About Susie
Susie’s parents are unknown. It has been speculated that Susie was the offspring of a farm cat in Scotland and a cat with ancestry from the Orient. Drop-eared cats apparently existed in the 1700s, according to a 1796 issue of the Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, which mentioned wild folded-ear cats in China.
Whether the Scottish Fold is related to these cats or the result of a new spontaneous mutation is unknown. However, here is what we do know about Susie and the development of the Scottish Fold breed.
Susie had one litter before her demise (she was struck by a vehicle in the lane in front of her house). There were two kittens, a male and a female, each with folded ears. They went to two different homes. The male was spayed by his new owners, the female lived a long, productive life with a couple who bred Siamese and who were interested in retaining the folded ear trait. This female was named Snooks.
[More details to follow here]
The Scottish Fold can have three degrees of “fold”:
- Single — The tip of the ear is folded downward
- Double — Half of the ear is folded downward
- Triple — The entire ear is lying close to the forehead
The triple fold is one of the “show quality” traits accepted by the Cat Registries.
Anyway, back to Susie’s story. [More to follow.]