History of Scottish Fold Cats
The first Scottish Fold was a white cat called Susie, who lived on a farm near Coupar Angus in the Tayside area of Scotland in the 1960's.
Susie had the 'folded ears' that are so distinctive and well-recognized in the breed today, but were unique at that time.
Susie had a litter of kittens, two of them had folded ears and a neighboring farmer William Ross, and his wife Mary, fell in love with one of them.
She was a little white female whom they adopted and called 'Snooks',.
The Ross' were so enchanted and intrigued by the looks and personality of these cats that they started a breeding program (mating with regular domestic and British Shorthair cats) to establish the breed and called them 'lop-eared' or 'lops', as they reminded them of lop-eared rabbits who have long, droopy ears.
Originally the GCCF registered this new breed but, worried about bone abnormalities and possible ear/hearing issues, they stopped registering them in 1971.
Luckily for these gentle and beautiful cats, US breeders took up their cause.
Some of Susies' direct descendents were exported to the US and by the late 1970's vigorous breeding programs involving these cats and both British and American Shorthairs were being established in North America.
In May 1977 the Scottish Fold breed was provisionally recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) in the US.
General Description
The unique folded ears of the Scottish Fold give it a look reminiscent of an owl. The tightly folded ears fit closely to the skull resulting in a cap-like appearance. Big, round shoe-button eyes open up the face in the rounded head. A sturdy body is covered with padding resulting in a solid feel to this medium-sized cat. The folded ear is a spontaneous mutation and comes from an incompletely dominant gene that results in both folded and straight-eared cats
Personality
Scottish Folds are intelligent, inquisitive, and are loyal to their family. They tend not to hide around the house or be shy, but rather they will always be around, even following you from room to room. Some learn cute antics like how to open cabinet doors and take a look inside and they can even be trained to play fetch. Most love to drink from running water, and some eat and drink with their paws. Most folded eared Folds sit up like prairie dogs to have a look around when they hear something. One of the cutest things is to see a Fold sitting up like a human which to many in the Fold world is referred to as "the Buddha sit"...they look like they need a remote control and a lounge chair. This breed gets along well with both children and, once properly introduced, other family pets as well. Scottish Folds today are carefully bred by experienced breeders to produce healthy happy kittens for you to enjoy for a lifetime.
Traits
Scottish Folds come in all colors and patterns of the Traditional and Pointed Divisions as well as long hair and short hair varieties. All eye colors can be found, but copper eyes are the most common color. Scottish Folds have round faces, round eyes and round bodies. They are a medium sized cat with medium boning. What makes them so very unique are those cute little folded ears that fold forward and tightly enough to fit the cap of their heads so as to look like an owl from a distance. Did you know that all Scottish fold kittens are born with straight ears? Yes, they look like every other newborn kitten, until between 18 and 24 days their ears fold but only if they carry the gene that causes the fold in the ears. Normally 50% of the litter will fold and the rest are what breeders call straight eared Folds who are just as wonderfully sweet and are usually a bit less expensive too!
