Collection: Personalised Norwegian Forest Gifts

Majestic, large cats, the Norwegian Forest cat is not only a handsome cat, but also has a particular space in Norse mythology. They are said to be the cats that pulled the chariot of the Norse goddess Freyja (the goddess of beauty, love, gold, war, and more!) and were thought to be so strong and mighty that even Thor couldn't lift them! While are no longer pulling chariots they are making themselves at home in houses all across the world.

There has been evidence of them existing between 1,000-2,000 years ago. They have been used as mousers on farms and ships and were the mighty cats that belonged to the Vikings! While we are confident they were developed in Norway, we aren't sure which breeds they were created from. It's possible that they were developed from British cats like the British Shorthair. Other guesses include the Turkish Angora and the Siberian Forest cats. Whatever the case may be, they were registered in 1970 in Europe after Carl Fredrik Nordane started the process, and they were registered in America in 1994.

Independent yet friendly and social, the Norwegian Forest cats will choose their favourite human, but enjoy the company of all the humans in their household. They can be lap cats, but only if they want to snuggle with their human. Having lived with Vikings and in forests they are adept at climbing and enjoy exploring and roaming freely. They will require plenty of interactive play and when there aren't humans around they still need plenty of toys and mental stimulation. They can be calm and so tend to be ok with calm children and cat-friendly dogs, however if the children get too energetic they may not enjoy their company or will try to remove themselves from the situation. Due to their hunting instincts these may not make good cats for households with small mammals, birds, or lizards.