Why vets want to BAN the Scottish cats so adored by celebrities
Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran love them but fur is flying over ‘cruel’ manipulation of a breed that began in a Perthshire barn
l AST month, Taylor Swift posted a video on Instagram so popular it garnered 4.4million likes. Quite a feat given the pop star wasn’t even in it.
Instead, the stars of the show were two felines who between them have sparked a global phenomenon.
Meet Olivia Benson and Meredith Gray, Swift’s Scottish fold cats, a distinctive breed that can be traced back to a single farm cat from Coupar Angus.
In recent years the Scottish fold – so named because its ears are folded over – has become the celebrity moggy du jour, with famous owners such as Ed Sheeran, Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Dempsey and, of course, Swift.
Swift’s pampered pair travel on her private jets with their own customised luggage, are regularly snapped in the arms of their owner by the paparazzi, and have single-whiskeredly promoted successful marketing campaigns for her music.
Indeed, when Swift reached 50million followers on Instagram she posted a comment remarking: ‘Thanks so much guys. I’m pretty sure this is just because I have cute cats though?’
Cute the Scottish fold certainly is, but if campaigners get their way, it might not be around much longer.
Critics say that the very thing that makes the Scottish fold appealing – distinctive ears and an owl-like appearance – is due to deformed and painful cartilage. The cats are known for being particularly floppy, allowing them to sit upright in endearingly human positions, which experts say can lead to deformities and arthritis, as well as joint pain and stiff tails.
Last year in a damning report, veterinarian and academic Dr Richard Malik called for a worldwide ban on the breeding of Scottish folds, which are particularly popular in the US and Australia.
‘The truth is, breeding Scottish fold cats is ethically indefensible,’ he wrote.
‘Yet the practice has continued in most jurisdictions, with cat breeders and veterinarians turning a blind eye to the frequently obvious problems.
‘While there are still questions to be answered, we already possess sufficient information to know that breeding these cats is cruel. Vets and cat breeders who condone this practice have no scientific basis with which to defend this practice. They are not breeding cats – they are perpetuating a disease state.’
Harsh words. The SSPCA, which has called for a change in legislation on breeding Scottish folds, said this week it had major misgivings.
‘We have concerns with the Scottish fold cat as it is common for the breed to suffer from serious health problems,’ says Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn.
‘The cartilage and bones do not develop properly, which leads to arthritis and other painful joint diseases that can cause reluctance to move, abnormal posture and gait, lameness and short misshapen limbs.’
The Scottish Government is also paying attention, concerned that the sale and licensing of Scottish folds, along with other rare dog and cat breeds, is out of control, and said in a statement this week that it is planning to introduce new licensing controls on the breeding of cats, dogs and rabbits.
‘The Scottish Government would encourage all breeders not to breed animals with genetic problems likely to give rise to ill health,’ a spokesperson said.
Although there is only one certified Scottish fold breeder in the country (who declined the Mail’s request for an interview), search for Scottish fold kittens on the internet and you will find plenty of uncertified cats available across the UK, most going for enormously inflated prices compared with other pedigree cats. Indeed they are so desirable, it is not uncommon to pay up to £1,300 for a Scottish fold kitten.
‘People see some airhead walking around with a cat in a designer handbag and they want one as well,’ says Rosemary Fisher, director of the gloriously named General Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), the regulatory body for pedigree cats in the UK.
‘That’s not always best for a breed, if it becomes a fashion accessory. Particularly when there are health issues.’
The GCCF stopped recognising the Scottish fold breed back in 1971, due to the same worries that plague it today, although it is still endorsed by the International Cat Association, an organisation some claim is less fussy, based in the US.
‘It’s a pretty miserable existence that they have,’ says Fisher. ‘But people continue to breed them because they have these little folded over ears and very big eyes. They do look awfully cute.’
