sight, for me at least). He didn't come with much other than a certification of his health screening and rabies vaccination.

I love him, and have been trying my darnedest to restrain myself from loving all over him! He's just such an adorable ball of fluff ^_^ and a very well behaved one, too.

Thank you all for your input, thus far!
 

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......

I love him, and have been trying my darnedest to restrain myself from loving all over him! He's just such an adorable ball of fluff ^_^ and a very well behaved one, too.

........
   
Well behaved?!   Binx must have something other than RB in him then!  ​
   

From your pictures I think Binx has a lovely nose shape and colouring.  Whisker pads tend to vary depending on what your cat is up to but generally RBs should have prominent whisker pads.   Mouse has a bad habbit of pulling his whiskers back and narrowing his nose, esp when he's encountering a show judge he doesn't like:  then he tucks away his whisker pads and tilts his ears back so they looks smaller - then I tend to dislike the judge too because they don't give him a nice report. 
   (Mostly Mouse has had lovely reports other than being a bit tubby).   Another feature with RB cats is that they should have a strong jaw line which is what gives them their characteristic smiling expression when you look at their face side on, and can make them look rather regal which is another word frequently used to describe them.

I think I know what you mean with how you feel about loving Binx; I can't believe how much I've lost my heart to Mouse.  It's hard to tear myself away and go to work some days, I want to stay and snuggle up with him for as long as he'll let me.  Thankfully Mouse rather likes being pampered and showered with kisses.  I hope for you that Binx calms down over the next year or so too and lets you have some much wanted lap time.  
 

Binx sounds simply goreous in personality as well as in his looks and I think you have been very lucky to have been found by him.  
 
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raksha

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Hahahaha, what I meant by well behaved was he hasn't had any accidents, intentional or otherwise, and was very good during two trips to the vet in the first two weeks of adoption, and understands "NO".

As far as facial features, he's got what I call "chubby cheeks" where his whiskers are, and when he's relaxed, I can see that "perma-smile" easier. His fur looks to be a teensy little bit longer than Mouse's (but not by much), so there might be Nebelung or some other blue cat genes mixed in there. All in all, though, he looks like a slightly darker colored, fatter version of Mouse- eyes included ^_^ his silver really shines in the light.

I've only had him a few weeks and we're making great progress (already getting the exposed belly for rubs), so I'm hoping for some cuddles or lap time in the next few months.

Tis true- I am one lucky person to have him <3
 

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I don't think he looks chubbier than Mouse - at least not Mouse's recent photos rather than his youthful crazy - cat ones.  He didn't sit still until he was about 2 1/2 but has more than made up for it since.  Binx looks lovely to me - not skinny, but then he isn't an Oriental / Siamese so he isn't meant to be. 
    Lots of loving play time and Binx will be a lovely musclular panther cat. 


The Nebelung I have seen have medium length fur which doesn't have the density or texture that RB does, and a bushy tail so I would say Binx looks much more RB than Nebelung.

I forgot to mention about eyes earlier, with your comment about whether they develop as the cat matures.   As far as I can remember RB tend to develop their adult colour eyes from fairly young, when they loose their kitten blue colour eyes.  Korat are later to develop so it may be Korat you were thinking about?
 

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MServant I LOVED your Russian Blue photos! Took me back to the days when my Smoki was here with us. Your photos also reminded me of how Russian Blues are known as smiling cats because they look like they are smiling. I saw your photos and saw the smiles. I adore Russian Blues as they are quiet, gentle, smart and playful. They are almost the perfect cat of course almost any cat is the perfect cat for me :-)
 

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@MDaisy  You are very kind, and I think this stems from your view (which I share) - that Russian Blues 'are almost the perfect cat, and any cat is the perfect for me'.  What a wonderful thought for the day. 
   So many of the gray / blue cats I see and read about here on TCS seem to have the playful, mischievous, and intelligent personalities that can entertain the people around them for hours and then curl up and be the cuddliest cats you would ever imagine.  I have to say of Mouse though that he is only quiet and playful when he wants to be and is equally capable of sounding like a large herd of elephants or sleeping for his country when he wants too.  

I had a look at the photographs of Binx that you have uploaded @Raksha  and there are a  lot of very sweet ones there.  Binx does not look too tubby at all!  (I can see why you want more lap time, he looks very snuggleable).  His fur does look a little longer and less dense than Mouse's, esp down his back and over his hips, but his colour is lovely, and solid without any shadow markings which is very nice.  He looks like a real character and I'd love to see more photographs.  I hope you have noticed the thread link which I have at the bottom of my posts and join in to show us lots more pictures of Binx as he grows and completely takes over your home. 
 
 
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raksha

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I certainly will!!! He doesn't let me take lots of photos, but when he gets more comfortable around the camera, there'll be more :)
 

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 Another feature with RB cats is that they should have a strong jaw line which is what gives them their characteristic smiling expression when you look at their face side on, and can make them look rather regal which is another word frequently used to describe them.
That smiling expression is most typical for american type  RB.  Males of Scandinavian type are supposed to look mean and cruel.  Which is essentially caused by a little fold above their eyes.  They are very kind fellows.

This with an angry look is a point in the Fanzine in the Harry Potter - Hogwart wordl "A Malfoy in Hufflepuff".  Hey, I must translate it someday, and republish here on TCS.   :)
 
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