The Norwegian Forest Cat Club welcomes you to this website
for British NFCs.
Obituary
- Maggie Wheeler
As
happens with so many of us, Maggie's enthusiasm for cats started
with household pets. She and Les began to take their HPs to shows
and eventually fell in love with the Forest Cats, so they first
showed neuters and then began to breed.Maggie was proud of the successes
of many of her cats. Perhaps one of her greatest achievements was
with Snokrystal Bathsheba whom she exported to the Drakborgens cattery
in Sweden, and who attained the high title of European Champion
there as well as gaining a Distinguished Merit: surely one of the
greatest accolades that can happen to a British breeder is to gain
success in Scandinavia!
Maggie
was an enthusiastic member of the Norwegian Forest Cat Club for
many years, a faithful committee member and, for the last several
years, a member of our hard-working Show Management team.
Anne Gregory
writes:
Maggie
worked with Brian and I for over five years. She was always such
a positive force. Her husband Les and daughter Helen were stalwarts
with the catering and together with Maggie's talent at arranging
vets, contributed a great deal towards the success of our show.
Although
Maggie was not at all well this year, she still found the vets for
us and made sure Les was there on the Friday to help with setting
up. She came on Saturday, looking amazing as usual and made sure
all was well. She will be greatly missed.
You
can imagine, therefore, what a huge loss it is to the cat fancy
and to the NFCC in particular, that Maggie finally succumbed to
cancer in May 2008 after a brave battle since diagnosis in September
2007. But above all she will be missed as a person - colleague,
honourable show rival, and friend.
Our
hearts go out to Les who lost his beloved wife far too young, and
to Helen and Felicity. We feel sure the cats miss her sorely too.
Photos
of Maggie and of
EC Snokrystal Bathsheba, DM
By Katerina Strahl
The
Norwegian Forest Cat is truly a natural breed and really does originate
from Norway. The exact origins of the Forest Cats will never be
precisely established, but one thing is certain: NFCs can be found
in Norwegian folklore, where it is said that these cats were the
family pets of the Vikings. As early as the sixteenth century such
cats were described as being large, with long legs, big ruffs and
ear tufts. Just like the Forest Cats of today, they had a particular
liking for water, with the ability to catch fish in lakes and streams.
In some folk tales they are referred to as the "Fairy Cat" - it
is easy to imagine them appearing supernatural as they flitted amongst
the trees with their long, elegant bodies and flowing, bushy tails.
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