Scottish Fold personality

 

The Scottish Fold is a blend of other breeds - the British and American shorthairs. Both of these breeds are placid and calm, and usually agreeable to extended handling. Thus, the Fold has evolved as a sweet-tempered cat: devoted but not demanding; bouncy on occasion, but never too boisterous; more likely to charm than to challenge and displaying a British sense of decorum along with an American sense of self-confidence.

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Breed characteristics

 

Breeding the Scottish Fold requires lots of patience and a special knowledge of proper breeding practices. First established by breeding to British Shorthairs and domestic cats, the Scottish Fold is now only allowed to be outcrossed with British and American Shorthairs and other Scottish Folds. This is necessary to enlarge the genetic health and vitality of the kittens.

 

The characteristic ear-folding of the breed is caused by a spontaneous mutation. It is a incomplete dominant gene that must be present in one parent to pass on to offspring.

 

Breeding a folded-ear cat to a straight-ear cat is only recommended. Breeding folded-ear cats together may cause complications such as cartilage mutation in the tail making it rigid and foreshortened, and deformities in the hind legs and feet.

 

Scottish Fold kittens are not born with folded ears. The ears of the kittens that carry the gene start folding usually about the 21st day. The folding process begins by the crimping of the outer edge of the ear near the base, which gradually tightens with the ears tipping downward onto the head, giving the appearance that they are sliding off the top sides of the head. There are different types of ear folding: single fold; loose-in-back, tight-in-front; and tight, double, capped-to-the-head fold, which is the most desirable.

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All Scottish Folds, whether folded ear or straight ear, make wonderful companions. If you decide that this breed is for you, be patient for it may take a while to find that right one due to the limited number of folded ear kittens in each litter.

 

Care and grooming will require weekly brushing, cleaning of ears, eyes and teeth and clipping of claws. An occasional bath with a good shampoo is required when needed. Cat requires well-balanced diet high in vitamins, minerals and protein, fresh water daily, adequate space for exercise in an indoor environment, and most important, lots of love.

 

Producing healthy kittens is the breeder's responsibility. But as the cat is a being of nature, certain factors may arise that are out of the breeder's control such as the transformations of the ears in temperature changes and during pregnancy, or stiffness in the tail developing later on.

 

There is still a lot to learn about this breed. To assure a future for the Scottish Fold, it is important that the breeder maintain sound breeding standards, and eliminate problem cats from the breeding program. Also it is important to keep in mind the fact that it is allowed breed only straight to fold ear cats.

 

Scottish Fold communication

 

The Scottish Fold is, for the most part, not a talkative cat. Folds save their voices for certain occasions: like when they have been locked in a closet by accident, if you pull their fur too hard while grooming, or letting you know it's time to eat. Folds are known, for no other reason than the sheer joy of life, to jump into your lap with a cheerful greeting. Folds usually have a definite reason for saying something, and it is up to the discerning owner to decipher each individual cat's message. Usually these sounds are a message of greeting, endearment, perhaps a complaint.