Cat of the Month ~ July 2010

Nebelung

Nebelung cats are relatively big animals for domestic pets. The head is wedge shaped, large, and pointed. The blue-grey coat has a dense undercoat of grey as well as being tipped with silver guard hairs, which give it a shimmery quality. Males have a ruff of fur around the neck which resembles a lions mane. The coat on the tail is often longer than the body fur, as is the coat on the hind legs. During the shedding months, the Nebelung cat may require twice weekly brushing to deal with the thick undercoat. So keepers need to be dedicated to this feline.

Nebelung are very reserved and prefer their own family, often keeping at a distance from strangers. They do not like change or loud noises and will take a while to warm to new home with new people, but once they do, they are a devoted and affectionate cat.

Nebelung are active, but do not make (or like) a lot of noise so families with small children should consider a different breed. Families who travel a great deal or have a varying routine should also look elsewhere. The ideal owner of a Nebelung cat is a quiet person, a family with gentle, older children, and senior citizens. They are are very good communicators, and never hesitate to remind their owners of any problem. It is said this happens often, since Nebelungs can be very picky about things such as litter cleanliness and food.

The breed (though similar to the Russian Blue except for the much longer coat length) is recognized by the International Cat Association, and has its own breed standard.
The name Nebelung is apparently a portmanteau of the German word Nebel for 'Mist or Fog' and a medieval Germanic saga, 'Nibelungenlied' or 'The Song of the Nibelungs', which is an epic poem in Middle High German. (The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians). So the 'mist or fog' will almost certainly be the cat's distinctive silky, smoky blue-grey coat - whilst the breed's ancestors, the Cats 'Siegfried' and 'Brunhilde', were named after two major figures in the Nibelungenlied. Hence 'Nebelung'.

Bred in the United States, Canada, Russia and Europe at present the Nebelung is recognized not only by TICA, but also the WCF, LOOF, ACFA and the independent cat associations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany. It is still rather rare, so if you would like to befriend one, please be prepared to wait for a kitten or cat of this breed.

Origin and History

Miss Cora Cobb of Denver, Colorado, is one of the developers of the Nebelung cat breed in America. The basis of the breed then was created by Siegfried (1984) and Brunhilde (1985). Elsa, the mother of both Siegfried and Brunhilde, was a black short-haired house cat whose father resembled a black angora cat.

Ms Cobb adopted a stray black shorthair named Terri, who had a few female kittens. She gave one of these female kittens to her son, who bred the cat with a blue tinted neighborhood tomcat (showing traits of a Russian Blue).