Owner: Annemarie Novello, South Africa.
Sire: Grand.Ch. Furry Boots LOKI.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord DM.
Hugi has the correct alert expression of a Norwegian Forest Cat
bred to FIFe standards, what I call "original" type.
FIFe was the first registry to recognise this indigenous cat of
Norway, as a breed, and to write a standard of points against
which the breed is still judged today. They were first recognised
in 1976 by FIFe (Federation Internationale Feline).
Furry Boots breeds the original type Norwegian Forest Cat to FIFe standards,
although we are currently in USA. (Most USA breeders produce a cat with a shorter face,
ears pointed more out to the side, and a sweet expression instead of an
alert, regal one.)
Under FIFe the abbreviation for Norwegian Forest Cat
is NFO, so you will sometimes see NFO and sometimes NFC when reading about these cats.
They are also called "Wegies" for short.
Hugi in his picture here, has a ruff to be proud of in a cat so young. It defies how
he looked as a young kitten - there was no sign of a superb ruff to follow.
Since he's only a year old, and the ruff gets bigger each winter till
it reaches full size around age 5 yrs, I leave the final ruff he will have,
to your imagination.
Sup.Ch.Furry Boots SINDRI (cream cameo, white toes and bib)
Male, 2 months old.
Owner/Breeder: Irene de Villiers.
Washington State, USA.
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots LOKI.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
Sindri is now a Supreme Champion at Furry Boots. Here he shows the typical kitten precursor raincoat hairs sticking out from the normal-length fur.
Notice also that the face shape changes quite significantly in this line from kitten to adult. See Sindri's page via the link at end of this page.
As a young kitten, there seems not to be the straight-sided triangle shape
face required of the breed. Under FIFe, this triangle is an equilateral
triangle measured from a line in front of the ears, down to the nose tip.
The muzzle should not be snipey, but should not be wide at all. However,
a fair size whiskerpad is often needed to support whiskers to trip over!
Have a look at Sindri's page to see how nicely his equilateral triangle
face meets the standard as an adult. He has no whiskerbreak, no pinched
muzzle, in fact a perfect triangle face, as an adult.
This is a slow developing breed in
many respects, and it helps to know what in a kitten, will turn into which
as an adult!!!
Furry Boots Queen HERRAD (silver torbie mackerel)
Two month female.
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots Loki.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
At Furry Boots, I feel that 2 months is the youngest age at which kittens of this breed can reasonably be assessed for the final looks or "type"
that they will have as adults. Herrad shows the ideal ear set and eye set for an original type NFC.
She is in general, exactly the way I like a 2-month kitten to look
in order to predict a superb adult type. In addition, she's a really good
size for a female. She takes after her mother in that respect and in many others,
her mother being about 12 lbs. The weight range for the breed is about
8-11 lbs for an average female, and about 10-13 lbs for an average male.
Furry Boots cats are towards the heavier end, with a few exceptionally
large ones. Due to the genetics used in breeding for health, the kittens
at Furry Boots tend to be bigger than average, which is desirable in the breed.
We are really lucky with this breed, as far as pedigreed breeds go.
That's because what is wanted on show, is the same that you would select
for just to breed a really healthy cat. There are no
extremes, no extralarge or extrasmall or extralong or extrashort or
extrafat or extrathin aspects. This is an all-around moderate-featured,
big (not giant) healthy cat.
Furry Boots RedRudiger (red silver tabby mackerel)
Rudy for short. Male, 5 months.
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots Loki.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
Norwegian Forest Cats are typically found in all sorts of odd positions, and I find I need to warn kitten buyers that if
they find their kitten in some totally impossible position in which to still be alive,
don't panic, they are probably sleeping comfortably! Here Rudy is just relaxing.
Rudy is the only kitten I have *ever* seen, stand up tall on arrival.
He was hardly born when he stretched those long legs and stepped over his brother to reach "the taps".
Rudy promises to be a really big cat, with great type to match. A ruler
straight profile is required of the breed, and this will take time to develop,
varying according to factors like the time taken in general by a breeding line,
and the eventual size of the cat, larger cats taking longer with this as with
any aspect of development. The breed takes 5 years to mature. Kittens born with
a straight profile, like Rudy here, will always end up with a straight profile.
After birth, and once they start to suckle, the profile "bumps up" and takes
its sweet time to completely re-straighten; anywhere from 4 months to 2 yrs!
Don't be put off by Rudy's lazy look here. These cats are active climbers,
and intelligent companions. The intelligence is another natural feature of
a cat who has to use brains to survive in the wilds of Norway.
Ch. Furry Boots King DIETRIK (cream cameo mackerel)
Male, 4 months.
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots Loki.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
King Dietrik has the same lovely eyes of his brother Sindri from an earlier
litter, and promises to give his famous brother significant competition
for type and temperament. Dietrik is if anything even more outgoing.
Dietrik, Rudy and Herrad are all littermates. Furry Boots is very proud
of all the kittens of this breeding.
