Scottish Fold

...William Ross noticed the first Scottish Fold cat on record at a farm near Coupar Angus. The cat had ears which appeared to be identical to how an owl might look which were folded. He decided to try and create the breed himself.

He then took the cat to be registered and they began this breeding program with 76 kittens being born over a four year period. Out of those 76 kittens 42 of them had folded ears and 34 didn't.

The ...
.../> I have a pedigree Scottish Fold named Sir Cakil Eliot. He is 10 years old now and he is a wonderful and special cat to me. He is a short haired blue cream colour and has these amazing orange eyes which make him look like an owl when he is awake. The ears are fantastic because you can easily see inside them and then move them back to their straight position, but as soon as you let go of them they return to this folded position.

I ... more

This is a review about a breed of cat which I am pretty sure most people have never heard off. Even if you have heard of the breed I am fairly certain you might not have seen one either.

How this breed came about
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Well in 1961 in Perthshire, Scotland a shepherd by the name of William Ross noticed the first Scottish Fold cat on record at a farm near Coupar Angus. The cat had ears which appeared to be identical to how an owl might look which were folded. He decided to try and create the breed himself.

He then took the cat to be registered and they began this breeding program with 76 kittens being born over a four year period. Out of those 76 kittens 42 of them had folded ears and 34 didn't.

The theory is that the reason they have folded ears is due to an incomplete dominant gene and is this is the result of a spontaneous mutation causing the ears to be folded.

My Cat
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I have a pedigree Scottish Fold named Sir Cakil Eliot. He is 10 years old now and he is a wonderful and special cat to me. He is a short haired blue cream colour and has these amazing orange eyes which make him look like an owl when he is awake. The ears are fantastic because you can easily see inside them and then move them back to their straight position, but as soon as you let go of them they return to this folded position.

I brought Eliot when he was 8 weeks old and he had the folded ears by then already. His value was £350 which seems really cheap when I think about it now.
He has the most loving temperament I have ever seen in a cat. He is very much a 'posh' cat. He walks round the home and demands respect and shows people he is the boss and the special one. He forever wants attention and when you give him the attention he is the most loving animal I have ever had.

They have fantastic conditioned skin and fur. The fur is like a silky texture and when you run your hands through the fur you feel all warm and special inside. They groom themselves and my cat has always got this shinny blue coat and stunning markings.

When I am sick or not feeling too good he will actually take time out to come and sit with me and even sleep next to me like a big baby. This is one problem I have noticed with him is he has never been able to grow up. He is an indoor cat and he has never been really in a situation where he is outside for a prolonged period and this is why he is so reliant on me to aid and assist him.

In terms of feeding he does not eat a whole lot. He has a small mouth and apparently this is quite common. He can eat biscuits and wet food very easily just he takes a long time to do so.
He has a fantastic purr which is very funny. He sounds like he is upset and in a temper tantrum when in fact he is purring. His meow is very weak and at times you do see him open his mouth to meow but nothing seems to come out.

He does have one very annoying and frustrating habit is he snores and dreams at the same time. So you will witness him actually attempt to catch something in the air when asleep and snores louder than a human can.
Eliot weighs about 8lbs exactly. Most of the males in this breed range from 9-13 lbs in weight and the females about 6-9 lbs.

The Kittens of Eliot
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Yes my cat Eliot decided he wanted to have kittens when he was 2 years old. A neighbour had a female cat that was a tabby complexion and she was on heat and they got together. She had 3 kittens this female cat and they were all born with straight ears. When they were three weeks old I was there with them and I was watching a television show and within 20 minutes I saw the ears of one of the kittens go from a straight position and actually fold down the way. This took just 20 minutes to occur.

I was over the moon I had witnessed this event and I felt all emotional because it felt like a huge occasion for me. I named this cat Louis. He was a tabby Scottish Fold and it is a rare sight to have a tabby Scottish Fold at all. He was exactly the same in every way to his dad. Unfortunately little Louis died earlier on this year aged 7 years old and the cause was unknown. He sadly faded away after a few days with what seems to be potential cancer.

Appetites
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Well they eat when they are hungry which is about right when you think about it; however they eat little amounts at a time. They are very fussy eaters because they like to have food placed in a bowl in front of them; they never go to find the food. In this I mean they do not meow at you for food they just have it when you choose to give it to them.
There drinking habits are very good, they seem to just be so quiet when drinking and at times you worry they are not drinking at all. They do drink but same as the food little amounts over the day.

