This Norwegian Forest Cat meeting was chaired by Jette Eva Madsen and attended by 14 breeders: Martin Kristensen (DK), Eila Tähti and Sari Ovaskainen (SF), Geneviève Cournud and Isabelle Lopez-Laversanne (F), Margarete Leleithner, Ulrike Wahl, and Christa Preis (D), Pia Gurup and Carla Cagido (P), and Jose I. Jiméniz, Carmen Bermejo, Francesco Panea, and Carmen Hierro Mojarro (E).
WW K95 Skovhugger Felis Jubatus
Photo by Kjeld Krogh©
Do you have any specific problems with the Forest Cat population in your country (type, color, genetic background, etc.?
Luckily we have no severe specific problems attached to our breed. There are, however, a number of breed and type-related problems that we have to watch out for as time goes on. The table here below shows the genetic NFO-related problems we have encountered up to the present.
Polygenetic Breeding
Jette Eva Madsen©
Genetics Seminar in Lisbon
22- 23 April 1995Genetic Faults in the NFO
Such cats should not be used for reproduction if the breed is to remain healthy.
- High incidence of heart defect: probably caused by polygenetic inheritance.
- Glycogen Storage Disease: genetic background.
- Dermatosporaxis: a recessive mutation.
- Loss of teeth at an early age: a polygenetic inheitance.
- Umbilical hernia: a polygenetic inheritance.
- Flatchested kittens: may be polygenetic in the kitten itself, or lack of taurine in the mother's milk.
The latter may indicate a nutritional inadequacy, or a polygenetic problem with the mother.- Weak fertility: polygenetic inheritance.
- Female does not come on heat readily
- The male has difficulty mating
- Female has difficulty conceiving
- Female has difficulty giving birth
- Female has no or not enough milk for the kittens
Old Style NFO
- Big
- Strong body with big, deep chest
- Good breadth between the legs where they connect with the chest, paws turned slightly inwards
- High legs, with higher back legs and big round paws
- Big, short, triangular head
- Profile straight when you touch it
- Quite large ears, medium-sized in height
- Big, thick, oily coat
'New Style NFO'
- Small to middle-large
- Slim body, chest and hips the same width
- Legs placed close together where they connect with the chest; feet turned slightly outwards
- Legs middle-high to high; front and back legs almost the same length; elegant, almost oval paws
- Small head, long triangle
- Very straight profil; slight unevenness in the bone may appear to the touch
- Large rather narrow ears
- Thin, short, silky coat
Gene collecting for special desired traits
that lead to problems in the NFO
- Long heads: teeth problems, jaw problems, eye positioning problems
- Long bodies: cats too slender in rapport with the body length; small paws that are too 'elegant'
- Long tails: very thin boning in the tail gives a higher risk of irregularities
- Coat: No guard hairs; coat too short overall
NFO problems of unknown background
- Epilepsy
Have you noticed if any NFO's in your country have a different blood type than the usual type A?
Blood types were tested only in Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the USA. In all those countries nearly all the NFO's seem to be type A. However, a few type By cats have been reported. We have to look out for this problem in the future and possible discourage the use of type B cats in breeding.
[editorial note: For more information on this subject you will find a couple of links on the Skogkatt Online page. I am not alone in the Forest Cat community in urging our breeders not to use B-type cats for reproduction! - Paula Swepston]
What is your opinion concerning novice cats? Should the admission of novices be re-introduced in Norway at the end of their five-year period pause? Should they be admitted in other countries?
All countries seem to agree that if novices were to be allowed, it should be only in the foundation countries, that is, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. However, it seems that most countries believe we have sufficient varied bloodlines to go on breeding healthy and beautiful Forest Cats without allowing for the recognition of new novices.
Do you feel that there is a tendency among judges to favour certain breeds from the semilonghair group for Nomination and Best in Show?
