Thorsgard Introduction

Thorsgard Cattery originated in 1997 and is located in West Des Moines, Iowa -- about a 3 hour drive from Kansas City, a 4 hour drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, and a 6 hour drive from St. Louis, MO, or Milwaukee, WI. The owners of Thorsgard Norwegian Forest Cats are Deb Dursky and Libby Watkins. Deb's experience in the breeding and showing of award winning Norwegians (or "Wegies" as they are commonly known as) dates back to 1994 when she was one of the original owners of the Norskskogkat Cattery. Our goal at Thorsgard is to breed healthy, well-socialized Wegies who are at home---whether in the show ring or simply as a beloved member of the family.

We currently show exclusively in the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA). We have shown five of our cats to Regional Wins and two of our female NFC's have produced such outstanding offspring that they achieved the coveted title of CFA Distinguished Merit. Currently less than 10 Norwegian Forest Cats throughout the world have been awarded the title of Distinguished Merit--it is the highest award that CFA presents to a breeding pedigreed cat and we are very proud to the owners of TWO NFC DM's! We are currently members of two CFA clubs, the Hawkeye Cat Club and the Lucky Tomcat Club. In addition, we are also members of the CFA Norwegian Forest Cat Breed Council and Deb is a Breeder Member of the Norwegian Forest Cat Fanciers Association. By attending shows over much of the United States we have developed friendships with breeders and exhibitors from around the world. Our success is built on the trust of those breeders who have sold us our cats, permitted us to use their studs, and to all those breeders who came before them. No cat springs up from nowhere -- so we sincerely thank those who have helped us along the way. Our success is their success as well!

Our cattery (which in this case is our home) has been inspected by a licensed veterinarian. For the past several years we have been certified with the highest rating possible as a "CFA Approved Cattery of Excellence." We treat our cats as members of our family and do not believe in the use of cages. Only our two breeding males are kept contained, and they both live in a separate rooms--complete with their own 6-foot cat trees, windows and the requisite linoleum floors. All other cats are free to roam the house, nap in one of the bedrooms, or spend the day sunning and watching the birds from the 3-season porch. Our kittens are born in one of our bedrooms where they will stay until are usually 5-8 weeks of age. They spend a lot of time in bed or on one of the many cat trees, either sleeping, playing or practicing their pouncing skills. When they are older and well socialized from daily handling they are then allowed to run the house with the other cats. We are fortunate that Libby is able to be a "stay at home mom" and devote her attention full-time to the activities and daily care of the cats, thus assuring a good deal of daily interaction with every cat in our household.

Norwegian Forest Cat are a very slow-maturing breed, taking a full five years to reach their full size and development. Males generally grow to between ten to sixteen pounds in adulthood, with females somewhat smaller. Although they bear some resemblance to the Maine Coon, mostly in coloration, they are in fact totally different cats. They have straight profiles, a more compact body, and often sweet expressions. The nose and tips of the ears should form an equilateral triangle. Although brown tabby with white is the most common color and pattern, they can be found in other colors and patterns as well. The kittens that we produced have been brown, red, blue, and brown patched with mackerel and classic tabby patterns. Many of our kittens are with white, which means that they have white on their paws, chest and stomach. While our goal is to create outstanding show quality kittens, we will usually have beautiful Pet Quality kittens available. Please view our Pet Sales Contract that MUST be signed before receiving a kitten from us.

Our kittens are carefully examined by a veterinarian before release to their new owners between the ages of 12-16 weeks old. The majority of our kittens will be going to their new homes already altered (spayed or neutered). We want the kittens to be fully recovered from their surgeries and their last vaccination prior to leaving to ensure that they will be happy, healthy and ready to explore their new homes. If you would like more information about early altering of kittens, please look at this very Informative Site about Early Spaying and Neutering. The price of a Thorsgard pet kitten is $600 plus a nominal fee for spaying/neutering. They will have had a series of 3 vaccinations against feline upper respiratory illness (URI) and do come with a Health Warranty. A booster shot is needed when the kitten reaches 16 weeks of age. We neither recommend nor encourage the use of FeLV or FIP vaccine. Neither vaccine is necessary for indoor-only cats and the FIP vaccine has not been proven to preventative enough to warrant its usage. We sell most of our kittens as pets and very rarely sell breeding cats, and then only to people whom have a good deal of knowledge about feline husbandry and are active on the show circuit. We also try to find good homes for our retired show cats when the season is over and have been quite successful at this. You can find out more information about any available retired cats on the "News" Page. Prices vary based on sex and age of the cat, but are always significantly less than the cost of young kittens.

We want our kittens to have long & healthy lives. Although we know that some indoor/outdoor cats can live long lives, unfortunately most do not. We have heard many heartbreaking stories from pet owners who have lost their beloved pet to some preventable accident because their pet was allowed outside. This will not happen to any Thorsgard kittens as we will never sell any of our kittens to be an indoor/outdoor cat nor will we sell to any homes who have an indoor/outdoor cat. Please understand that we have invested too much love in our wonderful kittens to risk exposing them to an uncertain and risky environment.

If you have any further questions about our cats or cattery, please feel free to contact us either by email or by phone at 515-225-9387. We are not a "business" with open hours, but we will make appointments for people who are seriously looking to purchase a Norwegian Forest Cat kitten or adult AND who are interested in the kittens/cats which we are currently offering. Be sure to look for us at cat shows all over the Midwest Region (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska). Thanks for visiting Thorsgard Norwegian Forest Cats, please stop by again.....