Norwegian Forest Cat care: coat, health tests and feeding

The Norwegian Forest Cat, often shortened to "Wegie", is a large, sturdy longhaired breed from Scandinavia. According to the Cat Fanciers' Association breed profile, it matures slowly and can take up to five years to reach full size, when males weigh about 5.4 to 7.3 kg (12 to 16 lb) and females about 4.1 to 5.4 kg (9 to 12 lb). The same profile notes that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and glycogen storage disease have both occurred in the breed and that breeders now test for them.

Care for this breed centers on four things: a double coat that changes with the seasons, two inherited diseases worth asking about before buying a kitten, a large frame that needs its calories and joints managed, and a strong liking for height.

The double coat and seasonal shedding

The breed standard describes a dense undercoat covered by long, glossy, water-resistant guard hairs, with a ruff at the neck and chest and full "britches" on the hind legs. The coat is usually fuller in winter, because that is when the undercoat reaches its full development. In spring the winter undercoat is shed and the cat is left with a lighter coat for the warm months, so a Wegie can look noticeably slimmer in summer.

For a longhaired cat the coat is fairly easy to keep. CFA describes it as generally tangle-free compared with other longhaired breeds, needing regular combing with a stainless-steel comb and more attention during the spring molt. Some coat textures mat more easily than others. The water-repellent outer coat is slow to get wet and slower to dry, which is worth knowing before attempting a bath.

A grooming routine by season

The schedule below is a practical starting point, not a rule. Adjust it to how quickly loose hair and tangles build up on the individual cat.

Mats form where fur rubs: behind the ears, in the armpits, on the belly and between the hind legs. Small ones can be teased apart with fingers and a comb. A mat that sits tight against the skin is a job for a groomer or the vet clinic. Cutting a mat out with scissors risks cutting the skin, which gets pulled up into the mat. A cat that suddenly stops grooming and starts matting may be in pain or unwell and should be examined.

Diet affects the coat mainly when something is missing. The Merck Veterinary Manual lists a dry, scaly, lusterless coat among the signs of essential fatty acid deficiency, but notes that such deficiencies are extremely rare in cats fed a complete and balanced diet. Cats have a particular need for arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fat found in meat, poultry and eggs but not in vegetable oils. Fish oil is widely used for skin and coat. Writing about dogs with dry skin and dull coats, Merck advises checking for an underlying metabolic condition before adding fatty acid supplements, and the same order makes sense for a Wegie whose coat turns dry or dull on a complete diet.

Inherited health conditions

Glycogen storage disease type IV

Glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV) is an inherited metabolic disease described in Norwegian Forest Cats. Affected cats lack working glycogen branching enzyme, so they build up an abnormal form of glycogen in muscle, liver and nerve tissue. A 2007 genetic study traced it to a rearrangement in the GBE1 gene and described its course. Most affected kittens die at or soon after birth, probably from low blood sugar. Those that survive look normal until about 5 months of age, when progressive degeneration of the muscles and nervous system begins.

The disease is autosomal recessive. A cat needs two copies of the mutation to be affected, and carriers with one copy are healthy but can pass it on. A DNA test exists. When the researchers screened 402 privately owned Norwegian Forest Cats, they found 58 carriers and 4 affected cats. Carrier numbers today may be different, since breeders now test, but the practical point stands: before buying a kitten, ask for the GSD IV DNA results of both parents. If at least one parent is a tested non-carrier, none of the kittens can be affected.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) thickens the muscular walls of the heart, making it pump less efficiently. The Cornell Feline Health Center calls it the most common heart disease of cats and includes the Norwegian Forest Cat among the breeds in which it is more prevalent. Less is known about the form it takes in this breed.

Much of what is known comes from a 2015 study of Norwegian Forest Cat families. Echocardiographic screening of 53 cats found mild thickening of the left ventricle in 13 of them (25%), yet none had a heart murmur. Of eight cats examined after death, seven showed the tissue changes typical of HCM, alongside scarring more suggestive of restrictive cardiomyopathy. Pedigree records from 871 cats supported a familial pattern. The absence of murmurs matters: a normal stethoscope check does not rule the disease out.