Dietrik sports a kitten tail in this picture: Norwegian Forest
Cats have long fluffy tails, for which they are famous. But they
take many months to develop and kittens' tails are less spectacular;
they fluff out to full magnificence by about 9 months.
The body shape of this breed is very much a unique feature. Their long legs
are strong but not heavy-looking like other longhairs. Three
measurements should be equal: Back leg to rump height; tail length;
and body length. The back legs are a bit longer than the front ones,
so that the true "Wegie" does a lovely bunny-hop alternating with
long leaps, through the snow.
Furry Boots SIGYN, blue tortie tabby, 3 month female.
Owner: Ela Vosloo, Port Elizabeth, South Africa (moving to Denmark).
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots Loki.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
Yet another kitten from the same magic partnership of Purry and Loki,
Sigyn is proof that both parents have all the right recessive genes to produce
almost any color of kitten except white. Sigyn is blue-cream, which is a
"dilute" version of the tortie orange/black pattern.
.......
Furry Boots SIGI, black male, 3 months.
Owner: Annemarie Klauke, Holland.
Sire: (Furry Boots) Fjord's Odin.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Kyrrekatt Minerva.
Sigi, like all the Furry Boots kittens, is named after the characters of Norse Mythololgy. He was one of the first males
born, and like his mythological namesake, he is son of Odin. He was the first exported kitten
from Furry Boots, and gained the highest possible position at his first
international show in Europe. He has since grown to a tall stud, not yet filled out
to quite the size of his substantial 17 pound dad - but looks to be heading that way.
He's just had his first litter of kittens.
.......
Furry Boots DELLING, red silvertabby (classic), male.
Owner: Anneke van der Merwe, OFS, South Africa.
Sire: Grand. Ch. Furry Boots Loki.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
Delling is a littermate of Sindri, and the two cats have since met at shows,
which turned out quite a challenge to the judges.
Both had won best in show at separate centres (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
and it was planned to pit them against each other at a show in Durban.
One of South Africa's best judges, April Bac, said in the report that she
had to use the length of the toe tufts to find a difference to separate the
brothers, and gave the best in show title to Sindri, literally by a hair.
.......
Gr.Ch. Furry Boots THOR, blue and white male, at 3 months.
Sire: Sup. Ch. Furry Boots Sindri.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Kyrrekatt Minerva.
Thor and his two blue-cream sisters, were from the first mating of Minerva and Sindri.
The kittens of Furry Boots usually are a substantial size, and Thor was no
exception, reaching 6 lbs (almost 3Kg) by 4 months.
Minerva and Sindri are expecting their second litter later in April 1998, this time in Florida.
The Furry Boots kitties are all in Florida at the moment.
........
Furry Boots LOKI, black and white, 5 months male.
Owner/Breeder: Irene de Villiers.
Sire: (Furry Boots) Fjord's Odin, 17 lb black.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Kyrrekatt Minerva, blue & white.
Loki is now a Grand Champion, and is a nice deep black as an adult.
However, he's one of those unusual blacks some breeders call "reverse smoke" kittens.
They are born not as dark as other black kittens, and in a couple of months they develop
a smoky appearance. It's not like the cat color of black smoke, as a true
smoke has a white undercoat and black tips to the fur. This kitten is
typical of the situation where the fur is dark at the base, and grey at the tips -
as we've dubbed it, "reverse smoke"! (I've seen this in Norwegian Forest Cats,
and in Persians as well.)
I think it's pretty, but it does not last! Reverse smokes tend to be
even darker black as adults than their usual-black littermates or counterparts.
You can see a 10-month Loki on his web page, minus reverse-smoke,
but rusty-looking between the reverse-smoke and the full-black
color development. Link below.
.......
Ch./Dbl.Ch.Furry Boots FRIGGA, tortie 4 month female.
Owner/Breeder: Irene de Villiers.
Sire: (Furry Boots) Fjord's Odin.
Dam: (Furry Boots) Potpourri av Trollsfjord, DM.
Frigga is now 2 years old and a Champion in South Africa, and is the first
of my cats who has been to a show in USA.
She has attended one so far, and is an ACFA Double-Champion. But no more shows
for her for a while, as she is expecting kittens by stud Sindri
later in April 1998. That will make a 4th generation at Furry Boots.
She has a sense of humour this Frigga girl - and I think they all do in this breed, but Frigga also has that unique mode of locomotion
dubbed the bunnyhop. She trots in a unique way I have only ever seen
Norwegian Forest Cats do.
To me, like her father, she is the genuine original article. She's my first
home-bred queen, and I think she is an especially good example of good
breeding for that elusive perfect "raincoat".
She's featured on my home page, see the link below.
.......
Click Here for More Furry Boots Fun:
HOME & FRIGGA - NFC Queen
SINDRI - Cream Cameo NFC Stud
LOKI & ODIN - black NFC Studs
MINERVA & PURRY - Two NFC Queens
GENETICS - Have BOTH Type and Health
Email (Please copy it down carefully, removing spaces and using the @ and . where indicated)
furry boots at fastmail dot com
