History of the Russian White

Mishka's Russians began breeding Russian White when we acquired one female named Ekaterina Divinity, who is pictured on the background of this page. Little did we know she would be the last remaining Russian White from the line brought to the United States directly from Australia... The Barishnikov line. Retired in 2026, Divinity was an incredible queen and a wonderful, devoted mother. She was a quiet, gentle girl; one of our smaller breeders weighing around 5.5 lbs. She will be living the rest of her life as a beloved, retired pet. Her legacy will forever be remembered. We give her all the credit for bringing the Russian White Barishnikov line back from the edge of extinction. 

We want to make note of things that hold true with what we have noticed in breeding the Russian White, so future breeding programs will be aware. We have found them to be very silent breeders. They don't show heat cycles like our blue queens. They have seemingly fewer heat cycles and because their cycles are quiet, if you're not very watchful, you will miss the opportunity to breed! Because of this, we found what worked best for us was to allow her to stay with the male until we saw definitive signs of pregnancy (pinking up and/or morning sickness). This is in contrast to our blues, who show heat cycles and who are often only with the sire for a week or so.  We also noticed the Russian White seem to shed more than Russian Blue. However, this may be an illusion since the white fur can be seen more evidently than blue. Most Russian White have the infamous green eyes as adults, but they can have blue eyes and even be odd eyed. We have had both. We have never bred two Russian White together (nor will we ever), but instead always breed back to Russian Blue. Our Russian White have bred true. We have never had any striped kittens (aka Russian Tabby). Most Russian White are born with smudges of blue on top of their heads (kitten cap) that disappears as they grow into adulthood. It has been quite an undertaking bringing the Barishnikov line back from the edge of extinction. We are still in the process of developing additional lines by breeding with unrelated blue males. We are very thankful for the couple of other breeders in the country who are working with our Russian White line now. We will continue to work diligently and painstakingly to ensure there will never be just one Russian White left again, so that future generations can enjoy them!

 

The following is a brief history of the development of the Russian Whites in Australia, in the early 1970's.  We are providing this information in order to educate, and to show that this undertaking was not done lightly, but under strict controls.
Note, the White Siberian cat Mavis Jones acquired is no relation to the newer cat breed by the Siberian name, this White Siberian cat was a shorthair with characteristics of the Russian Blue.

The following is a copy of a letter from Mavis Jones to the Russian Blue Newsletter in 1977, as written including all typos...
 

“ ...a member wrote from Australia, with detailed information and color photos: ‘ I have gathered some material on our WHITE RUSSIANS.
Our program took twelve years to complete, to produce these very beautiful cats. We began by importing a White Siberian domestic cat, through a freind at the Thailand embassy in Canaberra; this cat was held in quarantine at the Thai embassy for 12 months. To my knowledge these are the only cats that can be bred to the Russian Blue. Any person breeding Siamese to the Russian Blue in Australia would immediately be banned from breeding for life, by our governing body. Even with the beautiful white cat we had brought into this country and who was sypically Russian in appearance and character, the RAS of New South Wales refused us permission to breed for the White Russian. It took two years of persuation, arguments and deliberation before they finally gave permission for us to go ahead with our experimental program.
 

During that two years, we bred several litters from our Siberian White with one of our best Russian Blue males and after being viewed by three members of our ruling body (at our home) we were entiltled to show them. They convinced the consultive committee that we were indeed breeding Russian type kittens, and we were granted our experimental program.
 

This was one of the strictest programs ever laid down by the RAS. One step the wrong way and we’d have been out for life. we had to report every kitten born, report every death and every kitten had to be desexed before leaving our cattery. No other breeder was allowed to particpate. We had to do it alone. We had to accept full responsibility all the way. We began by keeping two of the best white females and mated them to two unrelated blue males. Then we chose the best 1st generation white female from each of the two litters. Then two white females from the two second generation, and two from the third and finally, two from the fourth. We bred white females to blue males always, and always only the best males and females were used. During our program we kept seven Russian Blue studs to avoid inbreeding. We combined outcrossing and linebreeding to establish the finest type and characteristics of the Russian Blue to our exquisite Whites. The Whites sometimes didn’t call for 18 months. All were very silent and we had to watch their antics or miss a mating.
 

White Kittens and the silver striped grey found in Siberia appeared in early litters. After the third generation, the striped group disappeared and the self Blues and pure Whites only evolved. White kittens are usually born with a blue smudge on top, between the ears. We look for this, which is a reliable sign of perfect hearing; the smudge disappears as the kitten matures to adulthood. Our Whites now have the beautiful silky, pluch coat of the blues with the same thick fine undercoat. Eyes are brilliant green. Standards for the Whites is exactly as for the Russian Blue, except for coat color, which must be brilliant, dazzling, pure white, and soft as silk.
 

After breeding our 4th generation kittens, we contacted the Head Geneticist of Sydney University, whose advice we followed from the beginning. He wrote to our governing council that our cats were genetically 100% pure Russian and that blues in white litters, after four generations, should be accepted on full register and vice versa. Our governing council aibied by his decision. ***(Edit: see his letter quoted below)
 

Fifth generation whites are due soon to our beautiful GgCh Myemgay BORZIOIS, and we shall send photographs of these kittens as we really expect something else from him. If one of your RB association clubs would like to exchange sashes with one of our Australian clubs notify me. It would help to promote popularity if USA would exchange sashes. There is no actual RBA in Australia much as we should like to have one. Unfortunately we are both hampered by ill health and haven’t the time and energy to even begin such as undertaking.
 

Dick & Mavis Jones
35 Jackson Av
Warrawong 2502
NSW Australia


***To quote Dr. F.W. Nicholas, Animal Genetics, Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Sydney, from a letter dated Jan. 22, 1976:

 

"...about mating only blues to blues, and only whites to whites, and not accepting mixed litters, there is no sound genetical reason why you should have such rules. After four generations of backcrossing, the only important difference between whites and blues is in coat colour. The rest of the genetic background, and hence type and all other characteristics will be essentially the same. So, for example, a blue kitten from a registered blue stud out of a registered white dam has just as much right to be registered as would a blue kitten with only registered blue parents on each side of its pedigree."