Meet the Royal Ruskies

Today’s interview is with the Royal Ruskies, Jake and Elwood.

It is so nice to meet you Miss Christina. Thank you so much for asking us to be in your Peace Love and Whiskers! We brought you two of our homemade specialties Catnip cornbread and a jug of cold catnip iced tea. We hope you enjoy them.

Oh thank you, *sips tea* I’m really curious to know where your names came from.. since you are both Russian blues, I’m surprised you have English names.. was that your mommy who picked it?

ELWOOD: Jake do you mind if I tell this story?
JAKE: Go right ahead. (giggles)
ELWOOD: Well Daddy named us. When Mommy and Daddy first adopted us from our Auntie Karen and Auntie Margaret we were only 9 weeks old. I was very long and thin and very serious about my discoveries and Jake was short and very round and loved to act silly for a laugh. Daddy said to Mommy, I just figured out the perfect name for these two boys! Playing off the word Blue from our breed and the fact that our builds and personalities were like the Blues Brothers Daddy said Jake and Elwood! From that day forward we were Jake and Elwood. Mommy came up with our facebook page names. Royal Ruskies. It is a fun way to show our heritage.

How did you come to live in Florida?

JAKE: Well I guess you would have to ask our biological Mother this question (giggle) We just opened our little eyes and here we were in sunny Florida starring up and palm trees and feeling fun sand in our tootsies. We were born outside to a feral Mom and we are not sure or our biological Dads story. He is a full Russian Blue. He may have been put out or let go by a bad type of breeder we do not know. He is very afraid of humans and Auntie Margaret still feeds him and looks after him. Our biological Mom brought us one by one to Auntie Margarets door and dropped us off because she needed the help. Our Auntie Margaret now keeps our Mom inside and Auntie Karen kept our sister so we all are inside now except Dad. We don’t think he comes around much anymore but we are not sure. We know if he does he will have an inside home too! So here we are two tropical Southern boys!

After reading a bit about the history of Russian Blues, I am really amazed you have such a rich heritage, may I share the information from your about page?

Oh yes we would be honored for you to share our heritage from our page! We are so proud of the brave Blues before us that served in history!

Great thanks gentle cats. Here is the information from their about page:

Elwood really carries all the traits of the breed while Jake looks part Russian Blue and part white fuzzy bunny. LOL The Russian Blue cat first originated in Northern Russia. Then was transported to Great Britain during the 1860’s. They were shipped out of the port of Arkhangelsk and were originally known as the Archangel Blue cat. The have a double coat of fur because they came from a region so close to the Artic Circle. It is said that they were the favorite cats to the Czars. There are even stories of them riding into battle on the shoulders of the Cossack Militia. They most probably arrived in England with the Russian sailors from Archangel. It is said that Queen Victoria fell in love with the breed and had 2 as her pets and from there forward the breed became the most sought after breed among the Nobles. They have small litters usually only three kittens at a time which made them even more rare. My boys may only be part Russian Blue but the air of Royalty must be strong in their genes because I know the rule our house with a heavy paw!

Who got the idea of doing the Blues News?

ELWOOD: Well Jake and I came up with the idea together. I write the articles and edit and Mommy is my assistant editor and Jake does all the photo’s and layouts and runs the Cyber presses. Each week we seem to get more ideas and columns just from bouncing ideas off each other. We like to bring fun and giggles to the paper as well as awareness on serious and special topics regarding the health and safety of all types of fur children. It is also a way we can make our friends aware of what fundraiser we are having for a rescue group or shelter. For 2013 we are going to be focusing a lot on raising money for pet oxygen masks for Fire companies across the Untied States. We also like to give credit in our paper to those individuals or organizations that are doing pawsome things that inspire us all to help more.

Where did the name come from?

JAKE: The name Blues News came from the word play on us being Russian Blues and being the Blues brothers and it was our newspaper so it became the Blues News.

What was your first article?

We had two articles in our very first paper and we love both so much so you choose for us. We gave the first Inspiration Friend Award to Fatboy for all his wonderful work helping others and we gave our first Angels on Earth Award to Scouts Therapy Group and they are just amazing as well. We are so honored you want to share this thank you!

To view their first article click here

What will readers be seeing from Blue News in 2013?

ELWOOD: Well that is a very good question. Since I am the article writer I can tell you some things but we must leave some things for fun surprises for our readers. For Spring we are going to have a new gardening column. It will be safe Gardening for you and your fur children and some really fun Summertime party and craft ideas that you can do with your fur children to stay cool and enjoy the Summer. Of course we will also still have all our tried and true columns that our readers enjoy, such as Elwood’s Did You Know Column.

Tell us something that you would like your fans to know about you.

Well This is a topic that we are very passionate about. So many people will not give feral cats a chance. Many view us as wild cats and just think we could never get close to humans so they just leave them outside. But the truth is we can be wonderful loving cuddly fur children. Yes our biological Mom was older and used to living outside. But now she is happy to be inside and loves to give snuggles and cuddles. Our friends see us in PJ’s and play clothes and Tuxedos and riding in strollers and they do not realize we were outside ferals and look at us now!

Feral kids should never be viewed as being better off outside and alone to fend for ourselves. We are not better off, we just need extra love to get us to that snuggle point. We just need to know we can trust you and that you will always be there for us. Once we know that we are your best friend and child for life! Please give those born outside a chance at a wonderful safe life and please always remember ADOPT DON”T SHOP. There are just to many of us already born that need homes.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

JAKE: Well, we are two little small town Southern boys just learning some life lessons and learning how to be proper little Gentlemen and never did we ever dream we would have so many friends and people who care about us. We feel so humbled by it all. Our wish every day and every week is to bring smiles and giggles to all our friends! Laughter is the best gift shared between friends.

Well thank you both very much for dropping by sharing your story, previews of what's coming up on Blues News and talking a bit about feral kitties. For those out there would want to check out Blues News and keep up their adventures you can find them on their facebook page.