The first Scottish Fold was a white barn cat named Susie. Like many cats that capture breeders’ interest, Susie had a unique genetic trait: Folded ears caused by softened cartilage that prevented the ears from standing up like an average cat’s ears.
Susie was happily catching mice on a farm in the Tayside region of Scotland when she captured the attention of a shepherd named William Ross. In 1961, he and his wife Mary acquired one of Susie’s female kittens when she had a litter by a local tomcat with normal, stand up ears. They named the kitten Snooks and when she reached adulthood, she was mated with a British Shorthair and had a litter of her own.
Some of the resulting kittens had folded ears, leading them to call the new hybrid “lop-eared cats.” Ross registered the Scottish Fold cat breed with UK’s Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in 1966.
In 1971, Dr. Neil Todd brought the first Scottish Fold cats to the United States. One of these cats found a home with a Pennsylvania breeder named Sally Wolfe Peters. She is credited with developing the breed as it exists in the United States today. Scottish Fold breeders still outcross Scottish Folds with British Shorthairs or American Shorthairs, which contributes diversity to the gene pool.
By the middle of the 1970s, the Scottish Fold cat had gained official recognition by multiple breed registries. In 1978, the breed was granted championship status by the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA). Today, these adorable, personable cats are popular all over the world. The breed is also recognized by The International Cat Association (TICA).
The GCCF withdrew its recognition of the Scottish Fold in 1971 out of concern over potential skeletal defects that can lead to excruciating pain for affected individuals.