The Norwegian Forest cat ( no, Norsk skogskatt and ) is a breed of domestic

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

originating in Northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. This

natural breed A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolati ...

is adapted to a very cold climate, with a top coat of long, glossy, water-shedding hair and a woolly undercoat for insulation. The breed's ancestors may have been a

landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolatio ...

of short-haired cats brought to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

about A.D. 1000 by the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

s, who may also have brought with them long-haired cats, like those ancestral to the modern Siberian and

Turkish Angora The Turkish Angora ( tr, Ankara kedisi, "Ankara cat") is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey, Ankara region). The breed has been document ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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 The Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFé) (in English "International Feline Federation") is a federation of cat registries. There are currently forty-two member organizations in forty countries. Membership spans Europe, South America, and ...

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 ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is a big, strong cat, similar to the

Maine Coon The Maine Coon is a large domesticated cat breed. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. The breed originated in the U.S. state of Maine, where it is the official state cat. The breed was popular in cat shows in the late 19t ...

breed, with long legs, a bushy tail, and a sturdy body. It is very good at climbing, partly because of strong claws. The lifespan is usually 14 to 16 years. Kidney and heart diseases have been reported in the breed. Specifically in this breed, complex rearrangements of

glycogen branching enzyme 1,4-alpha-glucan-branching enzyme, also known as brancher enzyme or glycogen-branching enzyme is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''GBE1'' gene. Glycogen branching enzyme is an enzyme that adds branches to the growing glycogen molecul ...

(GBE1) can cause a perinatal hypoglycaemic collapse and a late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in

glycogen storage disease type IV Glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV), or Andersen's Disease, is a form of glycogen storage disease, which is caused by an inborn error of metabolism. It is the result of a mutation in the GBE1 gene, which causes a defect in the glycogen branc ...

History

The Norwegian Forest cat is adapted to survive

's cold weather. Its ancestors may include cold-adapted black and white

British shorthair The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, dense coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, orange eyes, ...

cats brought to Norway from Great Britain some time after 1000 AD by the

s, and longhaired cats brought to Norway by

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

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. The Siberian and the Turkish Angora, longhaired cats from Russia and Turkey, respectively, are also possible ancestors of the breed. Norse

legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...

refer to the as a "mountain-dwelling fairy cat with an ability to climb sheer rock faces that other cats could not manage." Since the Norwegian Forest cat is a very adept climber, author Claire Bessant believes that the folktale could be about the ancestor of the modern Norwegian Forest breed. The name ''Norse'' is used by some breeders and fancier organisations for the modern breed. Most likely the ancestors of the Norwegian Forest cat served as ships' cats (mousers) on

Viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as bein ...

s. The original

lived in the Norwegian forests for many centuries, but were later prized for their hunting skills and were used on Norwegian farms, until they were discovered in the early 20th century by cat enthusiasts. In 1938 the first organisation devoted to the breed, the Norwegian Forest Cat Club, was formed in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. The club's movement to preserve the breed was interrupted by

. Owing to

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

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. In the 1950s,

King Olav V Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

declared them the official cat of Norway. Since the cat did not leave Norway until the 1970s, it was not registered as a breed in the

(FIFe), the pan-European federation of

cat registries A cat registry or cat breed registry, also known as a cat fancier organization, cattery federation, or cat breeders' association, is an organization that registers domestic cats (usually purebred) of many breeds, for exhibition and for breeding ...

, until Carl-Fredrik Nordane, a Norwegian cat fancier, took notice of the breed, and made efforts to register it. The breed was registered in Europe by the 1970s, and in the

American Cat Fanciers Association The American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) is an American non-profit organization formed with the intent of allowing greater flexibility in the development of pedigreed cats. The ACFA is a cat registry for purebred, pedigreed cats, experimen ...

in 1994. In 1978, it was recognized in

as an official breed, and in 1989, they were accepted as a breed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by the Norwegian Cat Club of Britain. 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.

Description

The Norwegian Forest cat is strongly built and larger than an average cat. Adult females weigh ; males, . 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. The undercoat appears as a ruff. The profile of the breed is generally straight. Their water-resistant coat with a dense undercoat developed to help the cat survive in the harsh Scandinavian climate. 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. The eyes are almond shaped and oblique, and may be of any colour. 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. All coat colors and divisions in the traditional, sepia and mink categories are accepted. Since the cats have very strong claws, they are very good climbers, and can even climb rocks. Norwegian Forest cats that live primarily outdoors become swift and effective hunters, but the breed can also adapt to indoor life. The cats usually live to be 14 to 16 years old. As they are heavy-boned and tall, they eat more food than most other domestic breeds.

