Highland fold cats are a long-haired variant of the Scottish fold. What stands out in this breed is the appearance of their ears, with a characteristic frontal crease of the ear cartilage, causing the ears to incline towards the skull. It is an affectionate, sweet, affectionate, intelligent, and calm breed, but at the same time somewhat suspicious at first and independent. It is ideal for all kinds of places, it coexists well with children and other pets and its care is simple, although the cleaning of the ears and fur must be supervised to avoid the formation of hairballs.
Keep reading this knowledge grip article to know all the all information about highland fold cats.
Source
- Europe
- United Kingdom
Physical characteristics
- thick tail
- small ears
- Strong
Size
- Little bit
- Average
- Great
Average weight
- 3-5
- 5-6
- 6-8
- 8-10
- 10-14
Hope of life
- 8-10
- 10-15
- 15-18
- 18-20
Character
- Affectionate
- Intelligent
- calmed down
Climate
- Cold
- Warm
- seasoned
hair type
- Length
Origin of the highland fold cats
The breed of highland or Scottish fold longhaired cats comes from Scotland, a region of the United Kingdom. Susie was the first known cat with the fold gene for folded ears due to a spontaneous genetic mutation. Two years later, this kitten had a litter in which one of her kittens had the same ear feature. This gene has been called “fold” and has been determined to be the dominant gene responsible for permanent folding or folding of the ears at three weeks of age. Around this time, the Scottish Fold breed was born and a program of different breeding with other breeds began, with the Highland Fold breed emerging when they bred with Persian cats.. In addition, mating two cats homozygous for the fold gene was found to produce serious genetic problems. To date, only crosses with American and British shorthair are allowed.
The popularity of these breeds has become much more important in the United States than in the United Kingdom, where they developed the breed for the cat we know today. Breed associations recognized it in 1987. As of 2010, cats descended from a Scottish or Highland cat are called Scottish or Highland fold if they have folded ears and straight Scottish or Highland fold cats if they are born with normal ears.
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Characteristics of the Highland Bending Cat
These are strong, robust, muscular, and medium-sized cats. Males can weigh between 4 and 6 kg and females between 3 and 5 kg, both measuring between 30 and 35 cm.
Although the main feature of the highland fol is the appearance of its ears, it has other equally notable features. Thus, its physical characteristics include:
- Roundhead, big and wide.
- Strong chin.
- Thick cheeks that make the face very rounded.
- Large, round, sweet-looking eyes that can be blue, gold, or green to match your cape.
- Broad, short and straight nose, with a profile characterized by a delicate curve.
- Ears with a characteristic frontal crease, as close as possible to the skull and with a rounded tip.
- Short, strong limbs with medium bones.
- Strong, thick, and rounded feet.
- Medium-sized, thick tail with slightly rounded tip.
Highland Fold Colors
The cat’s highland fold coat is silky, semi-long, and very dense. In addition, it has an inner and an outer layer. As for colors, all possible are accepted, as well as all patterns. It has a good mane that wraps around the neck.
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Mountain cat character
In general, highland fold cats are loving, calm, and intelligent, although they are also independent and fearful of strangers. Their peace of mind is that they love to rest while enjoying their home, they are not very active or restless, although they do not refuse a dose of game. You are patient and quiet. Likewise, they adapt well to circumstances, different types of homes, children, new tenants, and animals. Of course, at first, they tend to be a little scared and act with a lot of respect.
Despite not being a very dependent cat, he knows how to show his affection to his caregivers very well, being a very sweet and familiar cat.
Mountain cat care
In this breed, cleaning the ear, specifically the auricle and folds, as the fold of the ears tends to accumulate wax, which attracts infections, parasitism, and dirt and will make hearing difficult.
Another important aspect to highlight in the care of the mountain fold is the maintenance of your hair. Due to its long length, it is essential to prevent the formation of hairballs. Brushing should be done several times a week and at the time of fall every day to remove dead hair.
They are very calm cats, so the number of daily calories may be less than what is needed for an average cat, but the diet must be complete and quality to ensure they get all the essential nutrients in the proper proportions to prevent deficiencies. and guarantee the correct internal functionality of the feline.
The same veterinary care will be necessary for other breeds, with vaccination and deworming being essential, as well as blood pressure and kidney measurements from 7 years of age onwards, as well as in the presence of any clinical signs indicative of disease.
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Highland Cat Health
Despite being generally a healthy and strong cat, with a life expectancy of 13 to 15 years, the highland fold is homozygous for the fold gene, that is, it has both alleles of the gene, it may have bone malformations derived from it, specifically a pathology known as osteochondrodysplasia. This occurs when two Highland Fold cats and not a Highland Fold cat are mated with an American or British shorthair. These malformations consist of shortening of the vertebrae of the tail and feet and hands due to the shortening of their bones (metatarsals, metacarpals, and phalanges), and some even fuse and produce ankylosis of the joint or lack of movement that causes more pain and even limping. In these cases, the disease varies in each cat and the treatment will consist of analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, and chondroprotective drugs.
However, if the mating was done correctly, we should only be concerned with the diseases that can commonly affect felines, so their prevention and routine visits to the veterinarian are very important for an early approach.
