Chinese name
Scottish folded ear cat
Aliases
Folded ear cat
English name
Scottish Fold
Origin
Scotland
Weight
2.4 to 6 kg
Longevity
10 to 20 years
Personality
Gentle and smart
Predisposing to disease
Abnormal development of chondroskeletal osteosis
Body odor level: ★ ☆☆☆☆☆
Exercise load: ★ ☆☆☆☆
Beauty degree: ★★ ☆☆☆
About the viscous person: ★★★★★
Degree of hair loss: ★★ ☆☆☆
Degree of joy: ★ ☆☆☆☆☆
Feeding difficulty: ★★★★ ☆
Care Needs: ★★★★ ☆
The Scottish Folded Ear Cat is a cat breed with a genetic mutation in the ear, and since this cat breed was originally discovered in Scotland, it was named the Scottish Folded Ear Cat. It is said that in 1961, a female cat in a Shepherd's house in Scotland gave birth to a litter of kittens, including a strange kitten with a white coat, tight ears and an owl-like face, because of its origin close to Cooper Angus in Scotland, and since then, this breed has been named "Scottish Folded Ear Cat" according to the place of birth and the phenomenon of ear folding.
The original cat was named SUSIE, the ancestor of the Scottish folded ear cat, and later SUSIE gave birth to another white folded ear cat. At this point, the shepherd's neighbor, a shepherd named William Ross, noticed that SUSIE had a unique ear. So he decided to work with his wife, Mary, to experiment with this kitten to breed a new breed with folded ears.
The appearance of the folded-eared cat is cute and charming, so it attracts a lot of interest, but the funny thing is that at that time they were more common abroad than in their hometown, Scotland, England, and since this breed was not yet recognized by the cat management committee at that time, British breeders were almost not interested in it. The breed was accepted for registration in the United States in 1973 and recognized by the British Cats Association in 1984, 11 years later than in the United States. Susie, who suddenly gave birth to the folded-ear kitten, is the earliest origin of the Scottish fold-eared cat. However, this kind of downward folding ear is a rare mutation. It was precisely because of the occurrence of deformed cats in the past that breeding was banned in the Uk for a period of time. After careful cross-breeding by the breeders, healthy kittens were bred and won the American Cat Lovers Association (CFA) championship in 1978.
The Scottish Folded Ear Cat does not have the muscular, muscular body type of a working cat like the American Shorthair, nor is it as large as the English Shorthair, with a compact body, short legs, and a flat forehead. The folded-eared cat is actually a medium-sized cat with a rounded body and a short, elastic coat. Its sweet eyes are large and round, with full flesh, a short nose bridge, and a rounded facial line.
Shape
Medium-sized, rounded, uniform from shoulders to waist, standing steadily, no thick or lack of movement caused by short legs.
head
The jaw and chin are rounded and sturdy. There is a rounded beard pad at the nose and mouth, the head should be blended with the short neck, and the male cat's cheeks are thick and prominent.
eye
The eyes are large and sweet. The eyes are large and round, and the color corresponds to the color of the coat. All white, bi-color, and Sanskrit patterns can have blue and gold eyes.
nose
The nose is short, has a slight curvature, allows for slight interruptions, and the lateral contours are soft.
ear
The ears droop forward. Smaller ears, tightly clasped smaller ears are better than large, loose ears. The ears should be pressed against the head like a hat, showing a rounded skull with a rounded top of the ear.
Palms of the foot
The toes must be neat and rounded, with 5 toes on the front paws and 4 toes on the hind paws.
tail
The tail should be medium to long, but in proportion to the body. The tail is flexible and the tip is thin or rounded. The longer the tail, the finer the tip, the better.
Shawl (short hair)
Dense, thick and well-proportioned. The hairs are short to medium-short in length. The hair is soft and vibrant. Because it is dense and erect, it cannot be flattened on the body. The texture of the hair changes as the color, region, or season change.
