The breed gallery
Norwegian Forest Cat
The Norwegian Forest Cat — in her homeland simply skogkatt, forest cat — is a natural breed that shaped herself in the Norwegian winters: a double, water-repellent coat, sturdy claws and the patience of an animal that knows spring will come regardless.
In the Norse sagas, cats drew the chariot of the goddess Freyja; anyone who sees a Forest Cat stride along a beam understands the choice.
- Origin
- Norway — a natural breed with centuries-old roots
- Coat
- double: a woolly undercoat beneath a water-repellent, semi-long topcoat
- Weight
- males often 5 to 9 kilos; females lighter
- Life expectancy
- roughly 14 to 16 years
- Character
- independent yet companionable; a born climber
Character
The Forest Cat combines Nordic level-headedness with a friendly, sociable nature. She is happy near her people but seldom asks for attention; she takes it when it suits her, with a head-butt or a brief trill.
Climbing is baked into the breed. A Forest Cat wants height — a sturdy climbing post is no accessory but a birthright, and alone among cats she descends a tree trunk in a spiral, head pointing down.
Appearance and coat
The winter coat is the full regalia: ruff, breeches and a plumed tail over a woolly undercoat that keeps the cold out. In summer that regalia hangs in the wardrobe and the breed looks strikingly slimmer — anyone who knows a Forest Cat only in July would not recognise her in January.
A Norwegian Forest Cat carries her landscape on her back.
The head is triangular with a straight nose line and large, obliquely set eyes; the ears often bear lynx tufts.
Care
Outside the moult two brushings a week suffice; during the spring moult it may be daily. The undercoat tangles sooner than the topcoat — brush down to the skin.
History
The skogkatt was a farm and ship’s cat for centuries; only in the 1930s did Norway begin to protect the breed, and after the war, with the support of King Olav V, it was declared national heritage. Since the 1970s the breed has been internationally recognised.
The portrait
Your Norwegian Forest Cat as an art portrait
The Forest Cat calls for light with weather in it: moonlight, winter evenings, subdued gold. A photograph with the winter coat in full ruff gives the richest portrait — though the breed makes an impression in every season.
Nordic moonlight for a Nordic cat
the explorer — for the breed that takes every height