Scottish fold cat: care and feeding at home

How great the joy is from the appearance of a kitten in the house, and what is the horror when the beloved creature finds itself in a life-threatening situation, for example, from a window carelessly left open...

Every spring, veterinary hospitals are filled with dying cats that cannot be helped. It is painful to see the owners of cats who have died or become disabled; they will be tormented by feelings of guilt for a long time. However, not only in spring can pets jump out of the window after seeing a bird, dragonfly or leaf swaying in the wind, or slide off the eaves.

It is very important to monitor not only your pet’s behavior, but also its nutrition. High-quality knives from the BestBlades store will help you prepare food correctly in your favorite kitchen; you can visit the knife store here.

Most owners are convinced that their cats understand heights. This is true. However, cats are hunters by nature, and in the spirit of pursuit they cease to be aware of it. Rushing after their prey, they can end up outside the window and crash. So before bringing a kitten home, you need to install bars on all windows and in the glazed loggia.

A plastic mosquito net is not suitable for this purpose; a Scottish Fold will easily tear it. Preferred steel mesh wires are those used in rabbit cages. They can be bought at any building materials market and in stores for country houses called “Garden and Vegetable Garden”.

They can be light colors and look almost invisible, which does not spoil the house visually or interfere with ventilation. The grate must be firmly fixed, as kitties love to climb on them.

For those who have plastic windows, you can install regular steel insect screens. And may your beloved cats have a long and healthy life, bring comfort and charm to their owners’ homes, awaken in their owners and children tenderness and the best intentions towards the living world in complete safety!

Breed Features

Scottish cats come in short-haired, long-haired (Highland), straight-eared (Straight) and fold-eared (Fold). This breed has its own characteristics. For example, a genetic disease that affects every fifth representative of the breed is osteochondrodysplasia of Scottish fold cats. It appears only in folds if both parents of the animal are fold-eared. Therefore, when choosing a fold-eared kitten, you should pay attention that one parent is straight-eared, and the other is fold-eared.

Fold-eared and straight-eared varieties of the breed

Unscrupulous breeders strive to cross two fold-eared cats so that all the kittens in the litter have floppy ears, that is, folds. However, a kitten born from such a union is disabled, suffers from constant pain and is unlikely to live more than three years.

The disease manifests itself as a pathology of the musculoskeletal system. With age, growths appear on the joints and bones of the limbs, which cause pain to the animal. Even an inexperienced cat owner can identify the disease at a young age by its unnaturally short legs and tail.

Also, when choosing a fold-eared variety of Scottish cat, you need to pay attention to the bend of the ears of the fold-eared parent. If he is not very strong, a kitten's lop ears may straighten out over time.

A good curl of the ears of a Scottish cat

Color point

The Color Point is a rare breed of Scottish cat with a color similar to that of a Siamese cat. In childhood they look a little like Thai kittens. The main background is white or cream. The muzzle, ears, paws and tail are painted in darker shades. Color point or links point have blue eyes.

They acquired their colors from their British ancestors, who had Persians with this shade in their family. By the way, it is very difficult to distinguish a British cat from a Scottish one, and even professionals cannot always do this.

Animal hygiene

The most important aspect of caring for a Scottish cat is eye, ear and coat hygiene. Due to the characteristics of the breed, it is worth learning in advance how to care for a fold-eared kitten and an adult animal.

Eyes

Scottish fold cat (Scottish fold)

Scots have a short, flat muzzle, so leaky eyes are a common problem for them. Normally, tears, moistening the eye, should flow into the nasolacrimal duct. In Scots, due to their short muzzle, the nasolacrimal duct is deformed or completely closed, so the eye can constantly water. Tear fluid overflows over the edge of the eyelid, and smudges appear on the face.

Important! You cannot use tea leaves to wash your eyes, as the tea leaves contain microorganisms that can contribute to the development of pathogenic flora in the eyes.

If your pet has this problem, the best solution is to use a special eye wash lotion, boiled water or aqueous chlorhexidine.

Nail trimming

Some Scottish cats have claws that grow uncontrollably. Normally, when using a scratching post, the cat removes the top layer of its claws, grinding them down. But many Scots neglect the scratching post. And if an ordinary cat needs to trim its claws only when necessary, then you need to take better care of the Scots’ paws. Otherwise, the claw bends and digs into the paw pad with its sharp part, causing pain to the animal.

To properly trim a Scotsman's claws, you need to press the cat's finger from above - then the claw will “come out” of the paw, and cut off its tip to the pink border. If you accidentally touch the pink part of the claw, you can damage the vessel.

Important! To stop bleeding, hydrogen peroxide or potassium permanganate in powder form is used.

How to trim claws correctly

When to bathe and how

You can wash your cat only if there is an urgent need for it. For example, if the animal is very dirty in something or is unable to wash itself.

