| What is a Scottish Fold? formerly referred to as the "Lop" |
| History: It all started with Susie, the "Mother of the Breed". In Perthshire, Scotland, 1961, Mr. William Ross saw that his neighbor's cat had folded ears. He and his wife, Mary "Mollie", were interested in this cat. They asked Susie's owner (McRae) if they could have any future folded ears from her offspring. They agreed. Two years later, Susie produced two folds. Mr. and Mrs. Ross obtained one and named her Denisla Snooks. The Ross's line Denisla (pronounced den-eye-la) was named aftertwo rivers near the Ross cottage: The Den and the Isla.Snooks mothered Snowball (whose father was a red tabby), and Denisla Hester of Mini and Densila Hector (fathered by Ryelands Regal Gent, a blue British Shorthair). Snowball then fathered 5 kittens including Denisla Snowdrift, who later parented Denisla Joey. |
| What's next?: Dr. Patricia Turner (London) was researching the gene mutation and sent 2 folds to geneticist Dr. Neil Todd in Mass., USA. Hester was placed with Lyn Lamoureux, one of Dr. Todd's students. Hester was then leased out to develop the breed in America. Hence furthering the Denisla lineage. Salle Wolfe Peters (PA, USA) leased Hester for breeding developments. Status Time-Line: 1961 Susie's folded ears are admired by the Ross family 1963 The Ross family acquire their fold (Denisla Snooks) and continue to spread gene 1971 Salle Wolfe Peters acquires the Scottish Folds (later establishing the Wyola lineage) 1972 Salle Wolfe Peters and Briony Silverwright get together to establish the Martina SF lineage 1974 CFA grants the Fold experimention The Ross family & Salle Wolfe Peters formed the International Scottish Fold Association 1975 GCCF bans program from continuing due funding and the negative results of breeding fold to fold 1976 It became possible to register the breed 1977 Staus was upgraded from experimental to provisional 1978 Popularity and interest in the breed grew drastically Ross family involement concluded 1980's Long haired Scottish Folds arrive 1983 CFA acknowleged Jensen Minnie Pearl 1988 Breed is the 9th most popular cat registered with the CFA 1995 Breed more than doubled its 1988 registrations and rose to become the 6th most popular CFA breed Breed Standard: The breed is established by crossing "Susie"'s spontaneous mutation of folded ears to British Shorthairs and domestics from England and Scotland, and later American Shorthairs. Head: Well rounded with firm chin and jaw. Muzzle to have well rounded wisker pads. Head should bend into a short neck. Prominent cheeks with a jowly appearance in males. Nose: to be shortwith gentle curve. A brief stop is permitted but a definate break is considered to be a fault. Profie is moderate in appearance. Ears: Fold forward and downward. Small, the smaller, tightly folded ear preferred over a loose fold and large ear. The ears should be set in a caplike fashion to expose a rounded cranium. Ear tips to be rounded. Body: Medium, rounded, and even from sholder to pelvic girdle. The cat should stand firm on a well padded body. There must be no hint of thickness or lack of mobility in the cat due to short, course legs. Toes to be neat and well rounded with 5 in front and 4 behind. Overall appearance is that of a well founded cat with medium bone; fault cats lacking in type. Females may be slightly smaller. Tail: medium to long but in proportion to the body. Tail should be flexible and tapering. Longer, tapering tail preferred. Coat: (shorthair): dense, plush, med.-short, soft intexture, full of life. Standing out from the body due to density; not flat or close-lying. Texture may vary due to color and/or region or seasonal changes. (longhair): med.-long hair length. Full coat on face and short hair permissible on face and legs. Britches, tail plume, toe tuffs, and ear furnishings should be clearly visible with a ruff being desirable. Seriously penalize: cottony coat, except in kittens. Disqualify: Kinked tail, tail taht is fore-shortened,tail that is lacking in flexibility due to abnormally thick vertibrae. Splayed toes, inncorrect # of toes, evidence of poor health. Much information was found in Guide to Owning a Scottish Fold Cat by: Kelsey Wood |
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| I have been researching and collaberating interesting facts about the Scottish Folds. It is to the best of my knowlege is true, however I can not guarentee that it is entirely accurate due to a lack of formal records. |