Neva Masquerade

The term Neva Masquerade is derived from Neva, for the river in St. Petersburg, where they are said to have originated.[1][7]

6-month-old seal lynx point Neva Masquerade kitten in a tree.

References of the ancient Siberian cat breed date back a thousand years,[8] but the colorpoint variety did not appear until the 1970-80s.[1][4] It is believed that Asian or related colorpoint cats, were naturally or intentionally crossed into the Siberian breed to achieve the Siamese colorpoint gene.[2][4][5] During the introduction of the Siberian cat to Western European countries and the USA in the late 1980s, the traditional colored Siberians and colorpointed Neva Masquerade cats were both presented.[7] The Siberian breed was generally recognized in the late 1990s by the cat fancy, however some registries chose to not accept colorpoint varieties in the Siberian breed and made the Neva Masquerade into a separate breed.[4]

Subsequently, the classification of the Neva Masquerade is a highly debated topic under breeders, enthusiasts, organizations, and (inter)national cat registries of the Siberian and Neva Masquerade cat. Some registries such as TICA[9] and CFA[10] accept the Neva Masquerade point coloration as being a natural coat color within the Siberian cat breed. However, they are classified as a separate breed, the Neva Masquerade, by other registries, such as FIFé,[11] WCF,[12] CCA-AFC,[13] and ACF.[14] In these (inter)national cat registries the Siberian cat breed has the code [SIB], and [NEM] is used for the Neva Masquerade.[11]

Blue-eyed adult with a seal lynx point and white coat color.

The pointed Neva Masquerade has bright blue eyes[4] and a light overall coat color with darker solid or tabby point markings on its head, legs, and tail.[1] The tabby point marking is referred to as lynx point. The point coloration includes the colors:

• seal (brown or black),
• blue,
• red,
• cream,
• tortoiseshell (tortie),
• tortoiseshell tabby (torbie),
• silver or smoke, and
• golden.[1][6]

These colorpoint markings can be mixed with any amount of white.[6] However, completely white (solid-white) cats are not considered Neva Masquerades, as they do not posses the Siamese colorpoint marking. The solid-white coloring is considered Western,[1] and is one of the many colors of traditional Siberian cats. Solid-white Siberian cats can also have blue eyes, however this is due to lack of melanin pigment and not a result of the colorpoint gene.

The color intensity of the point markings spread from a light tipping to a nearly full body coverage. As with other colorpoint cats, the Neva Masquerade is nearly white at birth and develop their darker colored markings whilst aging. The Siamese colorpoint pattern is controlled by a heat-sensitive enzyme, which result in darker pigmented extremities on the cooler body parts, i.e. the legs, tale, and head.[1]

Cream lynx point

Seal lynx point

Two Neva Masquerade cats with a very dense triple-coat walking in snow during winter.

The Neva Masquerade carries the same colorpoint gene (c.904G>A, a variant of the TYR gene) as the Siamese, which can also be found in other cat breeds related to the Siamese, namely the Birman, Himalayan (colorpoint Persian), Ragdoll and Toybob.[3] This Siamese colorpoint mutation provides the distinctive dark point markings and bright blue eyes in Neva Masquerade cats. The gene pool of the Siberian and the Neva Masquerade share a significant overlap, as the two have been crossbred for many years. Nowadays, commercial tests exists for point mutations,[15] which allows breeders to specifically target carriers of the popular point gene.

Although the Neva Masquerade shares many characteristics with the Siberian in terms of character and appearance, recent studies have shown distinctions between the two in terms of body language,[2] vocalizatons,[16] and feline hereditary diseases.[5]

Research on the body language and vocalisation of the two sister breeds showed that Neva Masquerade cats behaved more stressful and fearful in isolation compared to Siberian cats.[2][16] The vocalisation of Siberian cats is spread over a broader energy spectrum than the Neva Masquerade, which probably results in more diverse sounds in the Siberian cat.[16]

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a feline heredity disease, which is highly prevalent in the Persian cat gene pool.[17] The heredity disease has not been found in the gene pool of traditional Siberians, however it is diagnosed in a Neva Masquerade male cat.[5] Genetic analysis confirmed the inherited pattern of PKD in its relatives.[5][18] The origin of the Neva Masquerade is unclear, and some believe it is related to the Persian cat, which may explain the prevalence of PKD in this breed.[5] PKD should be considered as a possible cause of chronic renal failure in this breed.

These differences between the two sister breeds seem surprising, as they are treated as one breed by many cat enthusiasts and are allowed to be mixed with each other by most breeding registries. Further studies are needed, as these study results are just the beginning of the research on the two sister breeds. Especially, the prevalence of PKD in the Neva Masquerade gene pool is of concern as crossbreeding the two sister breeds could potentially spread PKD into the Siberian breed.[5]

• 
  Cream lynx point adult male.
• 
  Blue lynx point adult.
• 
  Seal lynx point adult.
• 
  Seal lynx point female adult.
• 
  4-year-old seal lynx point female.
• 
  Seal lynx point with white adult.
• 
  Blue point adult with solid markings.
• 
  12-weeks-old seal lynx point kitten.
• 
  13-weeks-old male blue lynx point (left) and female seal lynx point (right) kittens.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neva Masquerade cats.

• Siberian cat and Neva Masquerade photos