The Scottish Fold is a breed 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．
Originally called lop-eared or just lops after the lop-eared rabbit， Scottish Fold became the breed’s name in 1966． Depending on registries， longhaired Scottish Folds are varyingly known as Highland Fold， Scottish Fold Longhair， Longhair Fold and Coupari．
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 kittens that do not develop folded ears are known as Straights． 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．
2024_04_26
