A large, sturdy cat from the forests of Norway, with a raincoat of a coat, tufted ears and a heart for climbing.
For centuries the Norwegian Forest Cat lived on farms and in the forests of Norway. The cold winters gave it a thick double coat that sheds water. Only in the 1970s did it become an official breed. It is friendly and calm, but likes to climb as high as it can to keep an eye on everything.
Friendly and loyal to its family, but not a cat that asks for attention all day.
Likes to be near you, often from a high spot. When it sits on a lap is its own decision.
Playful, and still a hunter at heart when it chases toys.
Calm most of the time, with sudden bursts of play. It loves to climb.
Quiet: mostly soft purrs and chirps, a bit louder around dinnertime.
Clever. Many learn to come when called, and some walk on a harness.
Can be a little reserved with visitors at first.
Good with children who treat it calmly and gently.
Can live with a calm dog that is used to cats.
Usually gets on well with other cats.
Copes with a working day if it has toys and something to climb, but does not like long spells alone.
Can live indoors with tall things to climb and enough play, though it loves the outdoors.
Norwegian Forest Cats pulled the chariot of the goddess Freya.
In Norse myths big cats pull her chariot, but nowhere does it say they were this breed. It is a legend, not history.
Vikings brought these cats to Norway, and even to America.
It could be, but nobody has proved it. No study shows when the first cats reached Norway.
It loves to swim.
Not really. Its coat sheds water and some like to play with water, but swimming is usually not their thing.
The Norwegian Forest Cat descends from the long-haired farm and forest cats of Norway. How the first cats got there, nobody knows. Fans started on the breed in the 1930s, but the war put everything on hold. From 1972 things moved fast: in 1977 the European federation FIFe recognised the breed. DNA research places it close to the Maine Coon and the Siberian.
A Norwegian Forest Cat is probably shown at a cat show in Oslo, and a first club for the breed starts.
The Second World War puts breeding on hold. Afterwards the type is at risk of fading through crosses with ordinary house cats.
The Norwegian cat federation NRR approves the breed, writes a provisional standard and starts a register.
The tom Pan's Truls is born near Oslo. His looks become the model for the breed standard.
The European federation FIFe recognises the breed in Paris, after a slide show about the cats.
The first cats go abroad, among them a breeding pair to the United States.
TICA becomes the first North American registry to give the breed championship status.
The stud book closes: cats without a pedigree can no longer join the breed.
America's CFA gives the breed championship status.
Britain's GCCF also gives championship status, eight years after a preliminary recognition.
FIFe recognises amber, a coat colour found only in this breed.
Large, long and strongly built, with solid bones. Its hind legs are higher than its front legs, and everything about it is made for a Norwegian winter.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Brown classic(n 22)
Red mackerel(d 23)
Silver mackerel tabby(ns 23)
Blue with white(a 09)
Tortie with white(f 09)
Brown mackerel tabby with white(n 09 23)FIFe and CFA name golden. The other registries do not name it, but do not rule it out either.
Amber is found only in the Norwegian Forest Cat: kittens are born dark and later turn apricot to cinnamon. FIFe and CFA recognise it; WCF and GCCF do not name it.
FIFe, WCF, CFA and GCCF do not allow these colours. A kitten in these colours sold as a pedigree Norwegian Forest Cat probably has another breed crossed in.
You will see amber in no other breed: the kittens are born dark and later turn apricot to cinnamon.
That is how long a Norwegian Forest Cat can take to be fully grown, much longer than most cats.
Its long top coat sheds water, which kept it dry in Norwegian winters.
One of the genes for long hair in cats was first found in this breed.
That is how long a kitten can take to grow its long, glossy top hairs. Until then it is mostly fluff.
Often 12 to 16 years. Good figures for this breed alone are scarce.
An inherited disease in which the body cannot store sugar properly. Kittens that get it are seriously ill and do not live long. A kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers. Thanks to DNA tests it is now rare.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Two carriers are not mated with each other.
The heart muscle thickens. Many cats show nothing for years, but it can lead to heart trouble. In this breed it runs in some families. How often is not known, and there is no DNA test for it yet.
How it is found: A heart scan by a specialist of the parents, repeated over the years.
An inherited anaemia: red blood cells break down too early, which can make a cat tired. Some cats never show it. About 1 in 30 tested cats is a carrier. A kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents, with a cheek swab.
The hip joint is a little loose. In cats it is usually mild and easy to miss: the cat jumps less and avoids stairs or high places.
How it is found: X-rays of the parents' hips. There is no DNA test.
Comb about once a week. The coat mats less than in most longhairs. Bathing is rarely worth it: it takes long to get wet and even longer to dry.
In spring it loses so much undercoat that it looks like a smaller cat. Comb more often then.
A tall, sturdy cat tree and high places to sit, plus play together every day. Indoor cats need enough to do to stay slim and content.
It grows slowly: until it is fully grown, food for growth supports its bones. Always put out fresh water.
A Norwegian Forest Cat is not hypoallergenic. No study shows that it makes fewer allergens.
Checked on 20 October 2026
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