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Scottish
Fold Cat
The Scottish Fold is a breed of cat
with a natural mutation to its ears. The ear cartilage contains a fold so
the ears bend forward and down towards the front of their head.
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Scottish
Fold Cat
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The original Scottish Fold was a
long-haired white-haired barn cat named Susie, who was found at a farm near
Coupar Angus in Perthshire, Scotland in 1961.
Susie's ears had an unusual
fold in their middle, making her resemble an owl.
When Susie had kittens, two of them were
born with folded ears, and one of the siblings was acquired by William Ross,
a neighboring farmer and cat-fancier.
Ross registered the breed with the Governing
Council of the Cat Fancy in Great Britain and started to breed Scottish
Fold kittens with the help of geneticist Pat
Turner.
The breeding program produced 76 kittens in the first three
years - 42 with folded ears and 34 with straight ears.
The conclusion from
this was that the ear mutation is due to a simple dominant gene.
If one
parent provides the gene for straight ears, and one parent provides the gene
for folded ears, the kittens will be Folds.
The Scottish Fold cat breed was not accepted for showing in
Great Britain and Europe as it was felt that they would be extremely prone
to ear problems such as infection, mites and deafness, but the Scottish folds were
exported to America and the breed continued to be established there using
crosses with British
Shorthair and the American
Shorthair.
Scottish Folds can be either long or
short-haired, and they may have any coat colour combination except for
Siamese-style points.
Pointed Folds have been bred but they are not eligible
for showing.
The original cats only had one fold in their ears, but due to
selective breeding they have increased the fold to a double or triple crease
that lies the
Scottish Folds are a very relaxed, sweet,
and loving breed.
They enjoy to follow you around the house, and don't like
being left alone for longer than a few hours.
They are not very vocal, and
have quiet voices. Scottish Folds are known for laying on their backs. Some
say they resemble an Otter
when they lay or sit on their haunches.
There is one medical problem that has been
found to be related to Scottish Fold breeding.
If both parents have folded
ears, their kittens will be extremely prone to developing a painful
degenerative joint disease that fuses the tail, ankles and knees.
The
disease is not fatal, but as it is easily avoidable, reputable breeders will
only breed fold to non-fold.
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