Knit vs. Crochet

The ongoing drama(?) of a girl torn between two obsessions with too little time.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Cat Ancestry NEWSFLASH!


This has been a momentous weekend for the larger of our cats, Milo.
You see, for the past months of having him with us we've been uncertain about his pedigree. His face is too three-dimensional to be a persian, yet too long-haired (and un-pointed) to be a siamese, despite his bright blue mildy-crossed eyes. Not to mention the fact that he's a tremendously large-framed cat. Not fat--just big boned. Really!
Well, we've finally figured it out:
He's a Norwegian Forest Cat!
From Wikipedia: "Norwegian Forest Cats have a thick fluffy double-layered coat, tufted ears and a long bushy tail to protect them against the cold. They are very large cats with adult males weighing 6 to 10 kg (13 to 22 lb)....They are not easily stressed and are quite patient...They appreciate high vantage points and enjoy climbing trees, or, if they are indoor cats, climbing on appliances, bookshelves and other elevated surfaces in the home."
The Cat Fancier's Association also describes "These lovely cats are really two for the price of one, 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 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."
It all fits! We even glanced over the breed standards on the CFA site and he'd almost fit the criteria, down to his ruff, his little toe-fur tufts, and hindleg "britches", except for being a tad cross-eyed.
The descriptions also go on to describe them as cats who emerged from the Scandinavian forests to explore the world with Vikings, protecting their grain and leaving progeny in North America. I love it. We're going to call him Milo Fjordnordjanussen from now on.

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