Shawl (long hair)
Medium to long. It is best to cover the face and body with long hairs, but short hairs are also allowed on the face and legs. Long hairs on the legs and tail should be visible, tufts of toes, and ornamental hairs on the ears should be visible, and long ring-shaped hairs on the neck are ideal.
hair color
All are recognized except for chocolate, lilac, Himalayan cat coat spots, or combinations of the various coat colors described above.
When purchasing a cat with folded ears, be sure to check the elasticity of the tail and check the legs and feet. It cannot cause thickness or lack of elasticity due to stubby legs or separate toes. The elasticity of the tail can be judged by using the hand "very gently" from the base of the tail slightly arched to the tip of the tail. If the elasticity is normal, this arched stroke will not cause discomfort to the cat. It should be noted that this action must be gentle and careful.
An ideal folded-eared cat, in addition to having good ear drooping, is its tail. The length of the cat's tail generally accounts for about 2/3 of the body, bending freely, and the limbs should be flexible, and there must be no stiffness. Generally, those who do not meet the above characteristics are mostly the descendants of folded-eared cats and folded-ear cats. The contour of the cat's face should be rounded, the adult male cat will have neck fat, the eyes are large and round, the nose bridge is medium length and feels wide, the bite should be strong, the neck should not be too long and muscular, the body size bone mass is medium, and the muscle is strong.
In addition, folded ear cats cannot have a short nose like a Persian cat or an exotic shorthair cat, and such a folded ear cat does not meet the standard despite its more cute appearance.
Scottish folded-eared cats are born with a sweet character like candy. They like to participate in anything you do, but usually just quietly and won't make a sound to disturb you. Although their athletic talent is average, it does not mean that they do not like to play, but prefer to have the company of their masters. Scottish fold-eared cats prefer to sleep on their backs, and when they have nothing to do, they will sit there like otters and look out the window.
Its appearance is very much in line with its gentle personality, its voice is very light, and it rarely speaks loudly. They are willing to be companions and express themselves in this serene way that is characteristic of them. Scottish folded ear cats can adapt to family life in a variety of environments, whether there are noisy children and dogs in the family, or single families, even at cat shows or unfamiliar inns, they can quickly integrate into the surrounding environment without feeling uneasy. Perhaps inheriting the characteristics of the ancestors to see the warehouse, the Scottish folded-eared cat personality also has a special hard-working side.
We do not recommend breeding cats with folded ears, but it is necessary to know more about them.
In terms of breeding and mating, it is important to remember that folded ears cannot be matched with folded ears. Slightly experienced cat owners know that breeding and mating try to choose the same breed, but folded ear cats cannot be bred with folded ear cats.
Because the folded ear itself comes from a defective gene, if two folded-eared cats mate, they will often cause tail or limb disability due to increasing the probability of defective genes, so this mating method is strictly prohibited. Even some extremely professional breeders abroad will only try after strictly referring to the pedigree registration form and doing genetic testing. Therefore, for the health of the next generation of cats, it is safer to use folded ear cats and li ear cats for mating. Since the breeding of folded ear cats uses folded ear cats to mate with standing ear cats, the kittens born are both folded ears and standing ears, but those eared kittens are also called folded ear cats because they are bred by folded ear cats. Although they are not allowed to participate in professional cat shows, they are quite ideal pet cats, or they can continue to participate in the breeding of folded-eared cats.
Although the international authoritative cat organization stipulates that only the British shorthair cat and the American shorthair cat can breed with the folded ear cat, do not think that the folded ear cat is the American shorthair cat or the British shorthair cat, because, although the folded ear cat has the american short or English short blood, there is still a certain difference between the two and has gradually acquired its own characteristics.
It should be noted that the Scottish Folded Ear Cat was not born with its ears folded. When they are about three to four weeks old, their ears begin to fold down, or they don't fold down at all! It is not until the kittens are 11 to 12 weeks old that the breeder can roughly judge their appearance (pet, breeding or racing). Currently, only cats with folded ears can participate in the competition, of course, every breeder wants to breed a cat that can participate in the competition. But the value of the folded-eared cat in the breeding process is priceless.
