I Love Scottish Fold Cats

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.

The 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 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 causes the ear to lie totally flat against the head. Scottish Folds are, typically, good-natured and placid, and are known for sleeping on their backs.

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. This condition also affects Scottish folds with one copy of the fold gene, to a lesser degree, and is the reason the breed is not accepted by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy and the Fédération Internationale Féline.

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 neighbouring 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.

General: The Scottish Fold cat occurred as a spontaneous mutation in farm cats in Scotland. The breed has been established by crosses to British Shorthair and Domestic cats and the American Shorthair. All bonafide Scottish Fold cats trace their pedigree to Susie, the first fold-ear cat discovered by the founders of the breed.

Head: Well rounded with a firm chin and jaw. Muzzle to have well rounded whisker pads. Head should blend into a short neck. Prominent cheeks with a jowly appearance in males.

Eyes: Wide open with a sweet expression. Large, well rounded and separated by a broad nose. Eye Color to correspond with coat color. See HIF COLOR.

Nose: To be short with a gentle curve. A brief stop is permitted but a definite nose break is considered a fault. Profile is moderate in appearance.

Ears: Fold forward and downward. Small. The smaller, tightly folded ears preferred over a loose fold and large ear. The ears should be set in a cap-like fashion to expose a rounded cranium. Ear tips to be rounded.

Body: Medium, rounded and even from shoulder to pelvic girdle. The cat should stand firm on a well padded body. There must be no hint of thickness or lack of mobility in the cat due to short coarse legs, Toes to be neat and well rounded with five in front and four behind. Overall appearance is that of a well rounded cat with medium bones; fault cats obviously lacking in type, Females may be slightly smaller.

Tail: Tail should be medium to long but in proportion to the body. Tail should be flexible and tapering. Longer, tapering tail preferred.

Coat: Short, dense and resilient.

NFA: Kinked tail, Tail that is foreshortened. Tail is lacking in flexibility due to abnormally thick vertebrae.

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