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NORWEGIAN FOREST CAT
The Norwegian Forest Cat is a breed of domestic cat native to Northern Europe , and adapted to a very cold climate. In Norway they are known as Skogkatt, Skaukatt or more properly, the Norsk Skogkatt (literally, Norwegian Forest Cat). And more names are Wegie, Racekatte, and Rugkatt. Norwegian Forest Cats have a thick fluffy double-layered coat, made up of a soft woolly undercoat to keep the body warm and a long, glossy, hanging outer coat designed to shed the snow and rain, tufted ears and a long bushy tail to protect them against the cold. They are very large cats with adult males weighing 6 to 10 kg (13 to 22 lb ), while females are approximately half that size. Their hind legs are longer than their front legs. They are very intelligent, playful cats that enjoy human company. Like Maine Coons , Norwegian Forest Cats are an intelligent, robust and playful breed. They like the outdoors, are well suited to cold conditions and are great hunters. Despite their great affection for the outdoors however, they enjoy the company of humans and other pets and will sometimes go looking for company if their owner is out. They are not easily stressed and are quite patient, which makes them great for a family with children. They enjoy high vantage points and enjoy tree-climbing, or, if they are indoor cats, climbing on appliances. Potential buyers should be aware that they enjoy climbing on top of bookshelves, refrigerators, and computers, so you should be careful to secure any breakable things as these are heavy and strong cats, and they don't care if they break something.
ORIGIN: The Legend says that Skogkatter are descendants from the giant cats that pulled Freya's chariot. They are also mentioned in some fairy tales as “fairy-cat” with famous bushy tails. But truth is somewhat different. At some time around AD 1000, Vikings brought some longhaired cats with them from Byzantine Empire (now Istanbul , Turkey). There is evidence of trade routes between these two cultures at that time. And also Skogkatt displays color that are visible only on cats from Turkey. Because of extremely cold climate, several natural adaptations occurred with those cats through several generations. And Norwegian Forest cat was created, but it was not regarded as anything other than a standard house-cat until the late 1930s . At that time, several Norwegian Forest Cats were shown in Germany and received very favorably by the judges. The Second World War stopped selective breeding until the 1970s . Today they are breeded in many countries including the USA . Because Wegie is a very old breed, there are rumors that they are the
early ancestors of the Maine Coon and the long-haired Manx. Their resemblance makes it possible, and also the fact that some Norwegian immigrants brought their cats with them to USA in 18th and 19th century, but it haven't been proven.
STANDARD:
HEAD 35 Points
Shape (10)
Profile (10)
Ears (5)
Eyes (5)
Chin (5)
BODY/TAIL 30 Points
Shape (10)
Legs/Feet (10)
Tail (10)
COAT 25 Points
COLOR/PATTERN 10 Points
Accepted Colors:
| Blue Eyed White Copper Eyed White Odd Eyed White Blue Black Cream Red Blue Tabby Cream Tabby Red Tabby Brown Tabby Blue Silver Tabby Silver Tabby Golden Tabby Cameo Tabby [Above colors also recognized in Mackerel, Spotted and Ticked patterns] |
Bluecream Tortoiseshell Chinchilla Silver Chinchilla Golden Shell Cameo |
Shaded Silver Shaded Golden Shaded Cameo Shaded Bluecream Shaded Tortoiseshell Blue Smoke Black Smoke Cameo Smoke Golden Smoke Bluecream Smoke Tortoiseshell Smoke Bluecream Calico Tortoiseshell Calico Blue Bicolor Black Bicolor Red Bicolor Cream Bicolor |
Particolors: All Tabby, Chinchilla, Shell, Shaded, Smoke and Tortoiseshell colors with white. |
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Harlequins: All Solids, Tabby, Chinchilla Shell, Shaded, Smoke and Tortoiseshell with white. |
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Other links: CFA FBRL CCA TICA ACFA SFDH
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