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The following countries sent representatives to the meeting: Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Norway, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain

The following countries sent reports prior to the meeting: Finland, Denmark, Holland, France, Italy, Spain, USA, Canada, Austria

The following judges responded to the questionnaire: Fabrice Calmès, Jette Eva Madsen

Written report received at the meeting from: Norway

No report received from: Germany, Sweden, Portugal

The following countries have never yet taken part in a World Show meeting, either in person or by written report, but as they have growing NFO populations, we hope they will participate next year: Poland & Iceland

This makes a total of 13 countries contributing, either present at the meeting or by written reports. Only two of the countries expected were unable to participate. Maud Lindstedt, who usually writes the report for Sweden, has been very busy working with the Swedish Breed Commission on the matter of chocolate and lilac colors.

This year's meeting began with some time given to Else Nylund, the renowned Norwegian Forest Cat breeder from Norway (Pan's Cattery). Ms Nylund asked the meeting if there were general interest in an English translation of the Norwegian book on NFO's. In Norwegian the book has now sold 1200 copies in the Scandinavian countries, and the printer wants a guarantee that at least 2,000 copies can be sold if an English version is put on the market.

Mr Watt asked the price. 75 DEM or 30£ sterling is the current price. Mr Watt thought the book could printed more cheaply in the UK.

The meeting agreed that Mr. Watts should be the contact person for ideas concerning the printing of an English version of the book. He would make contact with some English publishers in order to compare prices. So if anyone has a good idea concerning the English version, please contact:
Mr. Allan Watt, 375 Huntspond Road, Titchfield Common, P.O.B. 14 4PB Fareham, Hampshire, U.K., tel/fax: +44 1329843022.

[Editorial update: As far as I know, nothing has ever come of this project. - Paula]

Ms Nylund went on to tell the story of the first Truls. She explained how he was recognized and about the two different schools of thought in Norway during the early days of NFO breeding. One school (Pan's) wanted strong cats with shorter heads. Another school (the rest of the breeders) wanted long, elegant cats. She explained the difficulties these two factions had in co-operating with each other.

When Truls died young, people began to say he would not have been recognized if he had been born later. Luckily, Ms Nylund had a lot of photos and slides, and using these to open her meetings she was able to demonstrate that Truls had exactly the right type. Ms Nylund added that she now at last has a young male that is a true copy of the old Truls. Several Norwegian judges have noticed the similarity.

Later, as more novices were brought into the breed, the general standard changed toward more round-headed types. This situation did not change until Pan's Polaris was brought into the breed program. The reason he was used so much was to correct the head shape of the more round-headed females.

Ms Nylund pointed out that the work on type and especially on size are not yet finished, as we now find ourselves in the position of competing with the MCO's.

Jette Eva Madsen responded to this remark that yes, we are aware of that; we have been doing that for 10 years now!

This led to a long debate on the recognition of NFO novices.

Ms Nylund was under the impression that Europe wanted Norway to reopen the novice class. She thought that Ulla Ollendorf and Raymond Saetre had come home from last year's meeting saying that Europe was in favor of reopening of the novice class in Norway.

The people present at the meeting were stunned at this statement. Most of those present had also attended last year's meeting and earlier meetings as well. The conclusion drawn at all the meetings has been that the majority of breed clubs and breeders in Europe would urge Norway to keep the novice class closed. There has been no change in that opinion. Breeders and breed clubs in Europe do not wish for and see no need for a re-opening of the novice class in Norway.

[Editor's note: see 'Do We Want NFO Novices?' for more on this subject. You may also be interested in seeing the report of the 1996 meeting in Arnhem. You will notice that we spent very little time on the question of novices, the strongest argument against them being stated by Alva Uddin. Raymond Saetre made very valuable contributions to the discussion, though not concerning novices. Ms Ollendorf was not present at the meeting. - Paula]

Ms Nylund argued that there are two reasons for reopening the novice class:

• The need for larger breed cats.
• Lack of sufficient bloodlines

She pointed out that the type of the 70 NFO's present at this World Show was fine but that they were far too small.