Ears
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I want to discuss the ears further as to be fair some people are going to find this just weird how they are folded. I did witness the ears folding of my kitten right in front of me and at first they do seem to just fold out because the cat is trying to clean themselves.

The ears fold and that is it, they never return to the shape they are meant to be and the thing is it gives them this sort of owl effect look. The colour of them and then the eyes when you look at them closely they do act as if they are owls.

I know that the ears could put people off but they are not going to need surgery to repair them, as they are to be fair kind of cute. The one issue which you will find is that trying to clear inside the ear should you need to do so.
I have to say with my cat he has never had dirty ears once so I guess it might be a good sign that potential ear mites cannot get in there because they would find it tough.

Body Shape
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Well the funny part to the breed is there face is always rounded. I have seen about twenty Scottish fold kittens and cats in my time and every single one of those have those rounded faces and I have to say it is a lovely sight to see. Some cats have those funny faces like their mouths sticking out slightly and their chins looking slightly out of position to the rest of the face. So there facial look is always rounded.

The nose is quite cute and seems like it tilts to the one side to bend up into the facial region. They are small noses and very cute when you are observing them.

The one problem might be the neck that is fairly small compared to most cats. At times you do assume the cat has a problem but the breed does have a very small neckline.

Social
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Well the Scottish fold breed is a quiet breed. When my cat wants something you barely hear anything at all with the cry he gives out so they are soft spoken and extremely laid back in how they want you to notice them.
They tend to just climb on your lap without you noticing and want that love and affection. You leave a room they do tend to follow you to make sure you are aware of their presence nearby.

The breed is loving, affectionate and extremely well groomed. You will find they will groom themselves all the time and you never find any hair which is lose. My cat does obviously have the hair which travels around as they all do but it is very rare to see this.
There is one funny thing I have heard is there sitting position. My cat sits like a human being would do on a chair and loves the sunshine. At times seems he is taking a holiday and wanting a tan.

Breeding
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Well the breeding is pretty tough to describe in many ways. You have to really have one Scottish fold cat to mate with another. However, if you have had four kittens you might not have any at all with folded ears.
You might end up with all of them with folded ears. The way it happens is usually between the 3rd and 4th week after birth and it will just happen like it did to me without any signs of happening.

If you mate one cat without folded ears and is not a Scottish fold and breed this with one that is then you are likely to have problems with the cats overall health.

They can come out smaller as well in size and length and look in some cases to thin. They do tend to be fine though just a lot smaller and people might comment they believe that the cat is actually a kitten still when they are not.

Health Issues
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Like every cat each breed has health complications. With the Scottish Fold I know of 2 problems with health they can have but fortunately for me mine never had.
One is called Autosomal Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). This is basically an inherited problem in this breed and a few others like the Persians and the exotics. This is when a small sized cyst starts of usually small on the kidney of a cat and continues to grow as they get older. They can form several sized cysts with fluid inside and eventually cause kidney failure.

The only way to diagnose this is via a genetic test or by an ultrasound.
The way this is spread from one cat to another is due to a gene by one of the parents.
The second problem is Cardiomyopathy which is a basically a disease of the heart muscle. This could be down to the heart walls getting thicker or being stretched. The heart begins to suffer and has heart failure.

Cat Shows
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I tried to show my cat Eliot in a cat show because his parents had won awards and I wanted to try and continue this tradition he had. Unfortunately they would not allow the Scottish Fold breed to be shown due to the folded ears is deemed as a deformity and it means they are not considered to be shown.

However, you can take your cat to America and Scotland and they can be shown there for awards. My cat Eliot has won 22 awards and I stopped showing him a few years ago.

I think the cat shows have a right to say whether cat breeds can be allowed or not, however I find that not allowing a cat breed to be shown in a cat show in England but can in Scotland and America seems pretty weird to me. If the breed was not allowed anywhere then people can understand it more however just one country seems really unusual to me.

Overall
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They are a companion and a friend. I talk to my cat when I have a bad day because I know he listens and cannot answer back. It is a sad way to look at things but they are unique and they are as adorable as pets. Some people claim they look really nasty cats when I show them pictures but when they meet Eliot they soon realise he is a gentle and friendly little thing with the heart of gold.

I would say to people who might be interested to look around first. Find a respectable breeder with pedigree papers. Some people will find it extremely tough to find them and the right colour. They are special creatures and they will love you just as much as you love them. 

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