the skogkatt

Posted on | December 31, 2009 | No Comments

in nov 08 we adopted a beautiful fluffy 18 month old boy cat from the local RSPCA …brought him home and named him norbulingka.
sometime in the first half of the year, my mother was at the vet and noticed a large poster with various cat breeds depicted upon it.
she came by to tell us our norbu was in fact a norwegian forest cat…or a skogkatt!
his ancestors were a naturally-evolved breed of hardy little brutes who sailed with the vikings, had waterproof fur, ran down trees front paws first and probably singlehandedly started the huge norwegian frozen fish export industry.
we were suitably impressed.
we were also impressed by his gorgeous fluffiness, having been only short hair cat connoisseurs to this point.

apparently, you know you’ve got a real genuine wegie or skogkatt on your hands when their coats change dramatically from summer to winter and back again. they are said to look like two completely different cats.
well, the first year, we were too vague to really notice.
and this summer, we’ve been watching and waiting for a decrease in norbu’s magnificent ruff and trousers and tail…..but nothing has been happening. he remained as furry as ever. and he looked kinda warm. we began to doubt his wegie-ness and wonder what kind of siberian ragdoll mongrel had been foisted upon us…..and suddenly, over the last three days, an amazing transformation has taken place!
his coat has slimmed down amazingly, especially his beautiful ruff.
o he’s all short back and sides for the wet season!

here he is, looking all moody and complex: