Black Norwegian Forest cat?

coyotepupcutie

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Hi!

I moved into a sublet a few months ago where the owners of the place had just found a stray cat hiding under their shed. She'd had to be shaved when they first found her (matted fur) and because of it didn't really look like any particular breed, but as her fur has grown in I've started to wonder what she might be.

According to the vet who saw her she's about a year old, and she's currently eleven pounds. My roommate has gotten comments from friends that she looks a bit like a Norwegian Forest cat - I honestly can't tell if she's more that or more Maine Coon. I think what's throwing me is her personality and coloring. From what I've heard/read Norwegians are supposed to be "dog like" or friendly and she hates almost every single person with the exception of myself and my roommate, though I wonder if that's trauma related. Also, I haven't seen much about Norwegians with this particular coloring, and it seems like it's not that common?

Either way, I'd be curious to know what people think! She's a teeny tiny little princess and diva, and I love her dearly regardless of where she came from. The curiosity is killing me since I've never in my life seen a cat as pretty as her.
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coyotepupcutie

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Also, forgot this earlier and not sure if it's relevant; she's extremely vocal. The first few months she growled, hissed, and yowled at me. Since then she's mellowed but is still really loud - no cutesy meows from this one. Often I'll just talk to her and she'll talk back.
 

goingpostal

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She's gorgeous! No breed, domestic longhair, she doesn't really closely resemble either breed and the chances of one being a lost stray without a microchip would be like finding a million dollar lottery ticket on the ground.
 

sivyaleah

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Agree with goingpostal goingpostal
I see no qualities that point to either breed, plus NF cats are pretty rare in the US so highly unlikely.
Breeds derived from domestic cats and are a very small population of all cats in the world. The odds are astronomically high you'd find one in the street, let alone a mixed cat.
Black domestic long hair. Pretty too!
 
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coyotepupcutie

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Thank you!! She's got the diva personality to go with her gorgeous looks, that's for sure.

Longhair domestic definitely makes sense - it was weird she wasn't microchipped when she was found, and no one responded to the found cat adverts that were put out.
 

sivyaleah

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Thank you!! She's got the diva personality to go with her gorgeous looks, that's for sure.

Longhair domestic definitely makes sense - it was weird she wasn't microchipped when she was found, and no one responded to the found cat adverts that were put out.
I'm not so sure how many people actually do the chip. Some can't afford the expense.

She easily could have gotten out and wandered far from home. Or maybe was raised as an outdoor kitty and the family didn't care enough to find her. So many possibilities how cats wind up on the street.

Our older girl, a long hair Tortie, was found outside, in a dumpster area right after Hurricane Sandy. She's such a doll, gorgeous coat, clearly well socialized and lovable, but nobody came to claim her either. Someone's loss is our treasure.
 

Meowmee

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Hi!

I moved into a sublet a few months ago where the owners of the place had just found a stray cat hiding under their shed. She'd had to be shaved when they first found her (matted fur) and because of it didn't really look like any particular breed, but as her fur has grown in I've started to wonder what she might be.

According to the vet who saw her she's about a year old, and she's currently eleven pounds. My roommate has gotten comments from friends that she looks a bit like a Norwegian Forest cat - I honestly can't tell if she's more that or more Maine Coon. I think what's throwing me is her personality and coloring. From what I've heard/read Norwegians are supposed to be "dog like" or friendly and she hates almost every single person with the exception of myself and my roommate, though I wonder if that's trauma related. Also, I haven't seen much about Norwegians with this particular coloring, and it seems like it's not that common?

Either way, I'd be curious to know what people think! She's a teeny tiny little princess and diva, and I love her dearly regardless of where she came from. The curiosity is killing me since I've never in my life seen a cat as pretty as her. View attachment 438481View attachment 438482View attachment 438483View attachment 438484
She is gorgeous 😻 I do think she has some forest cat look alike attributes. You have to understand that these breeds, forest cats, which are Siberians, Maine Coons and NFC, were living naturally in the areas they came from long before someone decided to breed them and make them an official breed. There are black wegies / nfc, and mc, bicolor is very popular in nfc.

So, domestic cats which are not pedigreed etc. can have similar qualities. Her nose slopes a bit like a wegie and she has the beautiful floof for sure. They have very long guard hairs which allow them to run around in the rain and especially the snow, which they love, without getting soaked or cold.
I know someone on Facebook who has a purebred skogskatt cat in Norway, she does not have the typical sloped nose that your kitty sort of has. So keep in mind not every purebred cat will resemble the extremes that some breeders take it to. This is true for many breeds, siamese cats have three different looks, but everyone thinks the more extreme weg siamese are the siamese cat, when in fact the original siamese cats were not like that, and floppycats or rag dolls were not always require to be pointed.
She also looks like maybe a black smoke but also it could just be the long hair, my Zena is a long hair black white tux and he has darker and lighter areas at the edges of the black that look grayish. Black smoke have white roots.

Another telltale sign of a Forest Cat is they have very long hind legs which let them jump up in the air like a helicopter- my Sybil could jump from the floor straight up in the air about 4 to 5 feet up onto the top of the dresser and land silently and perfectly. They jump and fly around like no other cats I have seen. She also loved to run very high up trees, turn around and run straight back down. And I called her the snow goddess cat because her favorite activity was to run around in the snow for hours and hours.

As for microchips not everyone does them whether their cats are pb or not. Some breeders do but not all. And micro chips can fail unfortunately… they have also been linked to possible cancer but I think that’s pretty rare. I am not saying that your kitty is purebred or that she has a failed microchip. I’m just pointing out that they are not fool proof. Many a cat goes missing that was or was not micro chipped and is sadly not returned to their owner. I am on local lost and found groups and it’s heartbreaking to see people still searching for their cats a long time after they went missing, posting their photographs everywhere and hoping that their cat may still be found.
I do remember reading one story of a cat that was found from a microchip about 10 years after it went missing, very far away, in another part of the country- obviously someone had to have transported the cat in a car somewhere. I think it might’ve been in Australia, I can’t remember now.
 
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