About Scottish Folds

The following information is quoted extensively from "The Complete Cat Book" by Richard H. Gebhardt, Howell Book House: New York, 1991:

The mother of all Scottish Folds was Susie who was born in 1961 near the village of Coupar Angus in east central Scotland. Her parents were both straight-eared farm cats and her folded ears had been produced by a spontaneous mutation. She was owned by a family named McCrae and admired by a neighboring family named Ross. When Susie had her own folded ear kittens, the McCraes gave one to the Rosses. The Rosses purchased a British short hair to mate with Snowball and the pair produced more folds. They began to visit cat shows to see if anyone else would be interested in these unusual cats. An English woman named Pat Turner who was interested in both cats and genetics did some experimental breeding and discovered that the gene responsible for folded ears is an incomplete dominant which means if a kitten has one gene for folded ears and one gene for straight ears, it will always develop folded ears. Over the years, it has been determined that the healthiest breeding program is to cross a folded ear with a straight ear. Breeding fold to fold may produce short, inflexible tails and hocks that curve like the rockers on a rocking chair. While this in not a life threatening problem, why consciously breed for a possible defect?

Folds are truly neat to look at - a good fold will have ears folded tight to the head - making for a very rounded look. They have short necks adding to the roundness with rounded whisker pads with whiskers that are full and bend forward. Their eyes are interesting in that they dilate the pupils most of the time, making an owl-like, round look. This gives them a sweet, innocent appearance. They have plush, very soft coats. They come in all colors and long and short hair. They are quiet cats. Mine have very small voices and more often than not, they won't cry or yelp even when someone walks on their tails or feet! I really wish they would because there have been times when I have stepped on tails longer than necessary not knowing and I hate to hurt them! They frequently resemble meercats or prairie dogs when they sit up on their haunches to look at something that intrigues them. They also leap into the air when in a playful mood which is often. They love catnip toys, pipe cleaner "spiders", a trac ball and bags and boxes of all kinds as well as pure catnip. They are very accepting of additional cats to the family and are not afraid of strangers who visit our home.