Scottish Fold Personality
Scottish Folds are a very friendly and docile cat. Their large round eyes and folded ears, coupled with expressive looks, intelligence and inquisitive nature make them a wonderful extension to the family home. Folds are not very vocal. Scottish Folds have very tiny "meows". The breed is very good with children, and can adapt to almost any situation. Scottish Folds also make friends readily with other cats.
Scottish Folds are hardy cats, with a disposition that matches their sweet expression. They are a treasure to own and will provide the family with lots of love and entertainment for many years.
Scottish Fold Colours
Scottish Folds come in a large spectrum of colours. You will find Scottish Folds come in just about every colour that a cat can come in. Bi-colours, parti, solid and tabby.
Scottish Fold Information
Scottish Fold kittens are not born with folded ears but by about three to four weeks of age the ears begin to fold. There are degrees of folding, usually described as a single, double, or triple fold.
Not all Scottish Fold kittens to a litter will be born with folded ears. Most breeders use a straight eared cat usually the British Shorthair as an outcross and therefore some of the kittens in the litter will have straight ears and some will have folded ears. The straight eared kittens are known as Scottish Shorthairs.
The folded ear is produced by an incomplete dominant gene and is the result of a spontaneous mutation. The gene causing the folding of the ears was a non-lethal mutation, a single dominant gene (possibly an incomplete dominant). The responsible gene appears to manifest itself in the cartilage in the ears and may affect cartilage development elsewhere in the body
The folding of the ears occurs on a gene that affects the development of the spine, which is why two Scottish Folds should never be bred, as the resulting kittens could be born with spinal and leg deformities. Early in the development of this breed a degenerative joint disease was discovered to be linked with breeding folded-eared cats to folded-eared cats. Because of this, ethical breeders will only breed straight-eared cats to folded- eared cats. Scottish Folds who are the products of folded-ear to straight-ear breedings seldom if ever develop joint disease.