Norwegian Forest Cat History

I have illustrated this post about Norwegian Forest cat history with some photographs including those of white Norwegian Forest Cats (see below) taken by their guardian/owner. She labels the photographs "Noé et Oracio des Fines Terres". Fine Terres is her breeding cattery. "Noé" is apparently French for "Noah".

They are beautiful cats and the photographs are reproduced here under a creative commons license for which I thank her.

ULRIC — Huge Norwegian Forest Cat. Photo: Laura Dale BNPS

The Norwegian Forest Cat history is long and distinguished. I love this cat for its naturalness and established origins in the cold landscape of Norway. This is a truly natural cat until the cat fancy got involved in the middle of the 20th century.

This cat breed is a part of Norway's history and is mentioned in mythological tales. It is said that cats arrived in Norway around AD 1000, over 1000 years ago by way of the Vikings who had trade routes with Byzantium. Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas¹. The coat colours of Turkey that were rare across Europe are commonly seen in the NFC. It is possible that the history of this cat breed started with long haired Turkish cats (Turkish Angoras and/or Vans - see  The Turkish Turkish Angora what does it look like? and Are Turkish Vans and Turkish Angoras the same cat?)

There may be a direct connection to the Maine Coon, a cat very much associated with North America. There are three cats that are similar in appearance, the Norwegian Forest (NFC or Skogkatt - this means Forest Cat in English) , the Maine Coon and the Siberian. It is thought (and a lot of cat breed history is a bit vague) that the Vikings brought the NFC from Norway to America and that the Maine Coon is descended therefore from the NFC. Well, that is one theory.

Norwegian Forest Cats - copyright noeoracio

This cat has evolved naturally over a long period of time to become suited to the cold environment. The NFC developed a coat well suited to the cold. Being a forest cat she has powerful hind legs and is a fine jumper able to climb trees well and climb down them equally efficiently. In fact they sometimes come down from a considerable height head first running down the tree trunk as if on the flat. I have seen this myself as I lived with a NFC hybrid.

In 1599 a Danish priest living in Norway described a cat he called the Norwegian Lynx. He was describing, it seems, the Norwegian Forest Cat. He wrote of the cat catching fish and liking water. This is totally to be expected. Lots of current wildcats live by water courses and fish for their food. The Asian Leopard for one (the wild founder of the Bengal Cat) and another is the Asian Fishing Cat that can swim as well. It seems then that this cat breed was semi-wild or perhaps totally wild.

Norwegian FC. Picture in the public domain

By the 1930s the Norwegian Forest cat had become a domestic (moggie) cat probably in similar circumstances to that which occurred in the United States with the Maine Coon. Cats will migrate to where there is food. That is why they learned to fish and like water. Farmers keep grain and grain attracts rodents so it is to be expected that this cat came out of the forest to feed on the rodents and a relationship struck up with humans.

Also about this time the cat fancy was developing into something serious although it was early days. There was it seems a realization of the value of this cat being a part of the heritage of the country which lead to the desire to preserve and develop the breed. The cat fancy became involved and the beautiful but humble Skogkatt was to become a show cat and purebred cat. There was also the problem with naturally occurring hybridization by the Forest cat mating with other domestic cats which diluted the purity of the genes. That needed to be dealt with by the cat fancy.

In 1930 the Skogkatt was first shown in a cat show in Germany. The second world war intervened and cat breeding became low priority. The second world war had a very bad effect on a number of cat breeds including the Chartreux, for example. However by the 1970s controlled breeding apparently got underway. The Norwegian National Association of Pedigree Cats having been founded in 1963.

By 1977 FIFe had recognized this breed and breeding on a international level began. In Norway it was recognised as a "distinct pedigree" (a purebred cat breed) in 1977². The biggest cat fancy market became involved in about 1979 when the Norwegian Forest Cat was imported in the United Sates. The cat is nicknamed the "Wegie" by the Americans . I am not sure where this name came from but it must be from the shape of the head - distinctly wedge shaped and handsome to boot.

The Norwegian Forest Cat History is one of normal and anonymous domesticity for centuries and then a comparative rush in development and recognition over the past 40 years or so. The Norwegian Forest Cat History has ended in the full recognition of this cat by all the major cat associations (for example GCCF (UK), CFA and TICA) which is to be expected as she is a natural cat of real distinction and handsome appearance.

Related Page: Cat History - complete discussion on cat history.


Norwegian Forest Cat History to Home page

Sources:

• http://tiganlea.co.uk
• Myself
• 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantium 
• 2. http://www.vikingcatclub.co.uk/history.htm