July 21st- 22d,  2001

Invited judges:
Jørgen Frithiof (Sweden), Jette E. Madsen (Denmark)

 Director:
Francisco Panea

Veterinarians:
Ana Ríos (Dermathology) Luis Ramón Martinez, Felipe Lorenzo

Translators:
Gloria Navarro
Nieves Alonso

Place:

Hotel Green El Prado
c/ El Prado, 11 (Madrid)
Phone: +34 913 690 243 / Fax: +34 914 292 829

Club Español del Bosque de Noruega (CEBN)
Phone numbers: +34 913 529 903 / +34 606 96 04 29

Summary of the NFO Seminar organized by the CEBN-ASFE-FIFE

On Saturday, the 21st of July

1. Introduction.
   
   The president of the CEBN, Francisco Panea, starts by doing the presentation of the seminar and the lecturers Mrs. Jette Eve Madsen, Mr Jörgen Fritihof, Mrs. Ana Ríos, Mr. Felipe Lorenzo as well as the participants, among whom there were twenty breeders of Norwegian Forest Cats. There were also breeders of Maine Coon, Siamese and Persian. All of them took part in the seminar with great interest.
   
   
2. Speech of Mrs. Ana Ríos on the common diseases of the cat:
   
   Upper respiratory disease (URD), leukaemia, FIP, immunodeficiency, etc. A view on the general features of these diseases and on the vaccination procedure, hygiene and health of the cat in general, all of it supportes by slide, illustrative of the different topics.
   
   
3. Presentation by Mr. Felipe Lorenzo (Royal Canin Veterinarian)
   
   On the digestibility and palatability of cat food and the importance of nourishment in animal's development.
   
   
4. Speech by Mrs. Madsen on the NFO standard and its relativity.
   
   Mr. Madsen explained that the standard of the NFO is clear and concise, but relative. It is influenced by the geographical location of the breeder, by the fashion, etc. Breeding is also subjective, as it depends on the taste of each breeder. Mrs. Madsen favours a type of cat wich is harmonic and complete as a whole, but other breeders' preferences should be respected. She also observed that more breeders nowadays specialize in promoting certain characteristics: look, size, profile, colour, etc. This seems to be the trend for the future.
   Her two hour presntation was very interesting for the participants.
   
   
5. Speech by Mr. Fritihof on the NFO standard and its differences with TICA and other associations.
   
   Mr. Fritihof did a wide review of the standard history , ilustrated with slides. He commented on how the cats have evolved for the past twenty-five years.
   He presented the differences between NFO breeding in the United States and in Europe. He also commented on the changes experienced by the TICA standard, TICA being an association that has been working with the NFO for more than twenty years, and has brought their standard closer to FIFe's. Everyone enjoyed his presentation.
   
   
6. Work in Group about the standard.
   
   Two groups of work were formed: one directed by Mrs. Madsen and other one by Mr. Fritihof.
   Both groups debated on the topics explainded during the day, with the help of the cats that were present. An interesting point in the debate was Mrs. Madsen's explanation of how to hold a cat and what you must look for in it, commenting, from her judge's point of view, that she always considers the proportions of the cat and its harmony as a whole.
   Jörgen Fritihof explained his view as a judge on the points that he considers to be important in order to tell a good NFO cat. He insisted that the participants in his group study every cat present so they could see their characteristics.
   At the end, conclusions were reached, to be debated on Sunday evening .

On Sunday 22nd of July

1. Presentation by Mrs. Jette Eva Madsen on genetic foundations of the breeding.
   
   Firstly, she explained that it is advisable to study the pedigrees of the cats that we are interested in crossing. Those pedigrees should have at least twelve different names, always considering four generation pedigrees. She too explained that she's done inbreeding with only 10 or 11 different names, and has seen it can also work fine.
   Mrs. Madsen showed a diagram where we can put the names of the male and female that we want to cross, and where we can give a positive point +, a negative - or a neutral 0 to the different characteristics of each cat.
   
   Example:
   

   	Male	Female	Litter ??
   Head	0	0	0
   Ears	0	-	0/-
   Body	+	+	+
   Tail	+	0	0/+
   Legs and paws	+	+	+
   Temper	0	+	0/+
   Health	+	+	+

   
   
   The results obtained from this diagram will give us the approximate characteristics of the future crossing. Mrs. Madsen recommended the responsible breeder to be very sincere when evaluating and giving the points.
   