Personality

They are friendly, intelligent, and generally good with people. The Norwegian Forest cat has a lot of energy. They are very interactive cats who enjoy being part of their family environment and love to play games. Fanciers note that these cats produce a variety of high-pitched "chirping" vocalizations.

Health problems

Kidney and heart diseases have been reported in the breed. 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 1,4-alpha-glucan-branching enzyme, also known as brancher enzyme or glycogen-branching enzyme is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''GBE1'' gene. Glycogen branching enzyme is an enzyme that adds branches to the growing glycogen molecul ...

(GBE1) can cause both a perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and a late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in

in the breed. This disorder, while rare, can prove fatal to cats that have it. There are DNA tests available for GSD IV, and it is highly recommended (some cat associations obligate their Norwegian Forest cat breeder members) to carry out the DNA test before using such animals for breeding. PawPeds provide a pedigree database which comes together with health programmes, through publishing each single cat's test result, to provide useful information for breeders to make a well-informed breeding decision. The breed has also been known to suffer from

hip dysplasia Hip dysplasia is an abnormality of the hip joint where the socket portion does not fully cover the ball portion, resulting in an increased risk for joint dislocation. Hip dysplasia may occur at birth or develop in early life. Regardless, it doe ...

, which is a rare, partially hereditary disease of the hip joint.

Patella luxation A luxating patella, sometimes called a trick knee, is a condition in which the patella, or kneecap, dislocates or moves out of its normal location. Patellar luxation is a common condition in dogs, particularly small and miniature breeds. The condi ...

is found more in the

British Shorthair The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, dense coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, orange eyes, ...

, Abyssinian and

Devon Rex The Devon Rex is a tall-eared, short-haired breed of cat that emerged in England during the late 1950s. They are known for their slender bodies, wavy coat, and large ears. This breed of cat is capable of learning difficult tricks but can be hard ...

breeds, but it is recognized in Norwegian Forest cats as well. It is a condition in which patella moves out of its original physiological position. A pedigree with 871 Norwegian Forest cats shows familial cardiomyopathy in this breed. There is also high prevalence of eosinophilic granuloma complex in Norwegian Forest cats which is suggestive of a genetic background. The main factors causing ''

Toxoplasma gondii ''Toxoplasma gondii'' () is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, ''T. gondii'' is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as d ...

'' seropositivity on cats are age, raw meat and outdoor access. A study shows that ''T. gondii'' seropositivity varies by cat breeds. Norwegian Forest cats have a relatively high rate of ''Toxoplasma gondii'' seropositivity (4.66%) comparing with other pure-bred cats (Birman: 4.16%, British Shorthair: 3.39%,

Korat The Korat cat ( th, โคราช, มาเลศ, สีสวาด, ) is a silver-tipped blue-grey, short-haired breed of domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of body fat. Its body is semi-cobby, and unusually hea ...

: 2.03%,

Ocicat The Ocicat is an all-domestic breed of cat which resembles a wild cat but has no recent wild DNA in its gene pool. The breed is unusual in that it is spotted like a wild cat but has the temperament of a domestic animal. It is named for its rese ...

: 4.26%, Siamese: 2.57%), but slightly lower than

Persian cat The Persian cat (), also known as the Persian longhair, is a long-haired breed of cat characterized by a round face and short muzzle. The first documented ancestors of Persian cats were imported into Italy from Persia around 1620. Widely recog ...

s (6.99%). Glycogen storage disease type IV due to branching enzyme deficiency was found in an inbred family of Norwegian forest cats.

References

External links

Cat Fanciers' Association Breed Profile: Norwegian Forest Cat

PawPeds Norwegian Forest cat pedigree databaseStandard description of Norwegian Forest cat with images and drawings - Bolboreta Forest CatteryVideo of Norwegian Forest Cat History - Elvenstar Cattery

Breed societies and clubs

Norsk Skogkatt Society, UK

Norwegian Forest Cat Club, UK

Viking Cat Club, UK
{{Authority control Cat breeds Cat breeds originating in Norway Natural cat breeds Linebred animals