Welcome by Laïloken's skogkatts!
Since 1999, I have been breeding Norwegian Forest Cats,
and developping passion for this beautiful and amazing cat.
I am a veterinarian, working in a vet clinic reserved to cats only.
I have the great luck to live days at work with cats,
and nights at home also with cats!
How could I explain how Norwegian Forest Cats are fantastic.... I will let my friend and french writer Ariane Fornia write for me:
" Chats des forêts norvégiennes, à mes yeux les plus beaux félins domestiques du monde.
Ce sont de gros chats qui ressemblent à des lynx, avec de petits plumets au sommet de leurs oreilles pointues, une colerette
de fourrure pour les protéger des rigueurs hivernales, et un regard unique entre tous, vert, perçant, où je voyais miroiter
toutes les légendes nordiques. Dans la mythologie scandinave, le chat des forêts, "Norsk Skogkatt", est si fort
que même Thor ne peut le soulever, et c'est à lui qu'échoit l'honneur de tirer le char de la déesse Freya.
Vivre avec de tels animaux, c'est caresser le mythe sur ses genoux, c'est attirer des morceaux d'aurore boréale sur mon canapé"
Our cat are living in family, free in the house:
they can go where they want, no closed doors.
First of all they are really life compagnions, sleeping in beds,
purring on knees in front of TV, playing all over together.
We share a 150m2 house.
Laïloken's breed philosophy, is that our cats are ours
dear compagnions, and not kittens' machines.
That's why, except some few special cases, our cats are spending all their life with us, and will never be sold or rehomed when time will come to be retired.
In spring and summer, the cats enjoy our large garden,
completely closed and secured with electric fence.
The males have a 10m2 room in the house, comunicating
with two big catruns outside, where they can run, jump, play
and look at the birds (and at the neighbours ....)
Females are raising their kittens together. They give birth
in my quiet bedroom, but doors never closed
so among the cats and the dog.
If the mum is a little stressed at the begining, she can stay alone
for a while, but in fact she will quickly prefer to join the group back!
As soon as the kittens have grown enough to be able to
explore everywhere, they are free to go where they want
and to joign the cat group in the house,
where they are so used to all noises and smellings of the real life.
This will help them to developp into super cool and zen kittens,
ready to leave for their new homes when they will be 3 months old.
Our breeding goal is not to produce lots of kittens for sale,
but to breed quality kittens.
We follow a strict selection based on
- health : strong cats, genetic diseases testing
- temper: cat and kittens with golden temperament
- type: pedigrees'studies to keep original type and look.
Norwegian Forest Cats are strong and not fragile cats.
But in the order to keep a safe genetic pool,
it's very important to test for genetic diseases.
* DNA Testing for PKDef and GSD4
* ultrasound screening for renal diseases like CIN
and cardiac diseases: HCM
ALL OUR CATS are DNA tested
or have DNA tested parents for GSD4 and PKDef
ALL OUR CATS are screened by ultrasound
on a regular basis (2 years) for CIN and HCM,
by Specialist Vets : European College Diplomates for cardiology.
Test results are sent to Pawpeds
and published on Pawpeds international database.
All our cats are attending to some shows ...
well, at least the ones who are cool and not sick in the car !
We follow FIFe rules, and it's really great to see Laïloken cats ranking in interntional challenges like Skogkatt of the Year, or nominated for best in show at the Fife Worldshow.
Our cats also are entered in the french LOOF qualificating system: classement SQR .
Saffran was the very first french cat who achieved
the highest LOOF breeding title: ELITE A