In some countries, at some times, there does appear to be a tendency for certain breeds to be favoured over the NFO by the judges. Specifically mentioned is the Sacred Burmese (Birman, SBI), which is said to be the the most difficult semi-longhair cat to breed correctly. At other times it seems the Maine Coon is preferred, perhaps because its impressive size. However, this is all part of the 'play of fashion' to which all breeds are subject.
Which are the most popular colours or show groups of NFO's in your country? Can you explain why?
In most countries the most popular groups are 2, 3, 4, and 6. This is probably due to historical tradition. The first cats imported in most countries belonged to those groups. As a curiosity it should be mentioned that white cats are very popular in Portugal. In Italy it is difficult to sell black cats because people are superstitious about them, and in France the breeders have difficulty selling red cats and cats with lots of white. A common belief about striped cats and cats with little white is that they look 'wilder'! Distribution in the popularity of colors is more even thhe further north you go in Europe.
Outside the Agenda, the following topics were debated:
A. Some countries seem to believe that the judges favour cats with very long heads. Also, there is a tendency that the coat quality is not considered as being ¼ of the cat, i.e. 25 points. The further north you get in Europe the more satisfied the exhibitors seem to be with the judging of their cats.
B. Generally, all countries feel confident with the phrasing of the NFO standard in comparison with the other semi-longhair breeds.
C. On behalf of Skogkattslingan, Sweden, the group discussed the fact that a Swedish NFO line has now been established in the colors chocolate and lilac.Sweden wanted to hear the opinion of the meeting on this matter. Everybody present was opposed to the admission of these two new colours in the NFO. The general opinion was that we have so many different colours already and that there is no way these colours can be natural to the breed. If they were, they would have popped up in various different lines, in exactly the same way blue did. The fact that these colours appeared in only one line in Sweden is probably proof that this line was accidentally mixed with cats from another breed where chocolate and lilac are common.
[Update 2002: It's a good thing that lilac and chocolate were not accepted at this point, since time has shown that the cats in this line are not chocolate and lilac at all but some other color yet to be identified! For more discussion of this subject, please refer to About those colors and the Poznan 1998 World Show report. - Paula Swepston]
D.The matter of the International NFO Secretariat was mentioned, along with the importance of finding someone that speaks the 3 FIFé languages (English, German, and French). The meeting wanted to ask Paula Swepston and Judith Zuurveld to take on this responsibility for the next year. Realising how much work it involves, the meeting wanted to ask at least two persons to manage the task, and if necessary, Paula and Judith should ask others to join them.
The meeting wanted to thank Anne Weijman who kindly took on this great responsibility for 1994.
I wish to thank all the Portuguese NFO breeders, the participants at the meeting, and all the clubs and individuals that contributed in writing to make this a special event. It is extremely important for our breed that we stay in contact with one another, and this way is unique, as we represent the only breed group with this type of communication. Next year the meeting will be held in connection with the World Show in Holland, and we will ask the Dutch Forest Cat Club to take responsibility for planning it.
Jette Eva Madsen
Chairman, Norsk Skovkattering, Denmark
Registration of NFO pedigrees
In Sweden and Norway the tendency has been to falling numbers,
while in all other counries the numbers seem to be stable or on the increase.
Finland and Holland have been best in their record-keeping over the years, but it must be admitted that it is often difficult to get the local pedigree secretaries interested in this project!Country 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Norway -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 600 562 575 Sweden -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1470 1021 Finland 17 57 36 91 105 177 209 225 202 199 Denmark -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 445 607 705 Germany -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Holland -- -- 79 139 90 160 195 201 276 288 Belgium -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- France -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 160 210 -- Switzerland -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Austria -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Italy -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Spain -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 -- Portugal -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 6 -- -- England -- -- -- -- -- -- -- approx. 175 150-200 -- USA (CFA) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 238 408
Congratulations to World Winner Kitten 1995 Skovhugger Felis Jubatus,
bred by Jette Eva Madsen and owned by Vibeke & Kjeld Jørgensen.
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