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THE NORWEGIAN FOREST CAT (NFO)
The skaukatt, «Norwegian Forest Cat» in norwegian language, is not a wild cat. The breed comes from the same specie that lives in portuguese houses and all around the world. In the global village we became in the last decades, the internet crawlers like google, altavista and yahoo, for example, find thousands of cattery links in the planet. Norsk Skogkatt, Norwegian Forest Cat, Norwegische Waldkatze and Chat des Forêts Norvégiennes are the breed official names in the languages more used to describe him. The code "NFO" is also common. The norwegian forest cat is all around us for centuries. The nordic fairytales have been bring him to us for many, many years. But the passion is his own country only started around 1938, when finally someone discovered that this breed existed isolated from the others. Then, the world began a total war and everybody was thinking in other things than this fantastic cat. There were other priorities. Only in 1970, a small group of persons began to breed him. The local cat club was founded seven years later and the nfo started to spread around the planet. Nowadays, all the cats from this breed descend from their norwegian, swedish - Sweden was the first country to import them - and finish ancesters. The nfo is a natural breed. They have reached Norway near the year 1000, but there is a lot yet to discover about their origin. |
A Norwegian Forest Cat is a smaller but very pretty version of a lynx. He is part of the nordic countries' fauna. We are talking about a cat who could be a character of a fairytale, but that we could find at the same time in a real habitat. A proud cat, but ready to be close to people, the ones living with him and the others visiting his house.
Temper and behavior A cat with personality, who wants attention, but always decide when and how long it last. He gets easily up and down a tree. In the house, they like to have company but spend most of their time sleeping. A nfo is a big feline, with the back legs more long than the front ones. He has double fur, which makes him resistent to cold and water. He has a triangular head, hairy ears and a straight standing. Whoever loves cats folowing them everywhere and very affectuous this is the breed of the breeds. But please memorize this: the norwegian forest cat is always in charge, they decide where, when, how and how much... He gets along quite nicely in flats or in house with gardens. He adapts quite easily to his new habitat. |
A norwegian forest cat behaves like a family member. Some of them don't like to sit in human laps, but not all the felines are the same... And in some situations it could be a little unconfortable for the owners because some males reach ten kilos. The females rarely gets eyond five. But, don't let this fool you: even if a nfo doesn't like to sit on your lap it doesn't mean that they don't like to be pet.
Taking care of a nfo His semi-long hair needs to be brushed from time to time, but usually the cat can take care of himself. He might needs some help with knots in some parts of his body.
A nfo doesn't need to take many baths, unless there has been an accident of some kind. His coat is nearly waterproof and it is very hard to wet his skin. Breeders usually gave bath to their cats, specially to all white ones, before the shows. The others believe, and they are right, that a norwegian forest cat can take care of his own hygiene. He adapts nicely to indoor and outdoor spaces. Because he is a big feline, he might need a good run from time to time but that is perfectly compatible with a flat. A cat that has born and lived the first months in an apartment doesn't need to be all the time in a garden. One that always lived with access to a garden will not want to be all the time inside the house. |
The brushes should be used when the cat is losing hair to prevent the formation of knots. However you can mantain his coat quite healthy if you brush him one or two times a week.
Colors and official In 1989, FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline) decided to exclude certain colors, like lilac and chocolate, because the judges thought this was the result of illegal matings. In 1994, fawn and cinnamon were added to the list. The Easy Mind System has given the letter «X» to all illegal colors. During a FIFe General Meeting, taken place in Lisbon (January 1, 2005), the X-Colors were definitively divided by the official names of amber and light amber e officially recognized as colors. They were considered as a genetical derivation of black and it as added a «t» to his EMS Code: nfo nt. Head – triangular, with all sides equally long, good height when seen in profile, forehed lightly rounded and firm chin; straight profile without break in line (no stop)
Eyes – large and oval, well opened, set slightly oblique; alert expression; all colours permitted, regardless of coat colour; Body – long, strongly built; solid bone structure; Legs – strong, high on legs; hind legs higher than the front legs; paws large, round, in proportion to the legs; Tail – long and bushy; should reach at least to the shoulder blades, but preferably to the neck; Coat – semi-long. The woolly undercoat is covered by a smooth, water repellent upper coat which consists of long, coarse, and glossy hair covering the back and the sides. A fully coated cat has a shirtfront, a full frill and knickerbockers. All colours are permitted, including all colours with white; except pointed patterns and chocolate and lilac, cinnamon and fawn. Any amount of white is allowed, i.e., a white blaze, white locket, white chest, white on the belly, white on the paws, etc. |
Ears – long, good lenght 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;