Echocardiography, an ultrasound scan of the heart, is how HCM is diagnosed. High blood pressure and an overactive thyroid can thicken the heart in a similar way and have to be ruled out. CFA notes that breeders now test for HCM. For a pet cat, ask the vet whether a screening scan makes sense, particularly if a relative was affected. Many cats with HCM show no signs at all. Cornell lists the ones to act on:

• Rapid or labored breathing at rest, or open-mouthed breathing
• Lethargy
• Sudden pain or paralysis in the hind legs, caused by a blood clot

Breathing trouble and sudden hind-leg pain or paralysis are emergencies and need a vet immediately. Treatment cannot undo the thickening, but it can control the heart rate, relieve fluid on the lungs and lower the risk of clots.

Taurine often comes up in discussions of cat hearts. According to Merck, taurine deficiency causes a different heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, and cats must get taurine from animal protein or from synthetic taurine added to the food. A complete cat food covers that need.

Hip dysplasia and joint health

Hip dysplasia, a malformed hip joint that leads to arthritis, is best documented in the Maine Coon, another large breed. In a Sweden-based health screening program covering 5,038 Maine Coons, 37.4% of cats had some degree of hip dysplasia, and severity increased with age and body mass. The authors note that little is known about hip dysplasia in cats beyond its being relatively common in the Maine Coon, so these figures cannot be applied to Norwegian Forest Cats.

Cats hide joint pain well. Reluctance to jump, jumping to lower surfaces than before, stiffness after rest and less grooming of the back end are all worth mentioning to the vet, who can confirm arthritis with an examination and X-rays and discuss pain relief. Keeping the cat lean reduces the load on sore joints. Joint supplements are widely sold, but ask the vet before relying on one.

Feeding a large, slow-maturing cat

Daily energy needs can be estimated with the formula in the Merck manual. Resting energy requirement (RER) in kcal per day is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms to the power 0.75. That is multiplied by 1.2 for a neutered adult cat, 1.4 for an intact adult, 1.0 for a cat prone to weight gain, and 2.5 for a growing kitten. Worked through for adult weights, rounded to the nearest 5 kcal:

For kittens, the same formula gives about 295 kcal a day at 2 kg and 400 kcal at 3 kg. All of these are starting points. Merck notes that animals of the same weight can differ by as much as 30% either way, so the scale and a body condition check decide the final amount. A workable routine is to weigh a kitten every week or two and an adult monthly. Because this breed keeps filling out for years, an adult Wegie gaining weight at two or three years old may be growing or may be getting fat; body condition, not the number alone, tells the difference. Ribs should be easy to feel under a thin layer of fat, with a visible waist behind them.

Protein minimums under AAFCO guidelines, as given by Merck, are 30% of dry matter for growth and 26% for adult maintenance. A food labeled complete and balanced for the cat's life stage meets these figures. Because this breed keeps growing for years, ask the vet when to move a young cat from a growth or all-life-stages food to an adult one.

Longhaired cats swallow a lot of hair when they groom, and "hairball" formulas add fiber to help it pass. Brushing removes loose hair before it is swallowed, which makes regular combing through the spring molt the most direct measure. A cat that retches often without producing a hairball, stops eating, vomits repeatedly or strains in the litter box needs a vet, because a hairball can block the gut.

Exercise and climbing

CFA describes the breed as moderately active, with bursts of energy, a habit of ambushing toys like prey and a fondness for high places. Its advice is to provide tall scratching posts or cat trees, or the cat may choose the top of the kitchen cabinets instead.

• Cat trees built for heavy cats. A 6 or 7 kg cat landing on a light tree can tip it over. Look for a stated weight limit well above the cat's weight and a wide, heavy base, or fix the tree to the wall.
• Height. Wall shelves and tall furniture give the cat routes and lookouts off the floor.
• Play that suits the hunting style. Wand toys moved like a bird or mouse, with pauses for stalking, suit a cat that ambushes more than it chases. Short sessions spread through the day fit this style of play.
• Tall scratching posts. A large cat needs a post tall and stable enough to stretch full length without it moving.
• Safe outdoor time. The coat copes with cold weather, but it does nothing against traffic or other animals. An enclosed outdoor run or supervised time on a leash gives outdoor access with less risk.

Sources

1. Norwegian Forest Cat. The Cat Fanciers' Association, breed profile and standard.
2. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual, 2023.
3. A complex rearrangement in GBE1 causes both perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in glycogen storage disease type IV of Norwegian forest cats. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 2007.
4. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, 2025.
5. Familial cardiomyopathy in Norwegian Forest cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2015.
6. Demography, heritability and genetic correlation of feline hip dysplasia and response to selection in a health screening programme. Scientific Reports, 2019.