Scottish fold cat breeddiscovery and history

Thefirst Scottish Fold cat breed made its appearance in 1961.

A white,barn cat called Suzie was born on the McRae"s farm near Coupar Angus inthe Tayside Region of Scotland.

What made her unique was that her earsfolded forward and downward on her head resulting in a sweet "teddybear" "owl" or "pixie"-look".

Mostcats have erect, perky ears. The cartilage in kitten"s ears usuallystart to harden after the 3rd day, but in the Scottish Fold cat breedthis does not occur.

The cartilage in these cats generally folds orbends forward and downward and in some instances can even have a triplefold that results in the ear lying flat against the head.

Whilst Suzie was the first recorded cat of this kind in the west, there arereferences in magazines dating back to 1796 that mention similar cats inChina with folded ears.

Mary and William Ross, breeders of British Shorthairs were enamoredwith Suzie and acquired one of her female, folded-ear kittens in 1963 -the kitten was named Snooks.

Regrettably, Suzie was killed by a motorcar and thus only ever produced 2 kittens.

Snooks later gave birth to amale kitten named Snowball who in turn was crossed with a BritishShorthair. This union resulted in 5 folded eared kittens and signifiedthe birth of the Scottish Fold cat breed.

Initially Folds were calledLops, after lop-eared rabbits.

Mary and William Ross are credited for developing the breed andobtaining registration with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy(GCCF) in 1966.

Their three-year breeding program resulted in over 70kittens. Of the kittens born, 34 had straight ears and 42 had foldedears.

TheScottish Fold cat breed"s popularity in Britain was short-lived.

MaryRoss was concerned about the survival of this cat and in an attempt topreserve this rare cat breed. Most of the British "stock" was sent tothe United States in 1971.

An American geneticist Neil Todd took up thecause.

It was determined that these genetic abnormalities could beavoided via extremely careful breeding through increased outcrossing anddeveloping a wider gene pool.

To this day, outcrossing to British andAmerican Shorthair is fundamental to any breeding program.

Responsibleand reputable cat breeders ensure that two folded eared cats are neverbred together.

Through the tireless efforts of dedicated American cat breeders, thiscat breed finally achieved CFA (Cat Fanciers" Association) recognitionin 1978.

The International Cat Association (TICA) also recognizes thebreed.

Whilst the cat did find its way back to Europe in 1982, it is notrecognized by the GCCF or FiFe and remains a rare cat breed in Europe.

The cat of Scottish origin is today largely regarded as an all-American cat breed!

Breeders in the United States continued with experimental breeding programs.

The Highland Fold resulted from a cross with a Scottish Fold and Persian cat and is also referred to as the Longhaired Fold.

Highland Fold Cat Breed

Across theAtlantic, the German cat breeder, Dr Rosemarie Wolf crossed Devon Rexcats with folded-eared cat to produce the Pudelkatze or Poodle Cat.

The resultant cat had folded ears and a curly coat. This is anextremely rare cat breed and not recognized by the major cat breedassociations.

In the United Kingdom the cat referred to as the Coupari is in fact theScottish Fold cat breed!

Breeding with Scottish Fold cats is a labor of love and patience asmost litters will produce 50 folded ears and 50 straight ears.