NORWEGIAN FOREST CATS
Originally from Norway, the NFC has stemed from years of natural selective breeding, over the course of hundreds of years people have migrated to various parts of the world, bringing cats with them. Some to find new homes, but mainly the trade ships would have cats aboard to keep the rats at bay.
This is how domestic cats eventually arrived in scandinavia, some of the cats that arrived were long haired or carried the gene for long hair. Only the cats with the best coats could survive the harsh climate of scandinavia and it became survival of the fittest. Traditionally known as 'Forest cats' due to the strays living in the forest, alot were actually farm cats too.
This is what I love about the breed, not man made it created itself! Over the years, only the fittest, strongest, healthiest of Norwegians would survive long enough to breed, and only the healthiest and strongest kittens would survive into adulthood. Survival of the fittest is what has made these cats what they are.
The genetic variety of these cats are what has kept them relatively disease and health problem free, this is where human intervention can be a problem, yes humans created the program to ensure the future of the wegies, but also we can be the downfall of the original standards!
Naturally, queens will only mate with strong and healthy males, usually with several males in one season, to ensure that her litter has the best chances of survival, the kittens with the best genes will survive.
Norwegians are easy going, taking everything in their stride, they are good social animals, mixing well with other cats, dogs and sometimes even rabbits or rodents! They are brave, curious, mischievious, playful and have bursts of energy a few times a day but otherwise are sleeping somewhere that is yours i.e, your bed, your desk chair, your sofa etc Friendly, affectionate (some more than others). they love toys, mine adore straws! or scrunched up paper. They can live indoors quite happily, but is best if they can get access to an outdoor run/ cat garden. Whether indoor or out it is better to have a few scratch posts around, Wegies love to climb and need to scartch to maintain their claws. Some Wegies are lap cats, others are not, it is best to ask the breeder about which kitten would best suit you/your family personality wise.
Wegies are a great all rounder and a stunningly beautiful breed, the one 'down fall' is that they do become addictive and more often than not one is never enough!
Norwegians are made up of:
BODY:A large, long, broad chested, robust and muscular, heavily boned body.
For hunting, enables the wegies to catch and kill larger prey e.g rabbits, gives them the strength and stamina to fight other males and preditors. And is testament to the fact they had enough food available and were apt hunters to enable them to become bigger cats.
LEGS: High and powerful, with hind legs longer than the front.
Again enabling the wegies to be better hunters, giving speed and stamina, and powerful back legs to pounce and jump good distances, aswell as the strength for climbing as wegies are great climbers, and have been known to climb down trees headfirst!
PAWS: Large, round and in proportion to the legs, with long toe tufts.
To carry the weight of their body they have to be large, their toe tufts protect their feet from the snow and ice, their claws are large and sharp, to help hunt, climb and fight.
TAIL: Long and bushy.
The tail should reach as far as the shoulder blades at least, preferably to the neck. The tail assists with balance, and is long, thick and bushy enough to act as a warm scarf around the body and to protect the face when curled up. Often the wegies carry their tail erect, with it falling over their back and fur flowing, especially when running to greet anyone.
HEAD: Triangular, equal sides and a good height. Forehead should be slightly rounded, the profile long and straight, with a strong chin.
Norwegians should carry their head well. The line at the top of the head measured from the outside of the base of the ears forms one side of an equilateral triangle, with the other two equal length lines meeting at the chin. The muzzle is formed within these lower lines. The chin should be firm and in line with the nose and the whisker pads should not be exaggerated.
EARS: Large and wide based, set high on the head.
The distance between the ears should be the same as the width at the base of the ears, the ears are a distinctive feature of the breed, they are large to allow for good hearing at longer distances,they are pointed and are well furnished with hair on the inside of the ears and linx tips tufts on the points of the ears are designed to protect the ears from the wind and rain.
EYES: Large and oval.
Set with the outer corners slightly higher than the inner, they should at times give a keen 'hunting' or alert expression to the face. The eyes are extremely important to any cat, used to pin point the smallest of movements, used keenly for hunting aswell as for protection, spotting prey or preditor before it spots them! Eyes can be any colour regardless of coat colour- orange, amber, yellow, green, blue and even odd eyed, usually found in pure whites.
THE NORWEGIAN COAT
Norwegians have a very distinctive semi long haired coat, it is renowned not only for its length and shape but especially for its quality!
They are dual coated- with two layers of different types of fur.
The TOPCOAT is long, water repellent and weather resistant. It should be coarse ( of course this may differ with different colours, i.e silver can be softer coated) and glossy, it should hang down over the sides of the body, fully covering the back and sides. The shining guard hairs give maximum protection against the elements.
The UNDERCOAT should be woolly and fleece like, this provides the warmth especially during the coldest winters.
The Wegie changes it's coat to coincide with the seasons. When in full winter coat the Norwegian has a full ruff, a thick protective shirtfront and voluminous bloomers and a thicker plumed tail- all designed for warmth!
Vanya Winter coat Vanya Summer coat
In the warmer summer months the wegie can look totally different, the coat becomes much shorter and the woolly undercoat alot thinner, the long glossy guard hairs lie closer to the body. The tail becomes narrower.
COLOURS
The Norwegian Forest cat comes in many different varieties of colours and markings, with or without white. It is actually easier to say which colours are not deemed natural to the breed than to say which are!
The exceptions, these being colours which are indicative of the orient and therefore NOT deemed natural to the breed are chocolate or lilac or Himalayan (siamese) pointed, cinnamon or fawn, plus any of these with any amount of white, tortoiseshell or tabby.
The coat colour should be a protective camoflage, black/brown tabbies blend in well in the forest and moorlands, silvers and blues with the rocks and slate, whites of course with the snow! And so on,
I hope after reading this you can see that the make up of the Norwegian is built for all intents and purposes a hunting machine, making it a formidable opponent and a great genetic structure of strength and health.
I aim to help promote what the Norwegian created itself by maintaining as close to the standard as possible, only mating with cats that will compliment my girls, enabling Adkelekatts kittens to be good, healthy, strong wegies that will be good examples of the breed. Nothing is perfect, and not every wegies will be spot on for all of the points, but by trying to get as close as and only putting together what will compliment each other so that the kittens are good examples. The health of our cats is vital and having wegies from good lines that do not have health issues within them is a good start, a good diet, care and mental stimulation, aswell as good husbandry is a must.
If you are seeking to buy any cat, take into consideration what fits best into your house hold and to your personality. Siamese and Bengal can be very talkative, demanding and loud, but hardly need grooming, Persians can be temperamental, low energy and good house cats but need to be groomed very regularily as the are prone to matting. Some are low energy and laid back, some high energy, some have great temperaments some don't, some are scatty, easily scared, some need alot of coat care some don't, there are many to choose from and I would advise anyone looking to do your homework, find a breed mainly that suits your household, then find the one you like the look of most! Not the other way around, alot of animals are rehomed for these reasons, they liked the look of a cat but it was too loud or demanding or high energy etc
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