Introducing the Norwegian Forest Cat:

The Norwegian Forest Cat is our national cat breed. A breed we want to preserve and promote and be proud of. Norwegian Forest cat has become incredibly popular both at home and abroad. These are the cats that explored the world with the Vikings, protecting the grain stores on land and sea, and which are believed to have left their progeny on the shores of North America as a legacy to the future.

From the collected folklore - "fairy tales" - we know that this sort of cat has been known since the 16^th century. "Hulder" was a sort of local Sidhe, a supernatural people that were usually invisible but living near humans and in similar ways - and the cat was called Huldrecat or even Troll cat, believed to possess magical qualities.

The Norwegians have said that the breed has been created by snow, cold, rain Norwegian forest, bushes and by starvation and fear. Even though the Norwegian Forest cat was a wild cat it found it's way to the civilisation. People called the cat "goblincat". They said that the cat had an extra claw which made a sound when the cat sneeked in to the houses. Some people though that the globlincat was a mix between lynx and the domesticated cat.

There are different theories regarding the origin of the Norwegian Forest Cat. One of the theories is that the Vikings brought longhaired cats with them home from Turkey or maybe from even further away. Theese cats then mated with European shorthaired cats and a cat which proved to have a very well adapted construction, both in reference to coat and body, was created.

Eventtually the cat was further developed through natural evolution and adapted to the hard and cold climate of northern Scandinavia. All this resulted in that only the largest, most muscular and smartest cats survived.

The thruh is, however, that the Norwegian Forest Cat became a farm cat very early in its history. Just what the farm needed - a robust, tough cat that was a superb mouser. Neglect, mixing with shorthaired cats and even hunting has threatened it with extinction several times.

The Norwegian Forest Cat have a loving, gentle disposition. They get along with children and other animals. They want and need to be with humans, though not necessarily on their lap. They are very curious as well as fearless hunters, so they must be shown what "prey" is acceptable in the household. They are very vocal animals, and have a wide-range of vocal expression. They have sound to indicate displeasure, hunger, frustration, fear excitement, and the need for social contact. The sounds they make are soft and generally do not irritate humans.

The Norwegian Forest Cat history goes back a long time. We know this because of cat descriptions in fairy tales dated back centuries. The first dated proof are from a children's book in 1912, and the artist Olf Gulbransson has a drawing of a grand champion type Forestcat in his autobiography - the drawing was made about 1910.

The Norwegian Forest cat was more rare because they mated with the shorthaired cat. Because of this a group of people started a serious breeding of the Norwegian Forest cat in the 1930;s

In Oslo 1938 the first Forest Cat was shown and judged by the Danish judge Knud Hansen who described it as a Norwegian national cat. Then the second World War broke out and the work to preserve this Norwegian nationalbreed didn't start again until 1972. The year after the breed was recognized in Norway, after the Norwegian catpeople agreed on a standard.

The cats were given pedigrees as an experimental breed, and 1976, the Norwegian had about 100 cats registered. The same year, on FIFE's annual meeting in Wiesbaden, the Norwegian Forest Cat got recognized without certificate status. But the Norwegian people didn't give up. When FIFE had it's annual meeting in Paris 1977, Fredrik Nordane and several others where present, bringing with them a lot of photomaterial and pedigreedokumentation, showing three generations of Forest Cats. And this time succeded and the Norwegian Forest Cat was officially recognised.

Today, over 30 years later, it's one of the most popular breeds in Scandnavia and spread all over the world.

The Norwegian Forest has many similarities to, and differences from the Maine Coon Cat and The Siberian Cat. All of these breeds come form the same geographic portion of the global. They may have been even descended from the same ancestors, but developed according to their different habitats.

Norwegian cats: Have a triangular head, slanted eyes and pointed ears.

Maine Coons: Are rectangular because of their long bodies, tail, legs, head, and tall ears.

Siberian Cats: Have a more rounded head and ears, round eyes and rounded barrelshaped torso.

General: The Norwegian Forest Cat is a sturdy cat with a distinguishing double coat and easily recognizable body shape. It is a slow maturing breed, attaining full growth at approximately five years of age.

HEAD: equilateral triangle, where all sides are of equal lenght as measured from the outside of the base of the ear to point of the chin. The neck is short and heavily muscled.

NOSE PROFILE: straight from the brow ridge to the tip of the nose without a break in the line. The flat forehead continues into a gentle curved skull and neck.

CHIN: the chin is firm and should be in line with the front of the nose. It is gently rounded in profile.

Muzzle: part of the straight line extending toward the base of ear without pronounced whisker pads and without pinch.

EARS: medium to large, rounded at the tip, broad at base, set as much on the side of the head as on top of the head, alert, with the cup of the ear pointing a bit sideways. The outsides of the ears follow the lines from the side of the head down to the chin. The ears are heavily furnished. Lynx tips are desirable, but not required.

Eyes: large, almond shaped, well-opened and expressive, set at a slight angle with the outer corner higher than the inner corner.

BODY: solidly muscled and well-balanced, moderate in lenght, substantial bone stucture, with powerful appearance showing a broad chest and considerable girth without being fat. Flank has great depth. Males should be large and imposing; females may be more refined and may be smaller.

LEGS: medium with hind legs longer than front legs, making the rump higher than the shoulders. Thighs are heavily muscled; lower legs are substantial. When viewed from the rear, back legs are straight. When viewed from the front the paws appear to be "toe out." Large round, firm paws with heavy tufting between toes.

TAIL: long and bushy. Broader at the base. Desirable lenght is equal to the body from the base of tail to the base of neck. Guard hairs desirable.

COAT: distinguishing double coat, consisting of a dense undercoat, covered by long, glossy and smooth water-resistant guard hairs hanging down the sides. The bib consists of three separate sections: short collar at neck, side mutton chops, and frontal ruff. Britches are full on the hind legs. The coat may be fuller in the winter than the summer because the dense undercoat has its full development in the winter. Softer coats are permitted in shaded, solid and bicolor cats. Type and quality of coat is of primary importance; color and pattern are secondary.

PATTERNS: every color and pattern is allowable with the exception of those showing hybridization resulting in the color chocolate, lavender/lilac, the Himalayan pattern, or these combinations with white.

COLORS AND PATTERN: the color and pattern should be clear and distinct. In the case of the classic, mackerel and spotted tabbies the pattern should be well-marked and even.

DISQUALIFY: severe break in nose, square muzzle, whisker pinch, long rectangular body, cobby body, incorrect number of toes, crossed eyes, kinked or abnormal tail, delicate bone structure, malocclusion resulting in either undershot or overshot chin, cats showing evidence of hybridization resulting in the colors chocolate, sable, lavender, lilac, or point-restricted (Himalayan-type markings) or these colors with white.