amazing! had really reminded me how much i would love a scottish fold!

So, were the socttish fold cats bred to have these downturned ears? or was it a defect from breeding? Sorry, I'm quite clueless about anything that isn't a moggy but I am interested

In 1961, Scottish shepherd William Ross noticed a cat with unusual folded ears at a neighbor’s farm near Coupar Angus in the Tayside Region of Scotland. This first fold, Suzie, was a white barn cat of unknown parentage. Realizing the uniqueness of the cat’s ears, Ross and his wife, Mary, acquired one of Suzie’s kittens a year later, a white female named Snooks.

The Rosses started a breeding program with Snooks and worked to establish the new breed. At first, they called the breed “lop-eared,” like the rabbit. British shorthairs were used to strengthen and enlarge the gene pool. The Rosses began showing and registering their unique cats with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). Other breeders got involved and by the end of the decade the breed was renamed the Scottish fold.

In the early 1970s, however, the GCCF stopped registering folds because of concerns about ear disorders such as infections, mites and deafness – concerns that turned out to be unfounded. Still, the breed never achieved the fame it has attained in North America. Folds were first introduced to the United States in 1970 when three of Snooks’ kittens were sent to Dr. Neil Todd in Massachusetts, who was researching spontaneous mutations. Other folds were later imported, and British and American shorthairs were used in the breeding program. All genuine Scottish folds can be traced back to Suzie.

In 1978, the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) granted the Scottish fold championship status. In a relatively short time, the fold earned acceptance in all the cat associations and a place in the U.S. cat fancy’s top 10 most popular breeds. Today, the fold is the eighth most popular, according to CFA’s registration totals.

The longhaired version of the fold was not officially recognized until the mid-1980s, although longhair kittens had been appearing in Scottish fold litters since the beginning.

Hope it helps!

Special Notes

Since the Scottish fold’s folded ear gene is dominant, all Scottish fold cats must have at least one folded ear parent to have folded ears themselves. When a fold is bred to a straight-eared cat, approximately 50 percent of the kittens will have folded ears, although the actual number of folds in any given litter can vary. The rest will have straight ears. These straight-eared folds are very useful in fold breeding programs and are also sold as pets.

Breeding two folds together increases the number of fold kittens in the resulting litters, but also greatly increases the chances of serious skeletal deformities. Homozygous folds (folds that inherit the folded ear gene from both parents) are much more likely to develop a genetic condition that causes crippling distortion and enlargement of the bones.

Avoiding fold to fold breeding reduces the problem; however, controversy surrounds the breed because of this defect. When buying a fold, be sure to check for signs of the disorder. Short, coarse legs, splayed toes, thickness and lack of mobility in the legs or tail are sure signs of trouble. Determine tail flexibility by moving your hand down the tail in a very gentle slightly upward-arching movement.

thank you that was very helpful and interesting to read

He's beautiful

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thanks guys for your compliments .