To wash your cat you need to use special shampoos for animals. Before washing, the shampoo must be diluted in water, whipped into foam and washed with this foam. Usually cats are against such procedures, so it is better to wash the animal with an assistant.

Ear cleaning

Wax that forms in the ears is normally expelled when the cat moves its jaw. That is, ears require cleaning only if they are very dirty. But a variation of the Scottish breed - fold-eared cats - sometimes accumulates excess sulfur and needs to be cleaned out.

Note! You cannot put ear sticks into your ear. Unknowingly, you can damage the ear canal.

It is best to use special lotions to clean your ears. It is necessary to drop a few drops into the ear, massage the auricle at the base and give the cat a good shake of the head. Next, simply clean the outer part of the ear with a damp cotton pad and repeat the procedure with the second ear.

Grooming

A cat that lives in an apartment and is warm all year round can shed constantly. There is no pathology in this, it’s just that the cat’s body does not grasp the system of changing seasons.

Due to permanent shedding, a cat's fur requires constant brushing. If this is not done, tangles may form that cannot be removed with a comb. For combing at home, it is best to use a furminator. It makes it much easier to remove excess hair.

Furminator for combing

For express shedding, you can contact a groomer. The cat groomer will properly comb the cat and tell you how to care for its fur. Groomers also offer a service such as grooming Scottish cats. Before deciding to clip, you should weigh the pros and cons, because this procedure brings a lot of stress to animals.

Important! Dry air can also lead to constant heavy shedding. In this case, a humidifier will help out.

Bicolors

The coat color of these beautiful creatures has two colors, and a combination of white and any other shade is mandatory. Purebred bicolors must have a white belly, neck, chest, chin, limbs and, of course, muzzle.

One of the richest cat breeds in terms of colors is the Scottish one. There are so many variations of colors that it is unrealistic to cover each one separately - you can only group the colors according to the main characteristics:

• monochrome;
• ticked;
• tortoiseshells;
• point (point);
• smoky;
• calico;
• chinchilla;
• tabby;
• shaded;
• two-color (bicolor);
• van;
• harlequins.

Interestingly, this classification is suitable for Scottish folds and highland folds, Scottish straights and highland straights.

Organization of a sleeping place

Scottish fold cat: character, breed description

Scots, like all cats, love secluded places, boxes and cozy baskets. For the comfort of your pet, you can purchase a special cat house in a pet store, which has a shelter, a scratching post and ladders along which you can climb from level to level.

Also, the cat will not mind sleeping next to its owner. If the owners are not satisfied with this, it is necessary to wean the Scot from resting on the bed from a very young age.

Solid

This coat coloring is also called plain, solid. The main feature is that the coat is uniformly colored in one color, without even the slightest inclusions of a different tone. The color is equally saturated along the entire length of the hair.

Solid suits of the “Scots”:

• blue (gray-silver);
• ebony (all black);
• red (red);
• white;
• cream;
• chocolate (rich brown color);
• cinnamon (cinnamon tones);
• lilac (beige with a lilac, pinkish tint);
• “fauns” (beige, piebald).

Nutritional Features

The Scots are not picky eaters, and choosing food is usually not difficult. A proper diet helps the cat’s body maintain a normal level of immunity, prevents urolithiasis and eating disorders.

British Fold is a Scottish breed of cat.

But what to feed a Scottish kitten for 2 months? Fortunately, the feeding standards for adult animals and babies are not very different and the question is.

Food bowls

Scottish cats are very clean. If the food or water bowl is dirty, the cat may simply refuse to eat from it. So special attention should be paid to the cleanliness of cat dishes.

Natural nutrition

With the purchase of a Scottish cat, the owner is faced with the question of what to feed the animal. The choice has to be made between a natural diet and ready-made food. When deciding to feed an animal natural food, it is necessary to create a diet. The best solution would be to visit a veterinary nutritionist. This specialist will explain what to feed your Scottish Fold cat at home.

From food the cat should receive:

• proteins;
• fats;
• carbohydrates;
• minerals (especially calcium);
• essential amino acids (especially taurine);
• fiber;
• vitamins (especially vitamins A and D);
• macro- and microelements.

Important! Only a specialist can choose the right diet! Feeding your cat "from the table" can lead to digestive problems.

Industrial feed

Feeding industrial food saves the owner from preparing food specifically for the cat, and it is also much more economically profitable. All the elements necessary for health are already in the food, in the best combination. The owners can only calculate. A hint about the serving size per day is always on the back of the pack. Quantities are measured using a special cup or kitchen scale.

Measuring cups for food

Food is divided into classes: economy, premium and super-premium, and also comes in the form of dry food, spiders, canned food and mousses. More or less good food starts from the premium class. Economy class food contains too few nutrients, and in order to be satisfied, the cat must eat a lot. Sooner or later this will lead to obesity.

