If you love Scottish fold cats, I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear. Please, please read on anyway. If you are considering adopting a Scottish fold, PLEASE continue reading. This information needs to be more widely known.
In 2008, the Journal of Small Animal practice released a short report on disorders associated with breeds of cats. In this report, the authors mentioned the Scottish fold:
People who own them may be “charmed” by their round faces and open expression (and they may not realise that the reason the cats do not move around too much is because they are variably crippled with arthritis).1
The gene that causes the cute fold in the Scottish fold’s ear also leads to the development of a degenerative disorder called osteochondrodysplasia. ALL Scottish folds have this disorder, whether they show symptoms or not- the fold in their ears is caused by a cartilage deformity that also affects their joints.
Osteochondrodysplasia leads to crippling osteoarthritis, which affects Scottish folds at much younger ages than other breeds of cats. In cats heterozygous for the gene, the disease’s progression can be seen in cats as young as six months. In homozygous cats, it can be seen as early as seven weeks old.
Affected cats may be grossly deformed, with short wide limbs and a short, inflexible tail. They show lameness, swollen wrist (carpal) and ankle (tarsal) joints, have an abnormal gait, and are reluctant to move and jump. Severely affected individuals become crippled and unable to walk.
…Many affected cats are euthanased earlier in life due to the profound effects of this disease.2
The breed is often described as “placid” and “calm.” This is due to the fact that they are constantly in pain due to this disorder. Even in mild, ‘asymptomatic’ cases which can occur in heterozygous cats, they may still be experiencing pain due to cats’ tendency to hide their suffering.
Many breeders of Scottish folds claim that not all heterozygous cats have the disorder, because the studies that examined the cats (which were all, heterozygous or not, shown to have it) had small sample sizes.
In 2003, Lorraine Shelton, a specialist in genetic diseases, offered to pay for 300 x-rays of healthy adult Scottish folds to prove that the disorder was not present in some heterozygous cats.
…She has asked a list of 300 Scottish Fold breeders from around the world to go to their vet to get X-rays done. She had offered to pay for these X-rays but not a single breeder had taken up that offer. You could not know whether this problem existed unless an X-ray was taken. If somebody would send her an X-ray of a healthy hind leg of a folded eared cat, she would be grateful as she wanted to see the very first one.3
To date, no one has taken her up on the offer. The breeders’ unwillingness to have their cats examined speaks volumes. The authors of all studies on these cats agree: it ethically wrong to continue breeding these cats.
It disturbs me that any breeder would knowingly continue to create animals that will be in pain throughout their lives. As a cat lover myself, I am begging you, please do not buy Scottish folds. Do not support these unethical breeding practices, or the concept that it is acceptable to intentionally breed unhealthy animals for the sake of how they look.
Citations
1 Breed-related disorders of cats (discusses issues with other breeds as well)
2 Genetic welfare problems of companion animals: osteochondrodysplasia (a thorough description of the disease and its prevalence)
3 FIFe meeting notes (leading to a decision not to recognize Scottish folds as an offical breed due to the disorder)
There was also a follow-up email about Shelton’s offer which can be read here.
Studies on osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Folds
Osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Fold cats
Incomplete dominant osteochondrodysplasia in heterozygous Scottish Fold cats (this is the source of the above x-ray pictures)
Before you buy ANY animal, please do your research. If a breed suffers from high incidences of genetic disorders, don’t use your money to support the creation of more animal suffering.
This is important enough to be posted to my main blog. I know I reblogged this months and months ago, but not enough people know about this.
There is absolutely no way to “cure” the Scottish folds of this. The gene that causes the ear to look so cute and floppy is because of the cartilage not forming properly, which is what causes the health problems — even in cats that are bred Fold x Non Fold.
What’s fucking worse is that they’re cross breeding Scottish folds with other cats. As soon as I saw them crossed with Sphynxes (anyone who follows me is probably aware of the three Sphynxes we have and how much I love them), my heart sank. This is called a “Skinderlop”
Breeding is supposed to be about breeding healthy cats/animals free of defects, and about examining mutations to see what the health risks are, if there are any. It is not supposed to be about creating more cats who are doomed to horrible health problems from birth. That is so cruel it’s unbelievable - and people still defend this breed’s continued existence…
If you know anyone who is looking into getting a kitten from a breeder, PLEASE let them know about the health problems associated with Scottish folds and cross breeds so that they don’t continue to support this sort of thing. It is needlessly cruel.
SIGNAL BOOST ONE THING PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THE DRAMATIC DEFORMITIES IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS THAT WE DEEM ‘CUTE’ OFTEN COME AT A COST TO THE ANIMALS this goes for scottish folds, munchkin cats, pugs, dachsunds, teacup pets and so forth.
In Germany it’s actually forbidden to breed Scottish Folds, not because of Arthritis but because the ear fold alone is damage to their hearing, their ability to express themselves and can cause pain to them.
The issue is this:
People see the Scottish Fold as essentially the same thing as, say, a Spaniel.
Floppy ears in certain dog breeds are a symptom of what we call “domestication syndrome.” When you breed many animals for tameness, then genetic traits associated with neural crest cell migration show up. Domestication syndrome is actually a “condition” in that some parts of the neural crest are deficient - the animals have smaller adrenal glands and thus are less fearful of humans. This is connected to floppy ears, patchwork coats and the facial structure not fully maturing.
Dogs are all born with flop ears, so floppy ears in floppy eared breeds are a juvenile trait carried into adulthood. The trait doesn’t appear to be associated with an increased risk of arthritis - out of the ten breeds that are more prone to arthritis, most have half folded or upright ears, and dachshunds are probably more the victim of their form of dwarfism than any cartilage problems.
So, canines can have floppy ears and not develop problems. Which means people think the same is true of felines.
Here’s the thing that shows the difference:
All dogs are born with floppy ears. They don’t actually stand up for a while, and even then they can be up, down, one up, one down. The flop eared breeds are breeds in which the juvenile trait of flopped ears carries into adulthood. Basically, their ears never grow up.
All cats are born with straight ears. They don’t prick straight away any more than dog ears do, but they kind of stick out to the side. In the Fold, the ears don’t start to fold until three months. This clearly shows you’re dealing with a defect, not neoteny (the technical term for keeping a juvenile trait into adulthood).
Flop ears as a result of domestication syndrome are also found in rabbits, goats, sheep and cattle.
There’s only one other major domesticated animal that has no flop-eared breed - the horse. Although lop ears in horses are associated with a kind temperament, they’re not bred for because ear communication in horses is so important that flop/lop eared horses tend to be beaten up by the rest of the herd, and it’s also hard for their handlers to read their mood, which when you’re dealing with an animal perfectly capable of killing you by accident… They don’t seem to be associated with arthritis, though. Just…they’re a pain to deal with so people don’t perpetuate the trait.
The tl;dr - people think Scottish Folds are okay because they’re just a lop eared breed, but they aren’t - and it’s apparently not possible to breed that trait into cats.
more people need to know this. it’s totally horrible T_T