Again, those present from other countries were surprised, and several people argued that there are plenty of bloodlines in Europe.

Jørgen Jensen argued that he judges all over Europe and that he does not find the best, most strongly built NFO bodies in Norway. Furthermore, he does not think that bringing in new novices would solve Norway's problem with small cats.

Jette Eva Madsen went on: We are very disappointed to hear that you are still working on the novice matter, and that one of your main arguments is still that Europe wants new bloodlines. We have been telling you for 5 years now that we do not want you to reopen the novice class.We have been working seriously with the race for 15 years, and many more NFO's are being bred in the vast majority of contributing countries than there are in Norway. We expect Norwegian breeders to consider our viewpoints seriously and not to go on neglecting our contribution to the development and maintenance of the breed.

Ms Nylund was shocked at this statement; she wants to know if this means that Europe does not want to buy kittens from novice parents.

Martin Kristensen pointed out that if the Norwegians need new blood and larger cats they could buy them in Sweden, Holland, or Denmark. It would be much easier and more predictable than taking in novices again.

Ms. Nylund replies that we would not have many of our fine cats if we had not had Pan's Polaris, whose mother was a novice. Mr. Jensen mentions that that was ten years ago now!

Judith Zuurveld had two comments:

• The 70 NFO's present at this show do not represent all the blood lines we have in Europe - we have many more lines than those behind these cats.
• The reason she bought an offspring of a novice cat from Norway was nostalgic. She wanted a wild cat from Norway. She has now learned that it was much more unpredictable and difficult to breed with than her other cats. She points our that the Norwegians might still be able to sell novice offspring for the same nostalgic reasons.

Ms Madsen tries to close this debate with the remark that it is very important for us to listen to Norway's point of view. Perhaps we will understand each other someday.

The meeting went on to the four chosen topics people were burning to discuss.

'New' Colors in the Norwegian Forest Cat

The most recent news is that SVERAK has decided to register the chocolates and lilacs correctly. [Editor's note: i.e., according to the EMS codes, chocolate = b, lilac = c, etc.]

Ms Madsen said that it is difficult to discuss and decide on the matter of chocolate and lilac since we do not know what we are talking about. She would urge the Swedes to make test matings to cinnamon and chocolate in order to find out what the color is. Theoretically it could also be a new mutation, and that question would be resolved with the proposed test matings.

She also explained that some of the latest and hottest news on the topic is the rumor that even Pan'sTruls was a chocolate tabby - that is supposed to be the reason for his very warm color. (Everybody laughed at this remark.)

Ms Nylund had heard that rumor too, but denied that he could have been anything other than a traditional black tabby cat. She also told of a rumor that all warm-hued brown tabbies and strange-looking blue cats are now said to be chocolates and lilacs. She then went on to show some photos of Truls, in which the color of his coat is grayer-looking than in the postcard we all know.

Mr. Watt said he believed the chocolate/lilac gene to have originated in countries situated in the southern part of the hemisphere, and that for this reason we should never recognize the colors for the Forest Cat.

Ms Madsen asked whether anybody present at the meeting thought it a good idea to recognize the colors. Everybody said 'no'!

Mr. Jensen added that he is not for it either. Mr. Watt thinks that test matings should be carried out before we discuss the topic further. Ms Nylund replied that in Norway it has been suggested that a warm brown should be bred to blue in order to help establish the genetic background of the cats. Ms Zuurveld added that we also need test matings between cinnamons and fawns. Mr. Watt was of the opinion that we should ask Sweden to do the test matings first, before we start buying cats from them! Ms Nylund said Norway also wants to know more.

The people present at the meeting urge Sweden to test mate their expected chocolate and lilac cats, so that we know what kind of colors we are talking about. Until we have that knowledge, it is impossible to consider whether or not the colors should be accepted.

About pointed cats?

Pointed cats may pop up in the same lines in which chocolate and lilac originate. Fabrice Calmès reports having a pointed Maine Coon on his table in Switzerland! What do we do when we get a pointed NFO? Does anybody know how the MCO breeders deal with the matter?

