Norwegian Forest Cat

The Norwegian Forest Cat (Template:Langx or Template:Lang) is a breed of domestic cat originating in Northern Europe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This landrace breed is adapted to a very cold climate, with a top coat of long, glossy hair and a woolly undercoat for insulation. The breed's ancestors may have been a landrace breed of short-haired cats brought to Norway about A.D. 1000 by the Vikings, who may also have brought with them long-haired cats, like those ancestral to the modern Siberian and Turkish Angora.

During World War II, the Norwegian Forest Cat was nearly extinct; then the Norwegian Forest Cat Club's breeding program increased the cat's number. It was registered as a breed with the European Fédération Internationale Féline in the 1970s, when a cat fancier, Carl-Fredrik Nordane, took notice of the breed and made efforts to register it. The breed is very popular in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and France.

It is a large breed with a strong body, similar to the Siberian and Maine Coon cat breeds, with long legs, a bushy tail, and a sturdy body. It is very good at climbing, partly because of its strong claws.

History and adaption

File:Dalaja Doll-norvegien ambre-blotched-tabby-blanc-neige2009b (cropped).jpg

Amber tabby and white adult female in snow

The Norwegian Forest Cat is adapted to survive Norway's cold weather.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Its ancestors may include cold-adapted black and white British Shorthair cats brought to Norway from Great Britain some time after 1000 AD by the Vikings, and longhaired cats brought to Norway by Crusaders around the 14th century. These cats could have reproduced with farm and feral stock and may have eventually evolved into the modern-day Norwegian Forest breed.<ref name=ASPCA>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="The Cat: Its Behavior, Nutrition and Health">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="ultimate">Template:Cite book</ref> The Siberian and the Turkish Angora, longhaired cats from Russia and Turkey, respectively, are also possible ancestors of the breed.<ref name=ASPCA/>

Norse legends refer to the Template:Lang as a "mountain-dwelling fairy cat with an ability to climb sheer rock faces that other cats could not manage."<ref name="Complete Guide to the Cat"/> Since the Norwegian Forest Cat is a very adept climber,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> author Claire Bessant believes that the Template:Lang folktale could be about the ancestor of the modern Norwegian Forest breed.<ref name="Complete Guide to the Cat">Template:Cite book</ref> The name Norse Template:Lang is used by some breeders and fancier organizations for the modern breed.

The ancestors of the Norwegian Forest Cat most likely served as ships' cats (mousers) on Viking ships.<ref name=cfainc>Template:Cite web</ref> The original landrace lived in the Norwegian forests for many centuries, but were later prized for their hunting skills and were used on Norwegian farms,<ref name="Furstinger">Template:Cite book</ref> until they were discovered in the early 20th century by cat enthusiasts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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Blue tabby female kitten

In 1938 the first organization devoted to the breed, the Norwegian Forest Cat Club, was formed in Oslo, Norway.<ref name="oslo">Template:Cite web</ref> The club's movement to preserve the breed was interrupted by World War II. Owing to cross-breeding with free-ranging domestic cats during the war, the Norwegian Forest Cat became endangered and nearly extinct until the Norwegian Forest Cat Club helped the breed make a comeback by developing an official breeding program.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the 1950s, King Olav V declared them the official cat of Norway.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Since the cat did not leave Norway until the 1970s, it was not registered as a breed in the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe), the pan-European federation of cat registries, until Carl-Fredrik Nordane, a Norwegian cat fancier, took notice of the breed, and made efforts to register it.<ref name="oslo" /> The breed was registered in Europe by the 1970s, and in the American Cat Fanciers Association in 1994.<ref name="Cat Lover's Daily Companion">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1978, it was recognized in Sweden as an official breed,<ref>Template:Cite web (in French). Sverak. Retrieved 20 March 2011.</ref> In 1989, they were accepted as a breed in the United Kingdom by the Norwegian Cat Club of Britain.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Norwegian Forest breed is very popular in Norway and Sweden. Since 2003, it has been the fifth most popular cat breed in France, where there are about 400 to 500 births per year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Description

Appearance

Template:Multiple image The Norwegian Forest Cat is strongly built and larger than an average cat. Adult females weigh Template:Cvt; males, Template:Cvt. The breed has a long, sturdy body; long legs; and a bushy tail. The coat consists of a long, thick, glossy, water-repellent top layer and a woolly undercoat and is thickest at the legs, chest, and head.<ref name="Complete Guide to the Cat" /> The undercoat appears as a ruff. The profile of the breed is generally straight.<ref name="cfainc" /> Their water-resistant coat with a dense undercoat developed to help the cat survive in the harsh Scandinavian climate.<ref name="Norwegian Forest Breed">Template:Cite web</ref>

The head is long with an overall shape similar to an equilateral triangle, a strong chin, and a muzzle of medium length; a square or round-shaped head is considered to be a defect.<ref name="Encyclopedie Active Le Chat">Template:Cite book</ref> The eyes are almond-shaped and oblique, and may be of any color.<ref name="Complete Guide to the Cat" /><ref>Norwegian Forest Breed Standard Template:Webarchive. The International Cat Association. Published 1 May 2004. Accessed 26 March 2011.</ref> The ears are large, wide at the base, and high set, have a tufted top, are placed in the extension of the triangle formed by the head, and end with a tuft of hair like the ears of the lynx.<ref name="Encyclopedie Active Le Chat" />

All coat colors and divisions in the traditional, sepia, and mink categories are accepted.<ref name="Encyclopedie Active Le Chat" /> Since the cats have very strong claws, they are very good climbers, and can even climb rocks.<ref name="Cat Lover's Daily Companion" />

Behaviour

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Black blotched tabby and white adult in a tree

They are friendly, intelligent, and generally good with people.<ref name="ASPCA" /> The Norwegian Forest Cat has a lot of energy.<ref name="ASPCA" /> Fanciers note that these cats produce a variety of high-pitched "chirping" vocalizations.Template:Cn

Norwegian Forest Cats that live primarily outdoors become swift and effective hunters, but the breed can also adapt to indoor life.<ref name="ultimate" />

A study comparing Norwegian Forest Cat kittens to Siamese, Oriental, and Abyssinian kittens found the Norwegian Forest Cat to be more likely to explore and try to escape.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Health

In an experiment directed by John C. Fyfea, Rebeccah L. Kurzhals, and others, it was concluded that a complex rearrangement in the breed's Glycogen branching enzyme (GBE1) can cause both a perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and a late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in glycogen storage disease type IV in the breed.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This disorder, while rare, can prove fatal to cats that have it.<ref name=ASPCA/> Glycogen storage disease type IV due to branching enzyme deficiency was found in an inbred family of Norwegian Forest Cats.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The breed has also been known to suffer from hip dysplasia,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> which is a rare, partially hereditary disease of the hip joint.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

An analysis of pedigree records of cats in England found evidence of hereditary cardiomyopathy.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A 2005 study looking at 17 cases of eosinophilic granuloma complex in Norwegian Forest Cats found a link between the cats after reviewing pedigree analysis, suggesting a hereditary nature of the condition.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• Maine Coon
• Siberian cat
• Norwegian Elkhound
• Norwegian Lundehund
• Norwegian sheep landrace
• Norwegian chicken landrace