These are the cats that explored the world with the Vikings, protecting the grain stores on land and sea, and which are believed to have left their progeny on the shores of North America as a legacy to the future.

They can differ so greatly in looks from summer to winter. Some time in the spring they take off their "winter underwear", the downy undercoat that provides warmth, and the long non-tangling outer guardhairs that act as protection from rain and snow. The contrast can be quite extreme. The inner-ear hair that deflects the wind and snow (and can be three to four inches long, curving out and around the ear like flexible racing stripes) remains all year. The tail is always magnificent, being as much as twelve inches or more when fanned to its fullest. Perhaps the most impressive part of the coat is the mane. On a fully mature cat, i.e. one over five years of age and which is challenged by the most adverse cold weather, the mane is nothing less than spectacular. It is long, dense and very, very impressive! This, unfortunately, may disappear in the spring, but rest assured that it will begin to lengthen again as the days begin to shorten.

Is their Norse name accurate? Yes, the skogkatt, meaning forest cat, really did come out of the Scandinavian forests some time in the last 4,000 years. However, they are not feral but are among the most people-oriented cats. Of course their personalities differ, depending upon the type home in which they spend their early kittenhood. *

Pictured above:  GP B'ssa Sundance Kid of Kaybill
Picture courtesy of: Kay and Bill Wentling; Fairfax, VA   703-273-1917
Photograph by:  Chanan