No one present would like to see pointed NFO's recognized. We will try to find out how the MCO breeders deal with the matter. [See About those colors for more on this subject.]

About ticked tabby in the Forest Cat?

This color is now allowed, but we know that there is one confirmed case of PRA [Editor's note: Progressive Retinal Atrophy. For more information, see Roy Robinson on the topic.] among NFO's and that the father of the cat is a ticked tabby (n 09 25). This should warn us to be careful of mixing NFO's with other breeds in order to bring in new colors. Not only do we get the new color, but also the genetic defects of the other breed.

Ms Nylund was always against ticked tabbies, thought they were Somalis. Fortunately, it is very difficult to sell the ticked tabbies to Europe, and in Norway as well they seem to arouse very little interest. Alva Uddin is another who saw that there was Somali behind the ticked tabby NFO's, the first time she judged them.

Forest Cat Type

In Fabrice Calmès' written report there are several good comments about Siamese-type NFO's. He has Siamese at home, so he should know. No one present at the meeting had any first hand knowledge of SIA.

Mr. Watt: We're seeing more and more Roman noses.

Ms Zuurveld asks what we mean by profile. Is it only from the tip of the nose to up between the eyes? Or does it go all the way up to the top of the head? We need to define the shape of the forehead and the shape of the top of the head. Should it be flat or gently rounded, or should it perhaps be shaped like an English 'bowler' hat?

Mr. Watt: Can we have drawings? We cannot wait until FIFé decides if they want to have drawings accompanying the standards. We can publish drawings among NFO breeders.

The meeting agrees that in next year's questionnaire all participants should be encouraged to submit drawings of the NFO profile. We will then discuss the matter after we have seen the various drawings.

Ms Nylund showed a selection of photos of the profile she believes to be the right one.

What is the 'little extra' that will allow Norwegian Forest Cats to win even more on the show bench?

Mr. Watt: Character - the 'look at me' type!

Mr. Jensen: He often choses MCO because they are much better presented (groomed).

Tellervo Kass agrees with that, and notes that MCO's are always well-tempered; one is more tempted to present them to the panel because they are more likely to behave well.

Mr. Jensen also thinks that cleaner patterns help a lot.

Ms Zuurveld: There are no points in the NFO standard for that!!

Mr. Watt: All that should count is that it be a natural cat.

Ms Madsen: I think Mr. Jensen should know that there are two different camps in the NFO world concerning the matter of clear pattern and color.

Mr. Kristensen: The amount of white should be large enough and symmetrically distributed. That is clearly one of the little extras. We have to realize that judges often come from other breeds where the 'little extra' is beautiful color.

Nils Kildeskov: Coat is a little extra. Especially a big coat counts a lot.

Anne Køhn: Tufted ears.

Ms Madsen: There are many cats who are technically fantastic but they look so boring. Also, the ruff needs to be in the right place.

Mr. Kildeskov: MCO's have an advantage in the matter of clear markings, because according to their standard they should have less underwool than the NFO.

Mr. Jensen: Charisma - a cat has to sell himself. Training at home is important.

Norsk Skogkatt - one of the most popular cats in Europe

It is perhaps necessary to clarify the meaning of this point. We currently have a situation in which many of our breeders have never been to shows. They just start to breed because the Norwegian is a popular cat. These breeders have no contact to the cat fancy. Many NFO's are produced when the cat itself and 2 to 3 generations behind it have never been shown. This means that the kittens do not resemble the general standard anymore, and that defects can be multiplied without anyone's noticing it. I believe the Persian breeders have had this problem before us.

Mr. Watt: This has happened with tail faults in the UK.

Ms Madsen: How do we protect our breed from this problem? Can we enforce things?

Ms Zuurveld: The Dutch club has been discussing this problem for the past few years, but we have never found an answer. The problem in the Netherlands is not very big, though.

Mr. Watt: In GGCF we have 2 kinds of pedigrees, one which allows you to breed the cat and another which does not.

