Sweety pies Brusnichka and Baranka resting in our veranda. Sometimes I envy our cats and kittens :)  since they are spoiled to bits!                                                                                           ©Aq Bars

Our aim is to breed healthy, good temperamented and well socialized Siberian Cats.  We  follow the rules of FIFe, The International Cat Association, TICA and the Cat Fancier's Association, CFA. Aq-Bars Siberians are bred with respect of the origins of the breed. In Russia, everyone knows about the brown big cat. Well known for its' endurance in cold weather, intelligence and hunting skills. It is important to remember that a Siberian Cat should not resemble the traditonal Persian Cat or the British Long hair or any other breed for that matter.

The simple truth is that the Siberian Cat must look like a Siberian Cat. A long fluffy coat, too rounded head, very small ears and too round eyes are faults in this breed. Ofcourse, such a cat looks adorable with all the fluffiness in early kitten age and appeals easily to people. It takes long time for the Siberian to develop, up to 4-5 years and a young traditional Siberian Cat can resemble a house hold cat for an untrained eye, before developing to a true Siberian beauty. If You look for a Siberian, then look for a traditional one, go for the real thing.

Pilmin, my love. A genuine friend and a Siberian beauty.       © Aq Bars

Neva Masquerade ; the beautiful colour point cat from Sankt Petersburg

Like many others, I consider the Neva Masquerade being designed in St.Petersburg and would like  to keep the Neva Masquerade apart from the Siberian Cat .

First, I believed the Neva breeders' stories. After I have spoken to many people from Russia it is clear that the stories are made up or partially made up. It seems like  the Russian Neva Masquerade breeders want to keep the Siberian Cat in the their breed in order to: A) The Neva breed needs the Siberian cat in order to keep its´type ) Better marketing argument; masked forest cat.  Easier to sell kittens, when the cat looks like a pure bred cat...more glamour to sell kittens that are "forest" cats with a mask. Why not keep it simple and honest ? Neva Masquerade is one beautiful Russian Cat breed, however, it's not a Siberian from origins. It's a mixture of Siamese and Siberian.

 My friend had visited the market in St.Petersburg in late 80's and a market vendor had some lovely fluffy  blue eyed masked kittens for sale. She asked the vendor, what breed are the kittens, the reply was it's Neva Masquerade, a new breed designed in St.Petersburg.

The same friend of mine has also lived in Siberia, she said there were no Neva Masquerades there. Well, anyhow...two traditional Siberians can get Neva Masquerade kittens...if both parents carry the recessive colourpoint gene. 

Another friend of mine is from the city of Narva in Estonia. It's a city that borders to Russia. She told me, that the Russians in Narva brought with them the big long haired brown cats,  The Siberian Cat.  She said there were never any blue eyed masked cats in her village either.
When I spoke to an art vendor in St. Petersburg, for him it was clear that the Siberian Cat is *longhaired and oftenly brown, another friend of mine insists that Neva Masquerade is a colourpoint Siberian cat and not Neva Masquerade...still I have the impression that people in Russia consider the Siberian being firstly brown and long haired...and that the neva masquerade, just as its' name indicates is a breed from Sankt Petersburg.

Birmans, Thai cats, Siamese, Ragdolls are blue eyed masked cats...should a Siberian cat be also automatically blue eyed and masked just like the above mentioned breeds or traditional coloured  ?  Let's make an excersise: Imagine  yourself in an old village in Russia. Around You there are small narrow sandy roads,  few Lada cars driving around, you see wooden small houses, few wells, forest and fields. There is a barn also, with  cows and an old work horse. The sky is grey and the snow is gently falling down. From the barn You see a cat coming with a mouse in his mouth. He is proud and goes straightly towards the old woman who is carrying a bucket of milk to her home. How does this cat look like for You, does he resemble a big  brown long haired country cat or a ragdoll/birman ?

The  Siberian cat is perhaps most beautiful in the traditional brown/black tabby, torbie, or red colours, with or with out white.

*(semilong haired )

Brazhka, 1,5 years in her first summer coat.  © Aq Bars

Our kittens are well socialized, used to children and life in a family . We do tests on breeding cats: FEL ,FIV, blood type and in certain age they are scanned for HCM.  A negative HCM result does not give any guarantees for a permanently HCM free cat. Therefore, we have taken measurements in adding fresh lines in our cattery and avoid inbreeding. Luckily, HCM is not a common desease in this breed. Please, do note that HCM can appear in any cat regardless the breed.
Our cattery is tested negative for skin fungus, Microsporum canis a test we regularly take.

There is almost always a cat or a kitten on the lap, here Baranka and our son playing  Playstation.   © Aq Bars

Kittens are well fed with top quality food since, only the best nutrition is enough for an Aq-Bars Siberian kitten. We give them fresh meat, boiled chicken, fresh pork heart, Whiskas cat milk, cheese, Royal Canin kitten dry food, shrimps, boiled fish. Canned food: Almo Nature, Feline Porta-21, Sheba, Animonda Carny kitten, Whiskas Junior, Latz Junior, Hills i/d,Eagle Pack Hollistic
Supplementing with Multicat.

                              Adoption of a precious Aq-Bars kitten


We rarely sell kittens outside Scandinavia. At this point we have decided not to sell to Sweden or to Norway b/c the lines are represented there already. Therefore, we have sales stop 1-2 years to these two countries. I am careful with our breeding lines and try to avoid the fast spreading from our side. 

For us, it's  important that the kittens get a good loving home. Over showing or over breeding doesn't make me happy either. I think the cat should be able to rest now and then between shows. Each cat deserves a normal life at home.  Cat shows are ofcourse a nice thing and  important for many reasons,  but in moderation for each cat. I really like the TICA and the CFA shows, thank you to the pioneers in Finland in bringing TICA and CFA to Finland.

We want to protect the Siberian cat breed from too much inbreeding and would like to see that people who breed buy more foundations or not so inbred cats in order to bring in new blood to their breeding program, in moderation ofcourse. 

Cages are a big no no, so is declawing.
We don't sell kittens to be alone either, they should have a cat friend to play with.

                         

Aq-bars Siberian Cat kittens are released to their new good homes:

• when they are in 14 weeks of age, for export: 12 weeks minimum.

• dewormed twice with Milbemax kitten
   

• vaccinated twice, our vet recommended the first vaccine to be taken at 10 weeks, and three weeks after that the second vaccine. This is for better resistance against cat flu. For export we vaccinate from 8 weeks. However, in that case a third vaccination is recommended by our veterinarian. The reason for this is simple; mother's milk antibodies are stronger in an eight (8) week old kitten than in a ten (10) weeks old kitten and prevents the maximum effect of the vaccination.
   

• microchipped

• inspected by a veterinarian
   

• registered to the FIFe, TICA or CFA register
   

• As indoor cats. Access to outdoors; only in a leash/cat yard.

• Our breeders are not sold for colourpointed Siberian Cat / Neva Masquerade breeding

• You will get with the kitten Royal Canin kitten package, and a Cat book; Miriam Numminen's Cat care guide. (Only in Finnish)

• We sell very seldomly our rare lines for breeding

• We export reluctantly to other countries unless we receive strong recommendations for you.
  It's because, we have heard so many stories about catteries that keep their breeders caged. To have cats in cages is something we are very strongly against.

Aq-Bars Angus as a kitten.

 © Aq Bars