   
2. Presentation by Mr. Jörgen Fritihof on the silver and X colours.
   
   With regard to the silver gene, he explained that it is 50% codominant in the crossing of a silver cat with a non-silver cat, stating that, when two silver cats are crossed, breeders try to maintain and improve the quality of silver, but NFO breeders generally work more towards the standard than towards the quality of silver. Some NFO breeders may end up specializing in silver cats. He also mentioned rufism, the brownish shade that appears in certain silver cats. This does not imply a variation in their genetic identity, and it in no way affects hair quality or judgments at shows, as it is not penalized.
   
   Not acknowledged X colours:
   Mr. Fritihof made an extensive speech on the controvertersial subject of the X colours, wich was followed with great interest by the participants.
   Mr. Fritihof told the history of the appearance of X-cats. The first litter with different colours, chocolate and lilac, is born in 1992.
   In 1997, a seminar on colour is held in Sweden, in which two new colours are defined: cinnamon and fawn.
   In 1999, the approval of these colours was proposed to the FIFe General Assembly and it was not accepted. Jörgen Fritihof explained that, during the first years, there was the theory that these colours came from novice cats, since we can still find pedigrees in which there are cats without acknowledged ancestry. It is also believed that NFOs might have common and siamese cats among their ancestors, and thus, these colours could be present in the gene pool. In the past three years, work has begun on the idea that these colours are not really cinnamon and fawn but mutations from brown.
   The first experimental crossing takes place between a supposedly cinnamon NFO female and a fawn somali male. From it resulted a ticked blue and a ticked black, which indicates that the female cannot be cinnamon.
   Mr. Fritihof considers the hypothesis of these colours being due to mutations or to the presence of poligenes that would modify the normal colours. Samples of DNA have been sent this year to a prestigious laboratory in the United States. Perhaps the tests will verify whether these colours are due to mutations or poligenes. Also, hair samples of normal and X colours have been taken and sent to the expert in genetics Heather Lorimer, awaiting results.
   The attendants to the meeting agreed to wait for the results of these tests, which will be available in approximately six months, before making a decision on the acceptance of these colours.
   
   
3. Conclusions of the work groups on the NFO standard:
   
   
   • Head:
     • Must have the shape of an equilateral triangle from the base of the ears to the chin. This triangle can be longer in kittens.
     • The distance between the eyes should exceed the width of the nose tip.
     • If the triangle lines are straight, logically there should be no pinch. A certain amount of pinch can be accepted in cats up to ten months old.
   • Body:
     • The chest of the male must be strong giving a masculine appearance. Females should look more feminine.
     • The body, seen laterally, should have a slightly trapezoid shape, the hind legs being longer than the front ones.
     • The distance from the base of the neck to the base of the tail must be similar to the length of the hind legs
     • Strong bone structure.
   • Coat:
     • Must have a coarse and strong hair
     • Sub coat should be woolly, not silky.
   • Eyes:
     • Must have oval shape
     • Oblique position, inclined towards the base of the ea
   • Chin:
     • Has to be strong, firm and in a straight vertical line with the tip of the nose
     • The importance of this feature depends on the work of each breeder
   • Ears:
     • Open to the front
     • Slightly rounded at the tip. If the tip looks pointed, it is due to the tufts.
     • The inner hair was longer originally than it is now.
   • Profile:
     • Straight at the nose and rounded on the head
     • Strong Chin.
   • Tail:
     • Long up to the neck
     • Preferably leafy
       
       
4. Final Conclusions
   
   The Norwegian Forest Cat should have a large size, being proportioned as a whole, with good balance and harmony. It must be a healthy and natural cat. Finally, it must have a good temper.
   
   Francisco Panea

AGENDA

Saturday, July 21st

Sunday, July 22nd

Seminar Photos

Work group with Jette Eva Madsen	Work group with Jörgen Fritihof
Participants	Mr Jörgen Fritihof
General view	Participants
F. Panea & J.E. Madsen	Friendship dinner
Friendship dinner	Some Flamenco

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