FIFe's official standard of the Norwegian Forest Cat

General	Size	Large
Head	Shape	Triangular, where all sides are equally long; with good height when seen in profile; forehead slightly rounded; long, straight profile without break in line (no stop)
	Chin	Firm
Ears	Shape	Large, with good width at the base; pointed tips; with lynx-like tufts and long hair out of the ears
	Placement	High and open, so that the outer lines of the ears follow the line of the head down to the chin
Eyes	Shape	Large and oval, well opened, set slightly oblique
	Expression	Alert expression
	Colour	All colours permitted, regardless of coat colour
Body	Structure	Long, strongly built; solid bone structure
Legs		Strong, high on legs, hind legs higher than the front legs
	Paws	Large, round, in proportion to the legs
Tail		Long and bushy, should reach at least to the shoulderblades, but preferably to the neck
Coat	Structure	Semi long. The woolly undercoat is covered by a smooth, water repellant uppercoat which consists of long, coarse and glossy hair covering the back and the sides. A fully coated cat has a shirtfront, a full frill and knickerbockers
	Colour	All colours are permitted, including all colours with white; except pointed patterns and chocolate and lilac, cinnamon and fawn. Any amount of white is allowed, i.e. a white blaze, white locket, white chest, white on the belly, white on the paws, etc
Faults	General	Too small and finely built cats
	Head	Round or square head; profile with a break (stop)
	Ears	Small ears; set too widely apart; set too close together
	Legs	Short legs; thin legs
	Tail	Short tail
	Coat	Dry coat; knotted with lumps, too silky

 
Scale of points

TOTAL		100 points
Head	General shape, nose, profile, jaw and teeth, chin	20 points
Ears	Shape, size and placement	10 points
Eyes	Shape, expression	5 points
Body	Shape, size, bone structure, legs, shape of paws	25 points
Tail	Length and shape	10 points
Coat	Quality and texture, length	20 points
	colour and pattern	5 points
Condition		5 points

Remarks

• Coat is evaluated only on texture and quality
• Very slow maturing of this breed should be taken into account
• Mature males may have broader heads than females
• Length of coat and density of undercoat vary with the seasons
• Kittens can take up to six months of age to develop guardhairs

 

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