Scottish Fold Breed History

The Scottish Fold breed of cat is generally considered to be a fairly recent phenomenon. It was in the early 1960's when a shepherd (named William Ross) was out walking one wet and gloomy day in Scotland, and saw the first ever Scottish Fold cat near a farm in Tayside, which is geographically northwest of Dundee.

So keen was Mr Ross on the unusual breed, that he approached the owners, and asked if he could have a kitten from the next litter. From the original white cat (who lived in a barn on the farm) came the whole line of Scottish Folds as we know them today. The grandmother of all Scottish Fold cats was this cat who lived in a Barn on the farm, called Susie.

Cat breeders know that all Scottish Fold kittens are born with straight ears. At the age of around one month old, their ears fold forward, if they are going to fold down at all. At around three months old, a breeder can determine whether the kittens are destined to become loyal and friendly pets, or add to the Scottish Fold lineage by being breeders, or strut their stuff on the catwalks of the show ring and hopefully win many accolades and prizes for their proud breeders.

Interestingly, it seems that Susie may not have been the very first known example of this breed, although this is not well documented. The very first written material on this breed of our feline friends is to be found in a magazine titled “Universal Magazine of Knowledge” dated 1796.

In this publication fold-eared cats are described as being wild cats from China. After a sailor apparently brought back home a drop-eared cat from China, there is no more written evidence to be found about this extremely rare breed of feline.

In 1938 a second cat was found with exactly the same 'drop ears'. For many years, it was believed that this apparently very rare mutation was confined to being an extreme rarity found only in longhaired cats with a white coat. But now we know better.

This breed was originally referred to as 'lops', similar to the breed of rabbit which has forward folding ears, and which is called 'lop-eared rabbits'. It was around 1966 when the breed was re-named 'Scottish Folds'. Now this extremely cute and lovable feline is a firm favourite amongst cat lovers everywhere.