The American Blue Cat is a mix of American Shorthair,
Russian Blue and Siamese.
"The American Blue Cat began by chance; an act of God, as I see it."
Elaine Schimpff-Bergstrom
The Humble Beginning
Almost twenty years ago, in 1986, a robust, compact, but small tortoise-shell colored
female cat found me at my place in the country in Harrison County in Indiana. She
was pregnant (of course), and decided to make a nest in the stack of hay in my barn
after she found that I would feed her. Plus there were lots of mice, shrews and voles
for her to forage upon in the horse pastures and hay fields. I named her Mama Cass.
Her litter consisted of 2 grey, one orange and white, and one buff kittens. I kept one
grey and the orange and white kitten.
The Orange and white kitten grew into a beautiful long-haired male, and the grey
male grew into a large robust short-haired male.
The orange male had his particular times, usually in the evening before sunset, when
he would feel affectionate and accepting of my affection. Otherwise, he was aloof
and I did not see much of him.
The grey male, on the other hand, always seemed to be around and curious about
everything I was doing on the farm. He would follow me around much like a puppy
dog, and was always interested in some attention. And his fur was so much different
than the other cats - softer, thicker.
I named him Spooky, because when he was a kitten and he first saw me at a distance
approaching the barn, he would hump up his back, but after recognising me, would
gradually lower his back and start rubbing my legs. Later I dropped the "S" and
shortened the name to "Pookie". (Pookie is the foundation stud of this breed).
After church one evening, while a good crowd of us were outside talking, a little grey
kitten, a female, found her way to my legs and was enthusiastically rubbing herself on
me. Out of all those legs out there that evening, I do not understand why she picked
mine. She stayed with me, even though I tried walking away from her numerous
times. Everybody said I should take her home. "But I already have three cats - I
don't need another one!" I told them.
Well, needless to say, I took her home. Her conformation and size was much like
Mama Cass. Like the grey male, her fur texture and density was different from other
cats. She had the same super affectionate personality as the grey male, plus she
had the most exciting bright emerald green eyes! I named her Bonita.
The Hybrid Russian Blues
I bred Bonita to Pookie, and all of her offspring were solid grey kittens with luxurious
silver-tipped fur. And all of the kittens displayed the wonderful affectionate
personality that I admired so much in Pooky and Bonita. But unlike Russian Blues,
every cat had a "ringed" tail and were medium to large in size with robust, muscular
bodies, and the males had huge impressive jowls (which reminded me of the
foundation bred quarter horse stallions and their huge jowls)!
I started selling the kittens for $50.00 each without shots or having been de wormed.
I had a purchaser of one of my kittens call me a year later with the nicest
complement. She said, "I was going through some things, and ran across the ad in
the paper, which I saved, where you advertised your cats for sale. I purchased one
from you a little over a year ago, and I wanted to tell you that this is the best cat I
have ever had. Thank you so much."
Wow!
I acquired other females like Bonita, for genetic diversity, and made follow-up calls to
owners of my "Hybrid Russian Blues" as I was referring to them back then. And
consistently, their response was that these cats were the best they had ever owned!
The Siamese Revelation
In the year 2000, Maggie Marshmallow, my primary queen now, began giving birth to
cream kittens (which turned out to be "Siamese") along with the blues. This proves
the genetic link to their Russian Blue heritage!
The Siamese genes came from the Russian Blues. Back During WWII, not only did
everybody hate the Germans, they also hated the Russians. People who knew about
Russian Blues were killing them out of prejudice just because of the name associated
with that breed - not because they were in any way a "bad" cat or "bad" breed of cat.
Some breeders, to save the Russian Blue species, bred them to Siamese to
genetically preserve the breed. Siamese have a very similar bodily conformation to
Russian Blues, small cats with a small build, therefore, the Siamese cats were the
best candidate to "hide" the Russian Blue gene at that time without adversely
affecting the profile of the breed much.
These Siamese genes have been "hidden" in the genetic profile of these "American"
cats for over sixty-five (65) years. And through selective breeding, over numerous
generations, I have successfully manifested these Siamese characteristics in the
American Blue Cat.
Therefore, American Blue cats produce consistently, blues and blue-point cream
"Siamese" (I do get a few seal-points on a rare occasion).
