Norwegian Forest Cat

Temperament

The Norwegian Forest Cat is friendly but not clingy. It likes having people nearby and welcomes petting and attention, but it doesn’t demand a lap, and in that thick coat it overheats quickly anyway. Left alone for long, it starts looking for company, but it copes well with a single workday. It is a natural hunter and climber and prefers to watch the household from a wardrobe, a shelf near the ceiling or the top of a cat tree. It burns off energy in short, intense bursts and then settles down for a long time. It usually gets along with other cats, dogs and children who respect its boundaries. It greets guests with some reserve and needs a moment to warm up to them. Its voice is quiet, ranging from purring to birdlike chirping.

Energy

calmvery energetic

Affection

independentvelcro pet

With children

not idealgreat

With other pets

difficultgreat

Trainability

stubborneager to learn

For first-time owners

for experienced ownersyes

With strangers

waryoutgoing

Playfulness

dignifiedeternal puppy

Shedding

minimalheavy

Grooming

easydemanding

Being left alone

strugglescopes well

Apartment living

needs a house and yardgreat in a flat

Talkativeness

quietchatterbox

Indoor-only life

needs outdoor accessgreat

Scores of 1–5 compare the breed with other breeds of the same species, based on the sources at the bottom of the page. Every animal is different. How we score traits

Who is the Norwegian Forest Cat for?

The Norwegian Forest Cat suits homes with a yard or a large cat-proofed balcony, families with school-age children and people who want a big, gentle cat that isn’t a velcro cat. It will handle a workday alone well. If you don’t like cat hair on your clothes or have a small apartment with no room for floor-to-ceiling cat trees, a smaller shorthaired breed is a better choice.

Size and looks

Care and exercise

The coat consists of long, slightly oily guard hairs over a dense undercoat that protects against water and frost. An adult Norwegian only needs combing once or twice a week, but during the spring shed it loses so much undercoat that it looks noticeably smaller, and then it should be combed daily. Kittens and seniors need grooming more often. These cats need room to climb: a tall, stable cat tree, wall shelves and a spot by the window matter more than square footage. They do well in a house with a yard or a secure outdoor enclosure, and in an apartment they need hunting-style play every day. The breed grows slowly and reaches full weight only at around five years old. It is worth weighing portions, as large neutered cats gain weight easily.

Health and breed-related conditions

The Norwegian Forest Cat is generally considered a healthy breed, but it has a few known inherited diseases. The most serious is glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV), a rare condition that can kill kittens shortly after birth or cause progressive muscle degeneration in young cats. DNA tests exist for it and for pyruvate kinase deficiency, which causes anemia. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also occurs in the breed, so breeding cats are screened with heart ultrasound. Rare cases of hip dysplasia have been described. In a UK study by Teng et al. (2024), the life expectancy of Norwegian Forest Cats at birth was 9.95 years, with a fairly wide confidence interval.

• glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV)A rare, often fatal storage disease caused by a GBE1 gene mutation; a DNA test exists.
• pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK-def)An inherited cause of hemolytic anemia; detected with a DNA test.
• hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)Occurs in the breed; breeders screen cats with heart ultrasound.
• hip dysplasiaA rare, partly inherited disease of the hip joint.

This is general breed information, not a diagnosis. If something worries you, talk to your veterinarian.

Breed history

Norwegian Forest Cats, skogkatt in Norwegian, lived on farms as mousers for centuries, and their ancestors were probably shorthaired cats brought from elsewhere in Europe. Norse legends link them to the goddess Freya, whose chariot was said to be pulled by huge cats. The first breed club was founded in Oslo in 1938, but World War II and crossbreeding with farm cats nearly wiped the breed out. A revival program run by Norwegian breeders led to the breed being submitted to FIFe in the 1970s, largely thanks to the efforts of Carl-Fredrik Nordane. The first breeding pair arrived in the US in 1979, and the CFA granted the breed championship status in 1993.

Fun facts

• In Norse mythology, the goddess Freya’s chariot was pulled by two huge cats.
• King Olav V declared it Norway’s national cat.
• The first breed club was founded in Oslo in 1938.
• The first breeding pair of Norwegian Forest Cats arrived in the United States in 1979.

Frequently asked questions

This breed also appears in

• Long-haired cat breeds
• Largest cat breeds

Sources

1. 1CFA – Norwegian Forest Cat breed profilecfa.org
2. 2VCA Animal Hospitals – Norwegian Forest Catvcahospitals.com
3. 3Purina UK – Norwegian Forest Catpurina.co.uk
4. 4Wikipedia – Norwegian Forest caten.wikipedia.org
5. 5Teng i in. 2024, Life tables of annual life expectancy… in cats in the UK (JFMS)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
6. 6FIFe – Recognised breedsfifeweb.org
7. 7WCF – Breed standards semi-longhairwcf.de

Last reviewed: November 12, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.