The Scottish Fold’s Ears Have Risen: Causes

Cat breeds

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Scottish Folds and Highland Folds are popular all over the globe thanks to their special ear shape — small and folded, they frame the head so that it looks round. Unfortunately, when buying a Fold kitten, you can’t be sure that its ears will remain like this forever. It’s not uncommon that an adult Fold’s ears have risen. Why? Do Scottish Fold ears unfold? Let’s see.

The Scottish Fold’s ears move

First, you should remember that a Fold cat’s ears aren’t static — they move just like the Straight’s ears. That is, a cat can raise them when listening to sounds or feeling worried. For the same reason, they get up when the cat is anxious — it is trying to listen. The ears also move when the cat is playing and is excited. As luck would have it, some cat parents mention that the cat raises its ears when its photos are taken. This is because the cat hears a camera sound or is worried when approached with a camera.

That is, if your Fold’s ears rise when the cat’s moving, and then they fall again, it doesn’t mean anything at all. The ears are a moving body part, and they don’t press tightly to the head every moment of the cat’s life.

But it may happen that a Fold kitten’s ears have risen and never fall again. That’s what we’ll talk about later.

It’s the genes to blame

The Folds’ ear shape is due to special genes, which are scientifically marked as Fd. Subject to the correct breeding, each kitten has one Fold gene Fd and one Straight gene fd. It’s forbidden to cross two Folds, since their kittens can get two Fold genes Fd, which may result in sickness and even fatal cases. Thus, the correct set of a Fold kitten’s genes is Fd fd.

However, it’s not only this gene that is responsible for the ears’ tightness and posture quality. There are also so-called modifier genes that help the ear to get a perfect shape and posture: the Fold’s ears must be smaller than the Straight’s. It’s good when they are folded a little forward; in the ideal case, they have wide posture and press tightly to the head.

The well-seating ears mean that a few favorable factors have coincided. The key factor is excellent genes inherited from a correctly crossed pair of parents. For the quality of the kitten’s ears to be easily predictable, all relatives should have perfect ears — not only the kitten’s parents. But in reality, it may take novice breeders some time to understand how to choose the right pair. The result is the Scots with imperfect ears and other imperfect breed qualities. Don’t forget that the ears are the most obvious, but still not the only breed trait of Scottish cats.

Unproperly crossed pair brings kittens with imperfect ears. The deviations may be as follows:

  • the ears are small, folded forward, but don’t press tightly to the head;
  • the ears are small, don’t press tightly and don’t lean forward;
  • the ears are well-shaped and well-seated, but have high posture, which makes the head look a little squarish;
  • the ears are well-seated but too large;
  • the ears are large and don’t press tightly to the head.

The final result depends on the main Fold gene, on how well the father’s and mother’s genes matched, including the modifier genes, which the kitten gets not only from the Fold parent, but from the second Straight parent as well.

Quite often, it’s possible to predict how well the ears will seat while the kitten is still small, but generally not before 2-3 months. It happens that at 2 months the ears press tightly but rise after 3 months. Thus, if you want to buy a guaranteed cat for breeding and for shows, it’s recommended taking a grown-up or an adult one.

The Folds with noticeably raised ears aren’t suitable for exhibitions and you should exclude them from breeding, because the chances are high that the genes, they will pass on to the offspring, will later raise kittens’ ears. However, many unscrupulous breeders neglect this rule and fail to get show-class or at least breeding-class kittens. Thus, they get a few generations of the Folds with low breed qualities. And later buyers complain that their Scottish kitten’s ears have risen. It should be noted that they may rise to such an extent that the Fold will be taken for the Straight cat, crossed with another Fold to get sick offspring.

However, it is not only genes that is to blame for a kitten’s or adult cat’s risen ears.

Heat

The harmless causes of rising of the Fold’s ears include heat. Many cat parents note that their Folds’ ears slightly rise in hot weather. Most likely, it’s because the cat is trying to cool down when it’s hot, and the inner, less hairy surface of the ear acts as a kind of heat sink. Do you remember reaching out your foot from under the blanket when it’s hot — it really helps to cool down.

котик фолд
When it was hot, ears of one of the Mifiland cattery’s kittens rose and returned to normal after a while

Pregnancy and lactation

Another reason why a cat’s ears may rise slightly or even noticeably is pregnancy, giving birth, and breastfeeding. Many cats’ ears rise during this period. After the feeding is over, some cats’ ears return to normal, while others remain raised. But the fact that cats’ ears rise during pregnancy or after giving birth is not a strict rule but depends on genes as well. There are cats who have given birth many times, but their ears have never risen. But unfortunately, this is rare.

Can ears rise because of excess of calcium?

However, despite a common opinion, milk or cottage cheese in the kitten’s diet isn’t the cause of the Fold’s ears rising. Excess calcium contained in milk and cottage cheese, can’t be the cause of rising ears.

The Fold’s ears are folded not because of the weak cartilage tissue or insufficient calcium intake, but because of the folds that deform the auricle. Roughly said, it would be wrong to say the Fold’s ears “fall” because of the weak cartilage that can’t hold the ear in the upright position. Calcium doesn’t affect this process at all. But even if calcium influenced the process of ear rise, milk and cottage cheese don’t contain enough of it even to cover the daily dosage, not to speak of excess.

кот пьет молоко

Nevertheless, many illiterate and unscrupulous breeders convince buyers that it’s because of improper feeding that their cats’ ears have risen. In this situation, an honest breeder would admit that the most probable cause of the problem is genes (unfortunately, the breeder can’t be 100% responsible for manifestations of the genes). But some kitten sellers are afraid that dissatisfied buyers will make claims against them and invent different explanations so as not to be guilty in the customers’ eyes.

Conclusion

  • the seating quality of the Fold’s ears is primarily determined by genes;
  • the ears may temporarily rise during hot weather and pregnancy/feeding, but sometimes they remain like that forever;
  • from time to time, the ears can rise when the cat is listening closely;
  • nutrition doesn’t affect the quality of the Fold’s ears (however, once again we remind that the cat needs well-balanced food without harmful nutrients anyway);
  • if the Fold’s ears have risen, it’s impossible to make them to fold perfectly again.
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Breeder Maria Kovalevskaya

Felinologist, owner of the Mifiland cattery. The nursery specializes in breeding high-quality representatives of the Scottish breed (Scottish Fold and Scottish Straight) of marble colors.

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