Ms Madsen: I believe that breeders in the USA are very serious when they sell a breeding cat. Only people who will do a serious job are allowed to buy a cat that can be used for breeding.

Ms Kass: In Finland there is no way to have a pedigree that says 'breeding prohibited'.

Ms Madsen: In Denmark we can stamp the pedigree 'breeding prohibited'. Let's at least agree that breeders in the countries having this possibility start stamping the pedigrees of kittens with defects.

Sandro Chiavuzzo: In Switzerland there is a rule that every cat used for breeding should be shown at least once and achieved a rating of 'excellent' (or higher) in open class.

Sirpa Selin: I believe there is something similar in Finland.

Ms Madsen: Should we start lobbying this in FIFé or is it a national matter?

(At this point Ms Nylund started showing photos of cats with different coats.)

Forest Cat Temperament

Mr Watt wanted the meeting to discuss the question of NFO temperament. He believes that judges should make more use of the yellow card, so that owners will discontinue showing cats with bad tempers.

Ms Madsen: Usually, bad temper will at least prevent a cat from being Best in Variety and Judges' Best.

Mr. Watt: It is not fair to the cat, either, to keep showing it when its temper is bad.

Mr. Jensen: rarely sees a bad-tempered NFO. The show hall is important too, and the quality of stewarding.

Ms Madsen: agrees that this is not an especially large problem with our breed.

Mr. Kristensen: Don't use old bad-tempered cats for breeding just because they have turned gentler with age. They will still pass on the bad temper.

Sandro Chiavuzzo had attended an Italian seminar on NFO health defects - he asked if the group would please discuss some of the topics from that meeting.

Ms Madsen noted that the Italian event was a full weekend seminar, but she felt that one topic should be discussed, namely the fact that it is becoming more and more normal for NFO breeders to tube feed kittens. Some 10 years ago we didn't know how to do it.

But today we all know what KMR milk is. This is a danger signal we should all take seriously.

Mr. Jensen: With Persians it is quite normal to tube feed. I stopped doing it 5 years ago, and it has been hard, but today I can see that I have a healthier breeding stock of Persians. You shouldn't do too much, but let the queens take care of the kittens themselves.

Ms Madsen: If we help a kitten, I suggest we stamp the pedigree 'breeding prohibited', since we do not know why the kitten had problems.

Mr. Jensen: With Persians we often saw that in a litter of 5 kittens, all of them had to have help.

Ms Madsen thanked Mr. Jensen for taking part in our discussion. We can all benefit so much from his knowledge. Actually, we should all talk much more to breeders of other races, as we can learn a lot from them.

Miscellaneous

Ms Nylund asked Mr. Jensen why he refuses to give certificates when the NFO has a square muzzle. She believes it is natural, and the cats come from well-known lines.

Mr. Jensen replied that in one family of cat from Norway, a lot of offspring with boxed snouts are seen at shows. We should be careful of this because it moves toward the MCO standard.

Ms Madsen remarked that it is now 12:10 and time to close the meeting.

The meeting passed on a vote of thanks to Paula Swepston, who has done so much work finding topics and sending out papers. The meeting want her to continue as International Secretary.

International Skogkatt Secretariat

We would emphasize that the price for the service is CHF 30, which does not even cover the cost of stamps, envelopes, and copies. So please send your '97 contribution to Paula Swepston. Do not use Eurocheques, as it is too expensive to cash them. Perhaps the best solution is just to send 30 Swiss francs in notes in a letter. Countries that have never paid cannot expect to receive any more material until they pay the fee for 1997. Please send the money to Paula Swepston so that she can go on with the work.

Closing of the meeting

The meeting expressed its thanks to Jørgen Jensen and to Else & Egil Nylund for attending. They should be with us every year!

Next year's World Show will take place in Poland. We all hope to see each other again there. Ms Swepston will make contact with NFO breeders in Poland, in order to arrange and prepare for next year's meeting.

Report written by Jette Eva Madsen & Judith Zuurveld©,
English text edited by Paula Swepston)

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