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Norwegian forest cat breeders are in demand, but how to pick one? It is obviously wise to be well informed. “Forewarned is to be forearmed” so my mother told me.
For my part I think you can learn a lot from an Internet search (at the beginning) to reduce down the selection.
You can tell a lot about how a business is performing from their website.
This is what I look for:
How high does it rank in a Google search? This is the most important test. If I search for “Norwegian Forest Cat Breeders” is the breeder’s site listed in the first 3 pages at worse? The higher the position the better, obviously.
You will invariably find directories listed higher. Occasionally you will see a lone cat breeder’s site ranked highly as well. On this site I list breeders at the base of the breed description page and I usually only select from the first 2 or 3 pages of a Google search.
Google dominates the search engines, accounting for 40% or more of the searches. That is why I use them almost exclusively. Also they are a more sophisticated search engine with better algorithims (mathematical formulae for deciding how to find and list the answers to a search enquiry), in my opinion.
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Does the breeder have an independent website as opposed to a listing in a directory? I prefer an independent site as it demonstrates substance, commitment and discipline. However, some fine Norwegian Forest Cat breeders are not necessarily listed on the first 3 or so pages of a Google search. The websites selected are not all from the first 3 pages.
Is it updated frequently i.e. is it alive and not giving the appearance of dying a slow death through neglect? It takes effort to keep a website healthy (I should know). It is particularly difficult if you are unsure of the benefits of the site. That said if you have a site it should serve a purpose or get rid of it.
Is the website functional and practical or arty and saying not very little? I think a website should be fairly plain and functional because visitors seek information above all else. And they want to find information quickly.
The artistic and aesthetics are very much secondary. Some of the most successful sites are very plain indeed. If the person building the site is too concerned with appearance perhaps he/she is not concerned enough with fact (though this is only an indicator).
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Here’s my selection of Norwegian Forest Cat Breeders:
ForestKatz
Located in Spring (just North of Houston), Texas, USA. This is a great looking website.
Ouijakatz
Located in Spring, Texas, USA, the owners have been showing cats since 1996. Another nice clean website.
Vanir Cattery
One of the premier NFC breeders in the USA, run by Cherly McConnell who has been specializing in NFC since 1995.
HattKatts Cattery
Located in North Florida, USA. Established by Pete Meisinger and Donna Lawry
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Kjærligkatt Norwegian Forest Cats
Located in the UK. Based 10 km from Wanlockhead, the highest village in Britain. This is a really nice website and the first independent NFC breeder website to show up on a Google listing (page 3 top). All the other listings are directories. They have a Google PageRank and an Alexa traffic ranking.
Jaymlynkatz – link broken 2012
Located in New Zealand. Based in Palmerston, New Zealand. Another good website. Listed surprisingly on page 5 of a Google search. They have an Alexa traffic rank (albeit indicating not much traffic) and a PageRank.
Norgestkaukatt
Located in the UK and based in North Yorkshire. Long standing breeder as are the two above. Nice website. Page 6 on search listings and they have both a PageRank and Alexa Traffic ranking.
Mountain Spirit
Hobby breeders. Excellent pictures of the cattery which is really open and helpful. Located in UK, Bristol (West of England). Listed on page 6 of search. Nice functional site.
Amorino Cattery – link broken Feb 2013
Located in USA only it is not immediately clear whereabouts in the USA.
Average site. They also breed Chantilly cats.
Fairy Belles – link broken 2012
Located in the UK. Based in Essex (just north east of London) this seems to be a newish Norwegian Forest Cat cattery but there are some good photographs on the site about the construction of the enclosures.
The list takes us to the bottom of page 7, a page very few get to in a search for Norwegian Forest Cat Breeders.
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