The Norwegian Forest Cat is one of the larger cat breeds and originates in Scandinavia, with a heritage that goes back to the Vikings.
Similar in appearance to the Maine Coon, it is a big, solid yet elegant cat with a glorious semi-long coat. They have long legs, large paws and a very busy tail, and a triangular head with high-set, tufted ears.
Description and Characteristics
Their crowning glory is their stunning coat, which is thick glossy and water-repellent. In the winter months, they have a full-neck ruff and fluffy trousers. Their coat comes in most colours and can have any number of white markings on the paws, chest, belly or face. The Norwegian Forest cat is a friendly and calm cat which loves to be around its owners. As much as they enjoy human company, they are not really lap cats, preferring to be active and playful in the company of their family. They will make excellent companions to quieter children and will also get on well with other cats and well-mannered dogs with careful introductions. Norwegian Forests are intelligent cats which enjoy being trained and playing games. They are best suited to outdoor life and have a strong desire to climb given the opportunity. Norwegian Forests are also vocal cats which produce a range of high-pitched chirping and trilling sounds. With their long coats, they also need regular grooming and owners should be prepared for heavy shedding in the spring. This breed originates in Scandinavia, where it was frequently used on ships as mousers and was mentioned in Viking legend and mythology. It was also used as a farm cat, due to its excellent hunting skills and being well-adapted to the cold. In the early 20th Century they were at risk of dying out. In the 1970s, The Norwegian Forest Cat Club responded by putting a special breeding programme in place to protect the breed. Fortunately, numbers recovered and the breed was even given royal recognition from King Olaf, who designated them the official cat of Norway.
Health and common issues
Norwegian Forest Cats are generally healthy cats. However, they can still be prone to certain health conditions including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) which causes the walls of the heart to thicken reducing the volume of blood within the heart and preventing the heart muscle from relaxing properly between contractions. There are HCM-testing schemes available, which involve genetic testing and/or regular heart scanning. They can also be prone to pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency and glycogen storage disease type IV, an inherited abnormality of glucose metabolism.
