Scottish Fold Kittens

Photograph copyright Helmi Flick - please respect copyright, thanks. This picture is to show the appearance of the cat breed only. There is no connection between this cat and this post.

I know that people searching for Scottish Fold kittens want to land on a breeder's website, look at kittens, and start window shopping. That's fine but a look a fine example of this cat breed (above) plus some a little more information (on a rather difficult to talk about subject) may help make the correct decision. In this shortish post I am not criticizing cat breeders. I am just discussing objectively and in a neutral way some important issues surrounding this cat breed.

The Scottish Fold resembles an owl. This is charming. The ears are flat to the head. The head is bred round to enhance the unusual appearance; a "stand out" appearance. Except for those oh so strange ears, the Scottish Fold is a blend of American and British Shorthair cats. Fairly normal conformation. Nothing extreme. Is there a trend back to the less extreme appearance? I think so.

The body shape is called "semi-cobby". In layperson language this means a little chunky or stocky compared to the average cat shape. The round eyes also enhance the owl like rounded appearance. All Scottish Fold kittens are born with straight (normal) ears. They start to flatten between 13-23 days of age. Not all kittens in a litter will develop folded ears as the mutant gene is dominant.

Yet we shouldn't forget that the central feature of this cat, the flat ears, are as a result of a genetic mutation that would, it could be argued, not be present in the wild (i.e. naturally) as it restricts survival in limiting hearing. Hearing and the sense of smell are very important in the cat and animal world. The mutation does not enhance survival, therefore. At a Darwinian level, this type of evolution would have died out, I suspect.

The author, Gloria Stephens, in her book, Legacy of the Cat, writes that there is a difference of opinion amongst some cat breeders as to the inheritance of the genetic problems (disease) associated with this cat breed. It is a little unsettling to read this as it infers that some breeders don't really have a handle on the negative aspects of this genetic mutation.

Although, when we look to adopt Scottish Fold kittens we should know these issues as it tells us that some breeders are going to be more concerned about the health issues associated with this genetic mutation. Sometimes the effects of genetic mutations that create an interesting appearance are not confined to the interesting appearance. There are secondary health issues. And this is the case with the Scottish Fold.

Some breeders say that Fold can be bred to Fold with no health problems. While others say that serious defects show up when the cat is 5 years of age or more, if this breeding method is adopted. These breeders say that the mutant gene affects the cartilage in other parts of the body causing an arthritic like condition in the feet and abnormal cartilage growth in the joints. The tail can become stiff too. In other words some cats might become crippled.

People looking to adopt/buy, call it what you like, Scottish Fold kittens, should know these issues. Maybe they should ask questions. There are moral as a well as practical issues involved. This is not a criticism, but should people be breeding cats that can, under certain circumstances, become prematurely unhealthy?

From Scottish Fold Kittens to some more on this cat's health

Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis

Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FVR) is caused by the Feline Herpes Virus. You can read about the Feline Herpes Virus, a method to control it and the symptoms of FVR on this page:

Feline Herpes Virus

FVR is also known as feline influenza and feline coryza. It is very contagious and can be severe (fatal). This disease is not confined to domestic cats but can infect the big cats as well.

"Rhino" means the nose - "tracheitis" means inflammation of the trachea. The trachea is the tube that runs from the larynx to where it branches into each lung. Accordingly Rhinotracheitis means an inflammation of the nose and trachea caused by a viral (a virus) infection.


Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis to Cat Health Problems

Feline Herpes Virus

I came across the subject of the Feline Herpes Virus again because I noticed that a number of cat breeders use a food supplement called L-lysine. I wondered what it was and what it did. Lysine is an amino acid. In fact, it is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it. It is an important substance for humans because it is a necessary building block for proteins in the body. It may also provide a remedy for herpes simplex infections in humans.

Experienced cat keepers and breeders say it can control the Feline Herpes Virus. Users of one particular brand of Lysine, Duralactin Feline L-lysine, say that it is one of the best ways to control herpes, feline or human. One purchaser of this product, who looks after "special needs cats" suffering from herpes says that "when there is more lysine (and therefore a greater proportion of lysine compared to arginine), viral replication is suppressed and cytopathogenicity is inhibited" (forgive me for quoting you verbatim but it is in the cause of accuracy).

There are many manufacturers of lysine but this particular product (Duralactin Feline L-lysine) is apparently very attractive to cats. They love the taste of it; so no problem administering it. Caution should be exercised, however, as it contains milk protein and ordinary milk can cause diarrhea in cats.

A well known Bengal cat breeder simply buys lysine products made for humans such as capsules and crushes them with a spoon and sprinkles the powder on the cats' food.

OK, so we know that lysine helps control the Feline Herpes Virus. But what is this virus? The herpes virus group (another general term for this virus) produces a disease called Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis (FVR), which is an upper respiratory infection (URI) and a feline viral respiratory disease. Feline Herpes Virus is one of two major causes of feline viral respiratory disease. Incidentally, the other major cause of feline viral respiratory disease is the Calicivirus group.

The severity of the illness varies. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with the infected discharge from the eyes, nose and mouth and by contaminated litter trays, water bowls and a person's hands.


Kitten with Conjunctivitis. Photo by maystone1 published under creative commons license.

