Presentation of the Norwegian Forest Cat

The tales about the Forestcat are many and it´s mentioned in litterature in very early days. The norwegian nature made sure, without mercy and for centurys, that only the strongest individuals survived the cold, snowstorms, ice and rain. And the nature continued to make the breed stronger and better adapted to survive by giving the breed a special coat with thick underwool to keep them warm. It has long water resistant guardhairs on the back, hanging down the sides, to keep them dry. To protect the most sensitive parts of the body a bit extra, some parts got longer coat, as collar, eartufts, tufts between their toes, also the cheeks and breast got a longer coat and the long tail.

Big and strong, on high legs, with the hind legs slightly higher than the frontlegs, the Forest Cat moves like an athlete. It’s extremely good in climbing trees. It is almost as good in getting down again, with their heads first!

The Forest Cat's head reminds us about the lynx. With big ears with tufts on, the expression in the eyes, the strong chin and the straight profile, gives a very strong impression of wild cat and wilderness. Now you are asking yourself: can I really keep these cats as a pet indoors? The answer is, without any doubts: YES!

The Forest Cat is a social, friendly cat, who likes both human and other cats. Just like other cats, the Forest Cat has a great personality. They are also very intelligent and "speaks" a lot, without being noisy. Most Forest Cats prefer a catcompanion instead of being a single cat.

The coat is, inspite of it´s length, quite easy to care for. But in the shedding season they can get some smaller knots. During summer, the cats are almost shorthaired. The only thing that makes you realise it´s not a shorthaired cat, is the tail and the "knickers" (back of hindlegs), who still has long fur.

In Oslo 1938 the first Forest Cat was shown and judged by a very excited judge, named Knut Hansen. Then the second World War broke out and the work to preserve this Norwegian nationalbreed didn´t start again until 1972. The year after, 1973, the breed was recognised in Norway, since the norwegian catpeople agreed on a standard.

The cats were given pedigrees as an experimental breed and 1976 the norwegians had about 100 cats registered. The same year, at FIFe’s annual meeting in Wiesbaden, the Norwegian Forest Cat got recognised 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 that were present, brought a lot of photomaterial and pedigreedokumentation, showing 3 generations of Forest Cats. And this time they succeded, the Norwegian Forest Cat was officially recognised! This event was even covered by the norwegian TV-news, and the norwegian people are proud of their national breed, and so they should be!

There has been a big interest for the Forest Cat in Sweden since the beginning. But as the norwegians first wanted to create a good breedingbase for themselves, only cats from third or fourth generations was allowed to be sold out of Norway. The first Forest Cat came to Sweden from Norway in 1977 and many cats have followed that one since then and nowadays the swedish NFC´s are just as good as the norwegians.

Text from: Skogkattslingan

Corrected by: Lotta Anderälv