Buy Scottish Fold Kittens For Sale

Buy Scottish Fold Kittens For Sale. The Scottish Fold is a breed of domestic cat with a natural dominant gene mutation that affects cartilage throughout the body, causing the ears to “fold”, bending forward and down towards the front of the head, which gives the cat what is often described as an “owl-like” appearance.

Originally called lop-eared or lops after the lop-eared rabbit, Scottish Fold became the breed’s name in 1966. Depending on registries, longhaired Scottish Folds are varyingly known as Highland Fold, Scottish Fold Longhair, Longhair Fold and Coupari.  Buy Scottish Fold Kittens For Sale

All Fold cats are affected by osteochondrodysplasia (OCD), a developmental abnormality that affects cartilage and bone development throughout the body. This condition causes the ear fold in the breed and studies point to all Fold cats being affected by it. Fold cats therefore have malformed bone structures and can develop severe painful degenerative joint diseases at an early age. Due to these health conditions, breeding Fold cats is prohibited in several countries and some major cat registries do not recognise the cat breed.
History

Buy Scottish Fold Kittens For Sale
Origin

The original Scottish Fold was a white barn cat named Susie, who was found at a farm near Coupar Angus in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1961. Susie’s ears had an unusual fold in their middle, making her resemble an owl. When Susie had kittens, two of them were born with folded ears, and one was acquired by William Ross, a neighbouring farmer and cat-fancier. Ross registered the breed with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in the United Kingdom in 1966 and started to breed Scottish Fold kittens with the help of geneticist Pat Turner. The breeding programme produced 76 kittens in the first three years – 42 with folded ears and 34 with straight ears. The conclusion from this was that the ear mutation is due to a simple dominant gene.

Susie’s only reproducing offspring was a female Fold named Snooks who was also white; a second kitten was neutered shortly after birth. Three months after Snooks’ birth, Susie was killed by a car. All Scottish Fold cats share a common ancestry to Susie.
Acceptance

The breed was not accepted for showing in Europe and the GCCF withdrew registrations in 1971 due to crippling deformity of the limbs and tail in some cats and concerns about genetic difficulties and ear problems such as infection, mites, and deafness, but the Folds were exported to America and the breed continued to be established using crosses with British Shorthairs and American Shorthairs. Since the initial concerns were brought, the Fold breed has not had the mite and infection problems, though wax buildup in the ears may be greater than in other cats. The concerns about deformities may have been caused by osteochondrodysplasia, which causes abnormalities in bone and cartilage throughout the body.

Popularity

The rare distinctive physical traits of the breed, combined with their reputation as unusually loving companions, make Folds highly sought-after pets, with Fold kittens typically costing considerably more than kittens of more common breeds. Scottish folds are also popular among celebrities, one of them being American singer Taylor Swift, who owns two Scottish fold cats named Meredith Grey (the titular character of the medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy), and Olivia Benson (the protagonist of the police drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).

Breeding ban

Little kittens play in the grass

In order to protect animal welfare, several countries and states have prohibited breeding with Scottish folds, including the Netherlands in 2014, Austria in 2020, Flanders (Belgium) in 2021, Victoria (Australia), Norway in 2023, and even the birthplace of the breed, Scotland. Some countries have also banned selling of Scottish fold cats, or the breeding with any cat that bears the gene mutation resulting in osteochondrodysplasia, so even breeding with some of the Scottish straights. Potential parent cats can be tested for this osteochondrodysplasia mutation before breeding.

Furthermore, some of the major cat registries, such as the GCCF and FIFé, do not recognise, nor allow for the registry of, Scottish folds due to their health issues.