[1] This landrace breed is adapted to a very cold climate, with a top coat of long, glossy hair and a woolly undercoat for insulation.

These cats could have reproduced with farm and feral stock and may have eventually evolved into the modern-day Norwegian Forest breed.

[4][5][6] The Siberian and the Turkish Angora, longhaired cats from Russia and Turkey, respectively, are also possible ancestors of the breed.

[12] In 1938 the first organization devoted to the breed, the Norwegian Forest Cat Club, was formed in Oslo, Norway.

The coat consists of a long, thick, glossy, water-repellent top layer and a woolly undercoat and is thickest at the legs, chest, and head.

[10] Their water-resistant coat with a dense undercoat developed to help the cat survive in the harsh Scandinavian climate.

[citation needed] Norwegian Forest Cats that live primarily outdoors become swift and effective hunters, but the breed can also adapt to indoor life.

[26] In an experiment directed by John C. Fyfea, Rebeccah L. Kurzhals, and others, it was concluded that a complex rearrangement in the breed's Glycogen branching enzyme (GBE1) can cause both a perinatal hypoglycemic collapse and a late-juvenile-onset neuromuscular degeneration in glycogen storage disease type IV in the breed.

[4] Glycogen storage disease type IV due to branching enzyme deficiency was found in an inbred family of Norwegian Forest Cats.

[31] An analysis of pedigree records of cats in England found evidence of hereditary cardiomyopathy.