THE story of the Scottish fold starts on a windswept farm near Coupar Angus in 1961, where a white cat with folded ears named Susie was born in a barn. The farmer, a Mr MacRae, was apparently uninterested in the genetic mutation, but a local shepherd named William Ross and his wife Mary were intrigued, and asked if they could have Susie’s only surviving kitten, whose ears were also folded over. That kitten, also white and named Snooks, became the foundation of the new breed. Every Scottish fold today – including the ones who travel by private jet with pop stars – can trace their lineage back to these two modest Perthshire barn cats. The Rosses began a small breeding programme at their cottage in Coupar Angus, carefully selecting kittens with folded ears from each litter and registering the breed as ‘lops’ – as in lopeared – with the GCCF. By 1969, they had produced an impressive 76 kittens,
changed the name of the breed to the Scottish fold, and attracted the attention of Dr Neil Todd, an American research geneticist in Massachusetts studying spontaneous gene mutation.
Three of Snooks’s descendants were duly sent to America for study, and when the research programme was abandoned, the cats were rehomed. One went to a local cat breeder, who saw the potential of such a cute cat in the marketplace, and quickly set up her own breeding programme. Before long, the Scottish fold had become one of the most desired cats in the US.
Scottish folds are now shown competitively across America, and a long-haired version, sometimes known as the Highland fold, has even emerged, although its links to the Highlands are tenuous at best. In 2016, the Scottish fold was ranked the seventh most popular cat breed in the US and thanks to Swift’s continued love, it’s unlikely to lose popularity soon.
Back in the UK, however, the Scottish fold’s popularity quickly declined. After the GCCF withdrew its recognition of the breed due to concerns over health issues in 1971, and the Rosses finished their breeding programme, it vanished almost completely.
It is only recently, due in part to the endorsement by celebrities such as Swift and Sheeran, that it has come back into fashion. Now fans are so desperate, and the breeding process so arduous (not every cat in a litter will have folded ears), some will wait up to a year for the perfect kitten.
And still their fame continues to grow. They are particularly popular in Japan, in part thanks to a Scottish fold named Maru, a viral internet sensation who bears the curious distinction of holding a Guinness World Record for most YouTube video views for an individual animal.
Maru’s distinct appeal – there are hundreds of videos of him on YouTube doing everything from playing in a box to cleaning his ears (yes, really) which have garnered millions of views and fan clubs across the world – has led to a surge in demand for Scottish folds in Japan, and the breed has even inspired a number of popular Japanese anime and computer game characters.
Somewhat tragically, the Scottish fold has become a victim of its own cuteness. According to a theory first set out by zoologist Konrad Lorenz, who received the Nobel Prize for his study of animal behaviour, people are particularly drawn to animals with round faces and big eyes because they resemble a human face comforting us. With its flat ears, owlish visage and enormous peepers, the breed ticks every box. Indeed, if scientists in a lab had worked round the clock to create the world’s cutest animal, they’d probably have come up with the Scottish fold. And so, despite the risks, they are still bred in huge numbers today.
DeFeNDeRS of the breed say they are happy, affectionate and playful cats, and that their problems have been grossly inflated. The breeder who provided ed Sheeran with his Scottish fold, a woman identifying herself only as Dee, claimed to have had few issues with her cats. ‘If I had discovered there had been a significant problem I would certainly have stopped breeding them,’ she said. ‘But when you balance that against the number of health issues that occur in other breeds, you could argue that for most pedigree breeds.’ While the Scottish Government considers new legislation over licensing, which could tighten regulations around selling and breeding cats that have not been properly registered, Westminster has also been sniffing around the issue. Last year, Defra issued a statement declaring that ‘Anyone knowingly breeding animals with genetic defects could be considered to be committing an offence under the Animal Welfare Act.’ While no breeders have yet to be prosecuted, it does seem like a warning shot. In a House of Lords debate last September, Professor Lord Trees, a retired veterinary surgeon, said: ‘Many people, well-meaning people, keep certain breeds which, because of their conformation, are so deformed that they will suffer ill health and stress throughout their lives. ‘The popularity of breeds such as the French bulldog and the Scottish fold cat is increasing, partly endorsed by advertising, celebrity endorsement and social media.’ And that, perhaps, is the nub of the issue. experts and vets can bang on about the health problems until they’re blue in the face. But as long as celebrities continue to post cute pictures to their millions of followers, they are unlikely to be heard. Meanwhile, Swift’s pampered moggies live on in ignorant bliss of the fact that the very breed they have helped popularise may soon be heading for a swift end.