Russian Blue and Siamese.
"The American Blue Cat began by chance; an act of God, as I see it."
Elaine Schimpff-Bergstrom
The Humble Beginning
Almost twenty years ago, in 1986, a robust, compact, but small tortoise-shell colored
female cat found me at my place in the country in Harrison County in Indiana. She
was pregnant (of course), and decided to make a nest in the stack of hay in my barn
after she found that I would feed her. Plus there were lots of mice, shrews and voles
for her to forage upon in the horse pastures and hay fields. I named her Mama Cass.
Her litter consisted of 2 grey, one orange and white, and one buff kittens. I kept one
grey and the orange and white kitten.
The Orange and white kitten grew into a beautiful long-haired male, and the grey
male grew into a large robust short-haired male.
The orange male had his particular times, usually in the evening before sunset, when
he would feel affectionate and accepting of my affection. Otherwise, he was aloof
and I did not see much of him.
The grey male, on the other hand, always seemed to be around and curious about
everything I was doing on the farm. He would follow me around much like a puppy
dog, and was always interested in some attention. And his fur was so much different
than the other cats - softer, thicker.
I named him Spooky, because when he was a kitten and he first saw me at a distance
approaching the barn, he would hump up his back, but after recognising me, would
gradually lower his back and start rubbing my legs. Later I dropped the "S" and
shortened the name to "Pookie". (Pookie is the foundation stud of this breed).
After church one evening, while a good crowd of us were outside talking, a little grey
kitten, a female, found her way to my legs and was enthusiastically rubbing herself on
me. Out of all those legs out there that evening, I do not understand why she picked
mine. She stayed with me, even though I tried walking away from her numerous
times. Everybody said I should take her home. "But I already have three cats - I
don't need another one!" I told them.
Well, needless to say, I took her home. Her conformation and size was much like
Mama Cass. Like the grey male, her fur texture and density was different from other
cats. She had the same super affectionate personality as the grey male, plus she
had the most exciting bright emerald green eyes! I named her Bonita.
The Hybrid Russian Blues
I bred Bonita to Pookie, and all of her offspring were solid grey kittens with luxurious
silver-tipped fur. And all of the kittens displayed the wonderful affectionate
personality that I admired so much in Pooky and Bonita. But unlike Russian Blues,
every cat had a "ringed" tail and were medium to large in size with robust, muscular
bodies, and the males had huge impressive jowls (which reminded me of the
foundation bred quarter horse stallions and their huge jowls)!
I started selling the kittens for $50.00 each without shots or having been de wormed.
I had a purchaser of one of my kittens call me a year later with the nicest
complement. She said, "I was going through some things, and ran across the ad in
the paper, which I saved, where you advertised your cats for sale. I purchased one
from you a little over a year ago, and I wanted to tell you that this is the best cat I
have ever had. Thank you so much."
Wow!
I acquired other females like Bonita, for genetic diversity, and made follow-up calls to
owners of my "Hybrid Russian Blues" as I was referring to them back then. And
consistently, their response was that these cats were the best they had ever owned!
The Siamese Revelation
In the year 2000, Maggie Marshmallow, my primary queen now, began giving birth to
cream kittens (which turned out to be "Siamese") along with the blues. This proves
the genetic link to their Russian Blue heritage!
The Siamese genes came from the Russian Blues. Back During WWII, not only did
everybody hate the Germans, they also hated the Russians. People who knew about
Russian Blues were killing them out of prejudice just because of the name associated
with that breed - not because they were in any way a "bad" cat or "bad" breed of cat.
Some breeders, to save the Russian Blue species, bred them to Siamese to
genetically preserve the breed. Siamese have a very similar bodily conformation to
Russian Blues, small cats with a small build, therefore, the Siamese cats were the
best candidate to "hide" the Russian Blue gene at that time without adversely
affecting the profile of the breed much.
These Siamese genes have been "hidden" in the genetic profile of these "American"
cats for over sixty-five (65) years. And through selective breeding, over numerous
generations, I have successfully manifested these Siamese characteristics in the
American Blue Cat.
Therefore, American Blue cats produce consistently, blues and blue-point cream
"Siamese" (I do get a few seal-points on a rare occasion).
| Their History |
| The American Blue Cat |