User:CrowzRSA/Sandbox/Sandbox 2/Norwegian Forest Cat

also referred to as Wegies.
 * Pan's Truls

History
The Norwegian Forest Cat comes from natural selection to survive Norway's cold weather. Its ancestors may include black and white shorthair cats brought to Norway from Great Britain sometime after 1000 A.D. by the Vikings and longhaired cats brought to Norway by Crusaders. These cats would reproduce with farm and feral stock and would eventually evolve into the modern-day Norwegian Forest Cat. The Siberian and the Turkish Angora, longhaired cats from Russia and Turkey, respectively, are also possible ancestors of the breed. Norse legends refer to the Skogatt 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 the most adept climber, Author Claire Bessant believes that the Skogatt could be about the Norwegian Forest Cat.

Many people believe that the ancestors of the Norwegian Forest Cat served as mousers on Viking ships. They lived in the Norwegian forests for many centuries, but were later prized for their hunting skills and were used on Norwegian farms. Norwegian Forest Cat would continue acting as mousers at Norwegian farms until they were discovered in the early twentieth century by cat enthusiasts.

In 1938, the first Norwegian Forest Cat Club was formed. The club's movement to preserve the breed was interrupted by World War II (WWII). Due to cross-breeding with free- ranging domestic cats during WWII, 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. Since the cat did not leave Norway until the 1970s, it was not registered as a breed in the Fédération Internationale Féline, a European federation of cat registries, until Carl-Fredrik Nordane, a local cat fancier, took notice to the breed, and made efforts to register it. The breed was registered in Europe by the 1970s, but was not recognized by the American Cat Fanciers Association until 1994. In 1978, it was recognized in Sweden, and in 1989, they were accepted as a breed in the United Kingdom.

The Norwegian Forest Cat is very popular in Norway and Sweden. It is the fifth most popular breed in France since 2003, where there is about 400 to 500 births per year.

Breed description
The Norwegian Forest Cat is strongly built and is similar in size to the Maine Coon. The breed has a long, sturdy body, long legs, and a bushy and full tail. The cat's top coat is long, glossy, and thick, as well as being water-repellant. It's undercoat is very woolly, and its coat is thickest at its legs, chest, and head. All coat colors are accepted except chocolate and lilac and dilution (fawn and cinnamon). Its eyes are large and all eye colors are acceptable. Since the cats have very strong claws, they are very good climbers, and can even climb rocks. It has a quiet voice, but generally is talkative. It is good with people, has a high amount of energy, and can be very demanding of attention. They offer friendly and intelligent company. Many cats can be primarily outdoor, where they can make swift hunters, but can also adapt to be indoor cats. They cost from $550 to $800, and usually live to be 14 to 16 years old. The cats usually eat more than other cats, as they are heavy-boned and tall. Males are considerably heavier and larger-boned than females.

It's head is long and has a triangular shape and straight profile. The breed usually has a head shape similar to an equilateral triangle, while a square or round head is considered a defect. It's profile is generally straight. It's chin is strong and square, and the nose has a medium length. The eyes are almond shaped and are placed in oblique. The ears are large, wide at the base, high set, have a tufted top, and 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.

There have been kidney and heart diseases reported in the breed. In an expirement directed by John C. Fyfea, Rebeccah L. Kurzhals, and others, it was concluded that a complex rearrangement in Glycogen branching enzyme (GBE1) can cause both a perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and a late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in glycogen storage disease type IV in the breed.