Norwegian forests Cats

History
The history of the Norwegian Forest Cat is rich of legends connected with Vikings. These ancient peoples used to keep in their houses cats, coming from the forests close to their villages. Vikings were also used to bring these cats in their boats as mouse’s hunters during their incursions or trips. Some of the Norwegian legends, mention that Freya, the goddess of love and fertility, was roaming about the world on a carriage dragged by two big cats with a long fur in search of her husband Odur. Even Thor, God of Thunder, had to prove its power by lifting a big cat. The Danish priest and naturalist Peter Clausson Friis, in 1959, when he was in Norway, classified for the first time the Norvegian Lynx in three classes: the lynx-wolf, the lynx-fox and the lynx-cat. This last category, considering his morphological description (dimension, legs and paws, ruff, ears), is quite similar to the actual cats of the Norwegian Forests. In the thirties of the twentieth century the breed of Norwegian Forest Cats was close to extinction, as consequence of the depopulation of the wild regions. However in 1975 some keen breeders of these cats established the Norsk Skogkattring (the club of Norwegian Forest Cats) with the aim of recovering and preserving the breed. This club was officially recognised by FiFé and later by all the other international associations. Today, in Norway, this breed is recognised as national breed under the name of Norsk Skaukatt.

Features and colours

Big size, long body, robust constitution and a solid bone structure. The head is triangular with all sides equal, its length is relevant when seen in profile, the forehead is slightly rounded, the profile is straight without interruptions. The ears are big, large at the base, pointed, with small tufts as the lynx and long hair out of the ears. The eyes are large, oval, well opened and slightly oblique. All colours are allowed, regardless of coat colour. Its expression is alert. The legs are robust, with hind legs longer than front legs. The paws are big, rounded and well fitting the robust legs. The tail is long and bushy: it should reach at least to the shoulder blades, but preferably to the neck. The coat is made by quite long hairs. The woolly undercoat is covered by a smooth, water-repellent overcoat . This glossy hair covers the back and the sides. A fully coated cat has shirtfront, a full ruff and knickerbockers. All colours are allowed including all the varieties with white.

Character, cares and diet

When you decide to accept and keep a Norwegian Forests cat, you receive in your home a real fellow for life. In spite of his imposing and wild appearance the Norwegian Cat is very sweet and he likes to live in comfort. He is curious and he likes to take part in the life of his family, he is a very good friend for children and he can teach them about the respect he deserves. They adapt themselves to live in a flat even with other animals, without any problems. Obviously, when possible, they like to go outside but it is absolutely necessary, in this latter case, to equip the garden or the terrace with all possible protections in order to avoid dangerous accidents. With regard to grooming, the Norwegian Cats do not need much care; it is enough to brush them once or twice a week particularly during the winter because they have much hair (they tend not to mat as much as for instance Persian cats do), and in spring as they molt. It is better to avoid the bath (unless in case of clamorous disasters), because repeated washes could damage their particular under coat. It is a good practice to organise the place where our friend cat lives with a robust scratching post, where he can express his natural behaviour of scratching. For the diet of the cat, the best food is high quality dry crisp croquettes, available in the best specialised shops, which is the most complete food along with the wet food. Also in this latter case we suggest natural high quality products, in preference small pieces of meat or fish. Meat without problems but not too much fish (due to possible diarrhoea). Both meat and fish must be cooked in order to avoid intestinal parasites. Do not give him milk, while yogurt or the milk in powder, sometime the yolk of the egg given in moderate amounts are acceptable.