Scottish Fold

In 1961 a Scottish shepherd named William Ross saw a white barn cat named Susie with the distinctive folded ears on his neighbour's farm . William and his wife Mary obtained a white female kitten from Susie's next litter which also had folded ears. They named the kitten Snooks and all Scottish folds of today can trace their pedigrees to her.

Scottish Fold Appearance

The first thing you notice about a Scottish Fold cat are that its ears are folded forward and downward.

The Scottish Fold is a very unique and delightful cat with a sweet temperament. They require minimal care to maintain health and vigour. The Fold has developed a look all it's own, being a medium cat with a rounded, well-padded body and a soft, dense coat. The eyes are round, broadly spaced, giving an innocent and sweet expression.

Scottish Fold Information

Scottish Fold kittens are not born with folded ears but by about three to four weeks of age the ears begin to fold. There are degrees of folding, usually described as a single, double, or triple fold.

Not all Scottish Fold kittens to a litter will be born with folded ears. Most breeders use a straight eared cat usually the British Shorthair as an outcross and therefore some of the kittens in the litter will have straight ears and some will have folded ears. The straight eared kittens are known as Scottish Shorthairs.

The folded ear is produced by an incomplete dominant gene and is the result of a spontaneous mutation. The gene causing the folding of the ears was a non-lethal mutation, a single dominant gene (possibly an incomplete dominant). The responsible gene appears to manifest itself in the cartilage in the ears and may affect cartilage development elsewhere in the body

The folding of the ears occurs on a gene that affects the development of the spine, which is why two Scottish Folds should never be bred, as the resulting kittens could be born with spinal and leg deformities. Early in the development of this breed a degenerative joint disease was discovered to be linked with breeding folded-eared cats to folded-eared cats. Because of this, ethical breeders will only breed straight-eared cats to folded- eared cats. Scottish Folds who are the products of folded-ear to straight-ear breedings seldom if ever develop joint disease.