Folded-eared cats are so beautiful, but these cute little ones are born with hereditary bone diseases, that is, Osteochondrodysplasia (Osteochondrodysplasia), of course, not every folded-eared cat will have the disease, but there is a certain risk. In 1975, dr. OJackson's research points out that the cause of this genetic disease is due to the mating of two cats, both with folded ears. He believes that as long as the cat with folded ears is mated with cats without folded ears, kittens with genetic diseases can be avoided. However, according to Dr. Lee of the University of Sydney in Australia. Richard Malik's 1999 study showed that all cats with folded ears have a chance of some degree of bone and joint lesions. The only way to avoid this genetic disease is to give up breeding cats with folded ears.
There is no cure for this hereditary bone disease, and most of the conditions will continue to deteriorate. Veterinarians can only use drugs to relieve the condition, help the cat relieve the pain and slow down the deterioration rate, but when the condition worsens, the bone lesions will slowly spread to the spine, paralyzing the cat and causing great pain.
In addition to hereditary bone disease, folded-eared cats have the following diseases that are common in them:
Respiratory problems
In addition to affecting the bones of the hands and feet, the genes of bone lesions also affect the development of cartilage tissue in other parts of the body. More commonly, the respiratory tract is narrowed and the breathing is not smooth, and in severe cases, surgery is required to widen the breathing duct. In addition, there will be problems with nosebleeds, but the cause is not known and there is no way to cure it.
Weak physique
There have been cases where the size and weight of cats are only two-thirds of that of normal cats, and they are more likely to be infected with cat plague, skin diseases, allergies and other diseases.
heart disease
Myocardial hypertrophy is also common in folded ear cats, but it is generally difficult to detect until the condition occurs, which is life-threatening, and the folded ear cat needs to control the diet and take medicine for life.
Some folded-eared cats can clearly see the characteristics of genetic diseases as soon as they are born or shortly after birth. However, more folded-eared cats do not have obvious symptoms in early childhood, the bones will accumulate and slowly change, and when they can't bear it, the disease will appear, as long as the owners can pay more attention to the details of the cat in daily life, they are likely to find earlier diseases.
Scottish folded-eared cats have inherited the hard-working personality of their distant ancestors, so they are more adaptable and can deal with unfamiliar environments calmly. However, raising a healthy cat with folded ears should also pay attention to the weather, and the humidity should be maintained at 50 to 60%, otherwise it will be easy to suffer from skin diseases.
How to prevent skin disease in cats with folded ears?
1, before the rainy season comes, first give the folded ear cat a bath, must be blow dry;
2, the folded ear cat arranged in the south-facing room, every day there is a fixed time for them to exercise in the yard or on the balcony, basking in the sun. Ultraviolet rays in sunlight can kill bacteria;
3, folded ear cat daily commonly used cat nest and cat litter box have time to often put the sun in the sun, sterilization;
4, rainy, cloudy, no sunlight, you can buy a reptile pet lamp with UV light hanging in the cat room to illuminate, find no harm to the animal eyes special treatment of the lamp;
5. Often feed nutritional ointment to increase the vitamins in their bodies and improve immunity;
6, after the birth of the small folded ear cat with warm water to wipe off the mucus on the body, the hair dryer blown into eight points dry, and then put back to the mother cat, this method can greatly reduce the chance of the small folded ear cat to get milk moss.
If your folded-eared cat already has a skin disease, do not panic, it is recommended to take it to the hospital for diagnosis by a doctor. Because there are many kinds of fungi, the ointments applied are also classified for different fungi, in case they are used incorrectly, it will only cause more and more severe consequences of skin disease.
The Scottish folded-eared cat is a poignant niche cat breed like a mermaid, and due to congenital genetic defects, it needs the care of its owner. So, if you choose, cherish it enough!
Friends who have folded ear cats at home can exchange feeding experience with everyone in the comments!