Siberian Grooming

About the Siberian

The Siberian is Russia's native forest cat and it carries the most substantial coat of any breed: a genuine triple coat of coarse water resistant guard hairs, a middle layer of awn hairs, and a dense woolly undercoat beneath both.

It is the same architecture as the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Maine Coon, all three being natural breeds shaped by hard winters rather than designed, and all three needing the same thing: regular combing to the skin and a serious deshed when the coat comes out.

The Siberian is also the breed most often described as hypoallergenic, and that claim deserves better than either repeating or dismissing it. Of all the breeds marketed that way, this is the one with the most behind it, and it still is not a guarantee.

The triple coat, and the spring molt

Three layers rather than the usual two. Coarse oily guard hairs on top shed water and snow, a middle awn layer adds body, and a dense woolly undercoat does the insulating. In full winter coat a Siberian carries a heavy ruff at the chest, full britches on the hind legs and a very bushy tail.

Then in spring it drops most of it, and the change is dramatic. A Siberian in summer coat looks like a different, much slimmer cat, keeping length mainly in the tail. It comes back in autumn.

Practically that means the routine varies through the year. For most of it, a comb through every two or three days is enough, concentrating on the ruff, the britches, the armpits, the belly and behind the ears.

During the spring molt, daily, with an undercoat comb or rake as well as a regular comb, because the volume coming out is considerable and dead undercoat left in place is what felts.

That period is also the peak hairball season, and combing is the most effective response, since hair removed by a comb is never swallowed.

The guard coat is water resistant and slightly oily, which keeps the cat surprisingly clean and means bathing is rarely needed. When it is, be aware the coat repels water and takes real effort to wet through, and it must be dried properly.

Do not clip a Siberian. It is a functional triple coat and the regrowth on a coat like this can be permanently altered.

The allergy question, answered properly

No cat is hypoallergenic, and any breeder using that word without qualification is overselling. But the Siberian claim is not marketing noise either, and the honest version is more useful than either extreme.

Most people allergic to cats are reacting to Fel d 1, a protein produced in the saliva and skin glands, spread onto the coat when the cat grooms itself, and shed into a room on flakes of skin. Every cat produces it, including hairless ones, which is why coat length is largely beside the point.

What is true is that cats vary enormously in how much they produce, by more than tenfold between individuals, and there is reasonable evidence that Siberians sit at the lower end more often than most breeds. The reports from allergic owners are consistent enough, and numerous enough, to be worth taking seriously.

What is also true is that the variation within the breed is large enough that being a Siberian is a poor guarantee for any individual cat. Some Siberians produce as much as any other cat. Males generally produce more than females, and neutered males less than intact ones.

Some breeders will test individual cats for Fel d 1 levels, and if you are allergic and buying a kitten, that is the thing to ask about rather than the breed label.

The practical advice: spend real time with the specific cat before committing, and do not assume. And note the coat is dense enough to hold dander rather than release it, so that regular combing is best done somewhere other than the sofa.

Where it mats, and the two rules

The same six places as any coated cat, all out of sight when the cat is standing and all hard for the cat to reach: the armpits, the inside of the back legs, the belly, the ruff under the chin, behind the ears and the base of the tail.

On a Siberian the ruff and the britches are the usual first offenders, because that is where the coat is deepest.

Check by running a comb through those places rather than by looking at the cat, because a dense triple coat stays glossy on the surface while a felted layer forms underneath.

Then the two rules that never bend on any cat.

Never cut a mat out with scissors. Cat skin is thin and mobile, and a mat pulls it up into a fold underneath that sits exactly where the blade goes. Degloving injuries from owners with scissors are a routine emergency presentation.

Never bathe a matted coat. Water tightens a mat like a wet knot. Comb first, always.

And watch what changes the picture. Weight gain, arthritis and any illness reduce how much of itself a cat can reach, and on a coat this substantial that turns a manageable animal into a neglected one within a season. A Siberian whose lower back and rear start looking dull, greasy or clumped has usually stopped grooming itself, and that is a health signal rather than a coat problem.

Temperament, size and the rest

Siberians are large, powerful, slow maturing cats that commonly take four or five years to reach full size, and they are notably athletic: they climb, jump higher than most cats and many genuinely enjoy water, which is unusual and occasionally useful at bath time.

Temperament is generally easygoing, people oriented and adaptable, which makes them one of the easier long coated cats to handle. Most tolerate combing well if it was introduced young.

Handle the feet from kittenhood. Nails every three to four weeks, and they are strong on a cat this size.

Ears are medium, well furnished with tufts, and want a weekly look.

Teeth, on a cat that may live to eighteen.

Keep the sanitary area, the britches and the hair between the paw pads trimmed short. On a heavily coated cat this prevents most litter box trouble and it is a small job.

One health note worth knowing: Siberians have a documented predisposition to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease that reputable breeders screen for. It is not a grooming matter, but a cat with a diagnosed heart condition should not be stressed by a long or forceful appointment, and that is worth saying to a groomer.

What to tell your groomer

Ask whether they take cats, whether cats are kept away from dogs, and whether they have a high velocity dryer, because a triple coat holds water and needs drying properly.

Book a deshedding appointment at the start of the spring molt rather than partway through it.

Say honestly when the coat was last combed to the skin, and where you found mats, usually the ruff and the britches.

Ask for the sanitary area, britches and paw pads kept short.

Ask them not to clip the coat.

And mention any diagnosed heart condition, or any change in weight or mobility, since that is the best predictor of what this coat is about to do.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Siberian