#Scottish fold

[cynical-things]

santa’s lil helper 🫶🏻

[followthebluebell]

So please excuse my ignorance but I've never seen one IRL and the last few scottish fold pictures you've posted have me curious. What exactly is going on with their ears? They just look like they don't? Have ears??? Are they like fully formed normal ears that are sticking flat to their head? Are they floppy like floppy eared dogs? Are the ears actually deformed in some way that there is less... ear flap?? Like??? huh???

Yep, their ears are deformed!

so the mutation that causes their ears to flop over is called osteochondrodysplasia, a word that I absolutely did not have to google just to figure out how to spell. It's a very big and fancy word for 'fucked up cartilage syndrome'. In this case, it means very specifically that their cartilage doesn't really... function properly. It flops.

This leads to very small ears (in this case bred to be even smaller by crossing to Persians, a breed known for having very tiny ears) and floppiness in the ear tips.

IF that was all this meant, it'd be fine. A bit more ear-cleaning because, like floppy eared dogs, scottish folds are prone to ear infections, but that's fine.

Unfortunately, it means ALL of their cartilage is a little fucky, including the bits that are really important like in their joints. So all Scottish folds with folded ears have impaired mobility, early onset arthritis, skeletal deformities (especially in the joints and spine), and generally have a short, thick, and inflexible tail.

These cats are in pain. Make no mistake of that. The scottish folds in my care are receiving pain management drugs to mitigate that (solensia, for those who are curious). These cats are quite young--- from 7 months to approximately 1 year old--- and they already have arthritis in their paws.

This is not an ethical breed to buy and adopting one needs to be done with caution, simply due to the degree of medical care they'll require.

Now, there are Scottish folds with STRAIGHT ears (called Scottish straights). These come from the same litters as folded ears, because the gene that produces the fold is autosomal dominant and is deadly if the kitten inherits two dominant genes. So it's safest to breed a fold to a straight and just deal with having a litter with straight and folded ears.

I used to endorse Scottish straights as the 'healthy' folds. And that's... not entirely accurate. Like I said, they are from the same litters. I have not run into any breeder that produces ONLY Scottish straights.

I no longer endorse Scottish straights as a result.

[felinefractious]

I'm looking to get a purebred cat (scottish straight) for the first time and I'm worried about getting the perfect one from a good breeder who will have a long, healthy life. Do you have any tips or advice or questions to ask the breeder to make sure I get a good one? I'm not ready to pay what some breeders are asking for but I also don't want to end up with an improperly or unethically bred cat. I don't think I'll get scammed since I'm pretty good at identifying scottish cats and you can see when there are folds in the litter, but everything else worries me a little. Thanks!

This is not a breed which can be ethically purchased.

Unless you find a breeder who produces only straights, which I have yet to see, you will be financially supporting an individual who willingly produces cat destined to suffer. Your cat may be fine but his siblings would only know a life of pain.

The characteristic folded ears of the Scottish Fold are due to weak cartilage, but cartilage is found throughout the body and not just in the ears. The gene which effects the ears is not localized to that body part, the cartilage throughout the body is impacted.

Folds suffer from debilitating arthritis from a young age.

This condition is called osteochondrodysplasia and is well documented and understood in the breed. This isn’t a theory or speculation, we know it is universally present in cats with the folded ear phenotype and why. It cannot be avoided or bred out.

A Dominant TRPV4 Variant Underlies Osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Fold Cats

Combined Surgical, Radiation and Medical Therapies for Osteochondrodysplasia in a Scottish Fold Cat

Incomplete Dominant Osteochondrodysplasia in Heterozygous Scottish Fold Cats

Osteochondrodysplasia in Felis catus (Domestic Cat)

Radiographical Survey of Osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Fold Cats caused by TRPV4 Gene Variant

Scottish Fold Cats

Scottish Fold Disease - Osteochondrodysplasia

Scottish Fold Osteochondrodysplasia

I strongly recommend you reconsider your choice in breed.

The American Shorthair and British Shorthair have a similar phenotype and temperament and can be ethically bred and purchased.

[whatcoloristhatcat]

too day i will diagnose the cats on this star trek cat puzzle i saw in a store

kirk: red tabby (probably domestic shorthair)

spock: black with high white spotting oriental shorthair

bones: dilute black (blue) with low white spotting (probably domestic longhair)

uhura: seal (sable) burmese

sulu: solid black japanese bobtail

chekov: dilute black (blue) russian blue

scotty: black tabby with low white spotting scottish fold

[silverequation]

[kpotsywarsy]

When I was a baby baby…

[thyla-scene360]

Yet another Screenshot redraw, featuring my favorite old married couple.

In case ya’ll didn’t already know, I ship these two pretty hard lmao. Like bruh look at their outfits, you can’t tell me they didn’t have something going on😭.

[potahties]

Showing you this beauty again because you deserve it. blep + mlem 🐱🩷✨

[trizanandgozan]

Sleepover in the attic (This pic was taken in the afternoon he refused to leave)

[pati-ka]

[sp-art-gallery]

Who are these nerds?

[followthebluebell]

You don't make friends with salad, but you can make friends with churu.

[felinefractious]

🐱 Highland Fold [Osteochondrodysplasia]

📸 Regal Person Cattery

🎨 Cinnamon Golden Ticked Tabby

[nyansu666]

[4gifs]

Clumsy scottish fold kitten

[kpotsywarsy]

Zonked out kitty ♥️