Scottish Fold, or Scottish Fold: characteristics, character, specificity in courtship

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Scottish Fold kittens are born with erect ears. Only in the third or fourth week of life, the auricles begin to descend, and by the twelfth week they “lie down” on the head, which gives their breed such a recognizable appearance. However, this process does not occur in all animals, even in the same litter. Scottish cats with normal ears are called Scottish straight, and although they are allowed to show, championship titles are not awarded by all systems. Thus, these individuals are valued more cheaply.

So what kind of beast is the Scottish Fold? This is a strong cat of medium size. Her body is rounded. The eyes are large and wide-set. The transition from forehead to nose is soft. Lop-eared can be of all kinds of colors, both with a long fur coat and with a short one. The latter have a pronounced undercoat, while the former have a silky fleece, not prone to matting, “jabot” and"panties". The paws should be strong, but not rough or massive.

Despite the fact that Europeans heard about the “fold-eared cats from the East” back in the 19th century, the breed appeared relatively recently. The history of its origin is quite interesting and worthy of being briefly told about it. In 1961, Susie, a white cat, was born on an ordinary Scottish farm. She was distinguished from the rest of the kittens in the litter by her ears, which simply lay on her head. The owners showed the exotic kitty to breeders William and Mary Ross, who became interested in such a spontaneous mutation, opened the Denisla cattery and began to cultivate lop-earedness, christening the future breed "Scottish Fold".

Rossa's breeders first bred Susie and her offspring to British Shorthair cats. However, most of the kittens' ears were only slightly bent, and not "drooping". It was logical to assume that it was necessary to tie two individuals with fully hanging ears. But the result came out even worse: the kittens were not born viable, with impaired articular joints, which led to the fusion of the vertebrae and paralysis of the animal. It is good that by the 1970s genetics had made some progress. The English scientist O. Jackson isolated the Fd gene, which was "responsible" for both the unusual shape of the ears and the disease of the musculoskeletal system of the Scottish Fold breed. American geneticists led by Neil Todd began work to save the breed. They managed to modify the gene. As a result of the breeding program, lop-earedness remained, and negative"contributory factors" have been eliminated.

But in order to protect yourself from accidents, acquiring kittens of the Scottish Fold breed, you must definitely test the mobility of their vertebra. Run your fingers along the spine and tail of the animal - your actions should not cause any discomfort in the cat. Also, do not give preference to massive individuals (after all, the breed itself is characterized as strong and rounded) - with age, their heaviness can do them a disservice - the vertebrae can grow together.

Despite the fact that the he alth of Scottish Fold cats is not always blooming due to the above reasons, this breed is very popular. Scottish Folds are calm and friendly, self-confident, get along well with dogs and other cats, and are philosophical about running noisy children. For the long-haired version (highland fold), care is the same as for other owners of the wavy fleece - combing, combing and combing again. The short-haired variant has plush fur, which the cat takes excellent care of.