The Scottish Fold is a breeds of cat with a natural dominant-gene mutation that makes its ear cartilage contain a fold, causing the ears to bend forward and down towards the front of their head, which gives the cat what is often described as an "owl-like" appearance.
Ears
All Folds are born with straight, unfolded ears, and those with the Fold gene will begin to show the fold usually within about 21 days. The original cats only had one fold in their ears, but due to selective breeding breeders have increased the fold to a double or triple crease that causes the ear to lie totally flat against the head.
“The breed's distinctive folded ears are produced by an incompletely dominant gene that affects the cartilage of the ears, causing the ears to fold forward and downward, giving a cap-like appearance to the head. Smaller, tightly folded ears set in a cap-like fashion are preferred to a loose fold and larger ear. The large, round eyes and rounded head, cheeks, and whisker pads add to the overall rounded appearance. Despite the folded ears, folds still use their aural appendages to express themselves—the ears swivel to listen, lay back in anger and prick up when the treat bag rustles.”
Body
The Scottish Fold is a medium-size cat, with males typically reaching 9 to 13 lbs. (6-9 for females). The Fold's entire body structure, especially the head and face, is generally rounded, and the eyes large and round. The nose will be short with a gentle curve and the cat's body well-rounded with a padded look and medium-to-short legs. The head is domed at the top, and the neck very short. The broadly-spaced eyes give the Scottish Fold a "sweet expression".
Coat
Scottish Folds can be either long- or short-haired, and they may have nearly any coat color or combination of colors (including white) except pointed colors.
Social
Scottish Folds, whether with folded ears or with normal ears, are typically good-natured and placid and adjust to other animals within a household extremely well. They tend to become very attached to their human caregivers and are by nature quite affectionate. Folds receive high marks for playfulness, affection, and grooming, and are often intelligent, loyal, softspoken, and adaptable to home situations and people.
Habits
Folds are also known for sleeping on their backs. This is called the "Buddha Position". Scottish Folds typically have soft voices and display a complex repertoire of meows and purrs not found in better-known cat breeds. Folds are also known for sitting with their legs stretched out and their paws on their belly.
Health
The typical lifespan of a Scottish Fold is 15 years.
Scottish folds are susceptible to polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and cardiomyopathy.
Osteochondrodysplasia is believed to be caused by or linked to the dominant (folded-ear) gene. If both parents have folded ears, their kittens will be extremely likely (1:4 ratio, virtually guaranteeing at least one per litter) to be affected by malformed bone structures and develop severe painful degenerative joint diseases. This condition can also affect Scottish Folds with one copy of the gene, but usually to a much lesser extent. While ethical breeders breed Fold/non-fold and not Fold/Fold (in the same way Munchkins are bred) to reduce the problem, even those with one copy of the gene develop progressive arthritis of varying severity, leading one vet to recommend abandoning the breeding of folded cats entirely. For this reason the breed is not accepted by either the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy or the Fédération Internationale Féline;
