American Curls,  Scottish Folds,

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American Curl


Sarcenet Chotis

The American Curl should be a long, slender, finer-boned cat. Their body should be 1 and 1/2 times longer than tall, measuring height from the front foot to the top of the shoulder. They should be relatively petite both in size (females from 5-7 lbs and males from 7-10) and "feel" (due to their rather fine boning).

Some people feel that the Curl should be larger than this, and in fairness the Standards do say that proper conformation is more important than overall size. This is a small point of contention among some breeders and in my opinion a bit of a contradiction in the Standard. Personally, I feel we should all breed towards the weight indications given, and only consider showing a larger sized cat if it were a fine example of the breed.

Curl tails should be in proportion to their body, ideally as long as the body. I.e., if you pull the tail alongside the body towards the head, it should reach the cat's shoulder. In the picture here the cat's tail is too short for the body. The reason is simply because they ran out of room on the piece of paper used to make the drawing.

While not in the Standards, the general breeder opinion tends to coincide in believing that head length should also be 1 and 1/2 times longer than wide. This is measured when looking down at the head: the widest point is usually right in front of the ears, and length is from the tip of the nose to the back of the top of the head.
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Coat and Colors Curls are accepted in all colors, with the only limitation being that pointed cats must have blue eyes. At this point, we're still "building the barn" (trying to set body type), so color is unimportant. For that same reason, lockets and buttons (spots on the throat and belly) are not penalized, although of course if two cats are of equal quality, one would choose the one without lockets or buttons for breeding. Coat texture is a bit more of a dilemma at this point. The Standards call for "minimal undercoat" and a "flat-laying coat". Some breeders and judges interpret this to mean that a minimal undercoat is allowed, but that the goal should be to reach no undercoat. Others feel that a minimal undercoat is called for. At this point, I would venture to say that whatever is being bred for, breeders coincide that the coat should not be "painted on" but rather always have a bit of spring or bounce to it.

                       

                 

                    


                                   The background photo on this page is a picture of  'SouthernCurl Oregan Trail Blazer'

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Scottish Folds


Tay's Cherry Moon Promise me Delight

Origin:
The first Scottish Fold, Susie, was discovered by William and Mary Ross in 1961, nearby Coupar Angus, at the Tayside region of Perthshire.
One day, William Ross, the neighbor of the McRae's, noticed their beautiful white cat. He had never seen such a cat before, as her ears were folded at the side of her head. Susie's owners didn't know her origins, all they knew was that Susie's mother had normal ears, and she gave birth to a litter of three, in which there was one lop-eared kitten.
The MacRae's promised William Ross a kitten from Suzie's next litter. One year later the Ross's received a little white kitten with folded ears. They called her Snooks. With the help of English geneticists the Ross's started their breeding program using British Shorthairs and domestic cats. This is the start of this wonderful breed.
However, it seems that these beautiful cats with their folded ears already existed before the discovering of Susie. In fact, Professor Corvin from the Veterinary School in Lyon (France) mentioned this type of cat in his treatise  of zootechnology  in 1897. This cat would have been present in China where it was fattened up to be consumed or to sell its fur. This fact would be confirmed by Professor Létard afterwards.
Breeding Scottish Folds requires a special knowledge of breeding practice. The only allowed outcrosses for Scottish Folds are British Shorthairs and American Shorthairs (and of course Scottish Folds can also be bred to Scottish Straights, the straight-eared Scottish Folds).
It is absolutely forbidden to mate two folded eared-cats with each other, as this may cause cartilage mutation in the tail (foreshortened and stiff tail) and or deformities in the hind legs and feet. (Osteochondrodysplasia). This is a very painful condition for the cat.
The Fold-gene is a simple dominant gene, and it only requires one parent with folded ears to produce offspring with folded-ears. However, not all kittens will have folded ears. One can even have a litter without any Fold kittens in it. Even if one would use two folded-eared cats, the result would be the same.
Scottish Fold kittens are not born with folded ears. The ears start to fold about the 21st day (or not at all).
Because of the necessity of outcrossing with British and American Shorthairs, to enlarge the genepool and produce healthy kittens, and the use of Scottish Straights and Scottish Folds there are a lot more cats involved in this breeding program than in other breeds.
There are several factors which can lift or even unfold the ears of a Scottish Fold (I noticed this especially with the females), among which are heat, stress, illness, during pregnancy and cycling of the cat. This is totally out of the breeder's control.
Character
The Scottish Fold is a very people-oriented cat and wants to be with its human as much as possible. He has a very sweet, easy-going nature but doesn’t like stress or noise.
The Scottish Fold has a very soft voice and is not a very talkative cat.
Standard :
Indeed, everything about this cat is round. Its eyes, head, body, even its toes, which gives the Scot a very sweet, innocent expression.
The CFA judging standard regarding the Scottish Fold is as follows:

Well-rounded head, firm chin and jaw, muzzle with rounded whisker pads, prominent cheeks; head blending into short neck; nose short with a gentle curve.
Wide open eyes with a sweet expression, large, round and separated by a broad nose; eye color corresponding with coat color.
Ears to fold forward and downward; set in a cap-like fashion; smaller, tighter folded ears preferred.
Well padded, medium size body and boning, legs in proportion to body.
Toes neat, well-rounded; five in front, four behind.
Tail medium to long, flexible, tapering proportionate.
Coat should be medium short, dense and resilient.
Colors allowable: All colors are allowed except those that occur from the pointed gene.

The weight varies from 9-13( 4-6 kg) pounds for a male, and 6-9 (3-4 Kg) pounds for a female.
Acquiring a Scottish Fold
If you are interested in acquiring a Scottish Fold you should be patient. As not all kittens in a litter have folded ears, and there are not many breeders, there usually is a waiting list.
Just as the folded-eared kittens, the straight-eared kittens (we call them Scottish Straights) also make wonderful companions.
Before getting your own special Scotty, you should consult several breeders, ask what their conditions are, if they provide a sales agreement, if possible, visit them and look at their cats, how they are raised etc.
When you have chosen your new companion, give him the love and attention he deserves, and make sure he is spayed/neutered in time.

For an informative article on Scottish folds please go to 
http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/articles/scottish.html

Highland Folds are longhaired Scottish Folds.