Folded Ear Cat

   In 1897, Professor CORNEVIN pointed out in his animal breeding rules that a short-haired, fat-looking drooping ear breed lived in his hometown—China.

   The dominant trait causing ears to fold forward was first discovered in Scotland in 1961. Shepherd William ROSS in TAYSIDE and his wife MARY found that the neighboring MCRAE family's farm had a white female cat named SUSIE whose ears were folded. SUSIE gave birth to SNOOKS, a white female cat with similarly folded ears.

   After mating with , SUSIE gave birth to a white male cat SNOWBALL. This new breed was thus named Scottish Fold based on the hereditary folded ear characteristic. Unfortunately, limb, tail, and joint deformities accompanied the dominant folded ear gene so closely that in 1973 GCCF had to terminate recognition of the breed.

   In 1971, MARY ROSS sent some to American geneticist NEIL TODD. The geneticist restarted breeding the breed. Through crossbreeding with British , , and , the severe joint deformity was controlled. CFA and TICA recognized this highly successful breed in America.

   The breed began entering Europe in 1980. The first Scottish Fold kitten in France was born in 1982. However, FIFE and GCCF did not recognize the breed. Throughout mainland Europe, Scottish Folds are very rare. In the United States, the Scottish Fold crossed with produced a new long-haired variant called Highland Fold or Longhair Scottish Fold. TICA has recognized this breed.

   In 1987 in country, Scottish Folds and Rex cats crossed to produce the PUDELKATZE or Shepherd cat, a cat with curly fur and drooping ears. Because the PUDELKATZE population remains very small, it has not yet been recognized as a breed. (Source：PetsZone)