Symptoms begin about 2-17 days from exposure (as stated above). The symptoms reach a maximum about 10 days later. The first sign is severe sneezing. This lasts for 1-2 days. This is followed by conjunctivitis (eye infection) and a discharge from the eyes and nose indicating a cold. This is followed by a fever, apathy and a loss of appetite. The discharge becomes purulent (puss like). The cat breathes through the mouth.

At this point the virus could be the Calicivirus or Feline Herpes Virus. The symptoms of the herpes virus then follow this course: the cat develops a "spastic cough". Corneal ulceration may develop on the eye (see feline eye diseases). Secondary bacterial infection, dehydration, starvation and weight loss combined could then be fatal. Bacteria infections can cause conjunctivitis - see picture of cat with conjunctivitis.

In addition to the lysine mentioned above as a means to control the disease, cats should be isolated, rested and confined to a humidified room (using a home vaporizer). Eating and drinking should be encouraged. Eating a drinking again should ensure that the worst dangers are overcome.

Clearly a visit to the vet is needed who will probably administer antibiotics to control secondary infections. Cats that have suffered from the acute illness become carriers. Feline Herpes Virus lives in the lining of the throat. The virus is shed in the mouth when the cat's immune system fails to contain it due to stress. The cat may show signs of a mild URI at this time.

Apparently a vaccination is available. A veterinarian will advise on this.

From Feline Herpes Virus to Cat Health Problems

Source: Various including feedback on Amazon! Also Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by Drs Carlson and Giffin.

Cats left alone

Cats left alone for a short time is OK but we tend to think that leaving cats home alone for long periods is alright because the cat is an independent individual and not a pack animal. Dogs are pack animals and it seems we would rarely if ever consider leaving a dog alone for long periods.

Some of us have busy lives, increasingly more so. That makes keeping a cat less of an option. The best cat keepers are retired or semi-retired people as they are less likely to leave cats home alone and can care more thoroughly for them.

Cats left alone is not that uncommon and can lead, in extreme cases to the death or serious illness of the cat. Simply leaving out a big pile of dried cat food and a bucket of water isn't good enough as anything can happen and frequently does. For example, the water could be knocked over. Or, the water could be knocked over into the dried food making it inedible or it could then go off. Bacteria and mold could form in wet food if left out. A stray cat might come in and eat the food left out. There are endless possibilities if we are not there.

Also, some diseases can kill quickly. For example, Feline Urinary Obstruction can kill in three days (src: Petplace.com). See Cat Health Problems for a large range of cat diseases. In short we need to be there to take charge when problems occur. And if we can't, we need to get someone in, either a professional or a reliable neighbor.

Cats left alone should be for no longer than 24-36 hours max. the experts say and common sense dictates that this must be the case. Christmas is coming up and that, as we all know, is a time when we are more liable to be tempted to leave cats home alone.

It is all about taking responsibility for our cats. Yes, it can be sort of a problem, sometimes, when we want the pleasure of keeping a cat but also retain some freedom. I love cats, but, I myself, have problems, sometimes, with the restriction in freedoms that keeping cats entails. But the bottom line is this. When we decide to keep a cat we should (I'd say must) ask whether we can commit to caring properly for the life of the cat. If the answer to that is in the negative, we should not go down that 15-20 year road.

It seems sometimes that we want it both ways, but a cat needs a fair bit of input if we are to discharge our responsibility towards her/him. If we adopt/keep a cat we should always ask whether we are discharging that responsibility and we need to look at things from the cat's perspective.

Cats left alone to Home Page

Photo: this cat was not necessarily alone. The picture is just to illustrate the article. Photo by AIBakker

Zero odor

Well, I found out about a product called Zero Odor from a Yahoo Group; specifically a cat breeder who uses it successfully.

I am not promoting it, just talking about it. One of the biggest problems for some humans in keeping cats is the smell. Personally, I have never had a problem with smell. Cats smell great. They rub against objects and leave their sent but I can't smell that; other cats can though and that could in some circumstances cause problems. In fact it may be causing a problem for me as another stray cat has turned up. This may have happened because of the smell of my two cats using the cat flap. Then there is urine. This can be a problem but once again it has never been a problem for me. Cats will rarely if ever urinate outside the cat litter unless there is something wrong and that can mean something wrong with our behavior and the home in which we and our cat lives. Or it may relate to the health of the cat (cystitis come to mind as an example).



The video above seems to be a promotional video produced by the manufacturer so it should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Zero Odor seems to be a sought after product. This probably means that it is effective. Apparently there was a person from Tuft's University at the TICA annual in Texas and he said that Tuft's had tested most of the cat urine odor eliminators and they found that Zero Odor was the most effective and it worked immediately. That is a good recommendation.

It doesn't work by masking the odor but by spraying anti-odor molecules that seek and bond with the odor molecules changing them into molecules that do not cause odor. Sounds like eutopia.

But as I said it seems to come highly recommended. You can buy it on Amazon as one example. It can be bought in the UK and USA so seems to be available internationally to at least some degree. Update Feb 2011: At the time of writing it was available in the UK. I can't see it anywhere at this time. Alternatives in the UK will be similarly effective provided they act in the same way - at the molecular level changing the structure of urine molecules chemically rather then simply washing them of the carpet or whatever.

USA - Zero Odor:



UK - Urine Remover/Neutraliser:



I have used Simple Soultion Cat Spray & Urine Stain & Odor Remover with great success. The type I bought is no longer for sale it seems but the product below is made by the same manufacturer:





Zero odor to Home page