Noorse Boskat Cattery: Draíocht Coill

The Norwegian Forest Cat
The Norwegian Forest Cat is an old cat breed. It's a natural breed, humans didn't interfere with its development.

History
People suspect the Norwegian Forest Cat is a descendant from the (semi)longhair cats living around Asia and the Middle East and from there been brought to Scandinavia by the Vikings. Once there in order to survive this cat adapted to the rough climate resulting in a tough cat with (especially during winter) a dense coat. Afterwards this cat lived in and around the Scandinavian forests and farms.
In the 30's of the last century Norwegian Forest Cats first started appearing at shows, then in the domestic cat class. Enthusiasts of this nice cat where afraid the breed would die out if they didn't create a specific breeding program and thus the interest for this breed grew and the wish to get it acknowledged. It took a lot of trouble and hard work, but in 1977 it finally paid off and the Norwegian Forest Cat was accepted as a breed by the FIFé (Federation International Féline) in Paris.

Character
Norwegian Forest Cats are intelligent and tolerant cats, they are playful and have a lot of energy. At the other hand they're also arrogant and pigheaded. They love to have a friend in the form of an other cat or dog, a Norwegian Forest Cats will fade if kept alone. They love to be in the company of humans.

Exterior
The Norwegian Forest Cats is a reasonable big cat with a double coat. A thick wooly undercoat and a slick slightly greasy upper coat. It will loose a lot of hair in spring making it look like a shorthaired cat. In the autumn the hair will grow back and gives the Norwegian Forest Cat a full collar, lot's of hair on the sides and hind legs and a bushy tail. Males usually weight around 5 to 8 kilo's (11 to 17 pounds) and females around 3 to 6 kilo's (7 to 13 pounds). They are strong boned and are muscular build. It takes about 3 to 4 years for an Norwegian Forest Cat to reach it's full growth.

Breed standard

Type:	Large, long, strongly built; solid bone structure.
Head:	Triangular, where all sides are equally long; forehead slightly rounded; with long, straight profile without break in line (no stop). Strong chin.
Eyes:	Large and oval, well opened, set slightly oblique, all colors permitted, regardless of coat color.
Ears:	Large, with good width at the base; pointed tips; with lynx-like tufts and long hair out of the ears high and open, so that the outer lines of the ears follow the line of the head down to the chin.
Coat:	Semi-long. The woolly undercoat is covered by a water repellent upper coat which consists of long, coarse and glossy guard hairs covering the back and the sides. A fully coated cat has a shirtfront, a full frill and knickerbockers.
Colors:	All colors are permitted, including all colors with white; except pointed patterns and chocolate, lilac, cinnamon and fawn. Any amount of white is allowed.
Tail:	Long and bushy; should reach to the neck.
Faults:	Dry coat knotted with lumps. short tail, short legs, profile with a break or stop, too round or square head, small ears and too small or finely built cats.