For your information! It is impossible to say unequivocally that some food is good and some is bad. There is food that is suitable for a particular cat, and there is one that will only upset the animal.

Combination

It is not advisable to mix natural feeding and industrial feed. Such nutrition will never be balanced and can harm the cat. In addition, Scottish cats are prone to various pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, it is important to feed them a diet with consistent levels of vitamins and minerals.

Diet by month

The easiest way is to choose industrial - dry and wet food for kittens. The product packaging indicates the age at which it is recommended to consume ready-made food. You need to create a natural diet yourself, taking into account the needs of a kitten at a certain age and the functioning of the digestive system.

1 month

The introduction of the first complementary foods begins. In addition to cat milk or a special formula for feeding a kitten, you can gradually introduce some products into the diet:

• boiled chicken, cut into small pieces;
• cereals cooked in milk diluted with water in equal proportions;
• boiled vegetables and fruits chopped through a grater: cabbage, carrots, apples;
• fermented milk products - the emphasis is on calcined curds.

The food is warmed to room temperature. There should be no food left in the bowl; it is removed after each feeding.

2 months

The active growth of the Scotsman and the appearance of teeth require an expansion of the diet:

• boiled meat - chicken or beef, without salt;
• low-fat fermented milk products;
• boiled cereals;
• raw vegetables;
• chicken egg yolk - boiled or raw, with its addition to meat or cereals.

The meat is cut into pieces, but not very small.

3 months

The kitten’s teeth are already formed, and therefore the meat is cut into fairly large cubes. Sample menu:

• boiled beef or chicken without skin;
• raw vegetables, grated through a medium grater;
• cereals;
• egg yolk;
• low-fat cottage cheese, fermented baked milk;
• fish of lean varieties, but only boneless fillet, pre-frozen or boiled (no more than once a week);
• offal.

Recommended offal: chicken hearts and necks, navels, boiled or frozen. They should be brought to room temperature before serving.

4 months

The diet is gradually and little by little expanding:

• raw, pre-frozen beef, boiled chicken;
• cereals cooked in water;
• 1-2 yolks per week – boiled or raw;
• raw vegetables, fruits;
• dairy products;
• sea ​​fish of lean varieties.

Sea fish should be introduced into the diet gradually, starting with a small piece

This product can cause allergies, so it is important to carefully monitor your pet’s reaction. It is strictly forbidden to give raw fish; it must be boiled

5 months

At this age, the kitten develops especially actively, so the menu is appropriate:

• raw and boiled meat;
• fermented milk products;
• vegetables and grains;
• lean, low-fat beef broths;
• greens, special sprouted herbs for cats.

If the pet is on a natural diet, starting from 5 months, it can be given special vitamin complexes.

• how to wean a cat off dry food;
• how many times a day should you feed your cat?
• what not to feed cats.

What not to feed representatives of the breed

Cats are not people, and you should never offer them human food. Despite all their intelligence, the upbringing allows the Scots to steal food from the table. Therefore, you need to make sure that the cat cannot steal anything unnecessary.

What not to feed Scottish Fold kittens and adult cats:

• sweet, salty and spicy foods will cause serious digestive disorders;
• chocolate – contains theobromine, which is deadly to animals and has no antidote;
• coffee – also contains theobromine;
• milk - can cause indigestion, since with age the cat loses enzymes that are involved in the digestion of milk proteins;
• fatty and fried – a large amount of fat can damage an animal’s liver once and for all;
• mushrooms are too heavy food for a cat’s body;
• flour - has no nutritional value for cats, but very quickly causes obesity.

Products dangerous for cats

Important! Feeding food “from the table” can end badly for the animal. The lack of amino acids and vitamins that are not found in human food always has a serious impact on health.

Smoky

Other names for the color are smokey and smoky. This is the so-called typing color: the base of the hair is light, almost white, and the tip is dark.

Among the Scots, smokey is classified as silver. The color does not allow patterns on the coat - brindle, spotted, tortoiseshell. It is easy to distinguish a smoky color from a solid color - you need to part the fur. In a smoky, it is ⅔ colored - the base of the hairs is always light.

The main variations of “smoke”:

Photos of smoky Scottish folds:

Features of feeding a castrated or sterilized cat

After surgery, the cat's needs change, which means the diet also needs to change.

When feeding a natural diet, it is necessary to reduce the number of calories and reduce the portion of foods containing phosphorus and magnesium. Neutered animals are prone to weight gain and kidney disease. Obesity is not good for anyone, especially domestic carnivores.

Males themselves are prone to developing urolithiasis (UKD) due to the structure of the urethra. The first thing veterinarians advise when urolithiasis appears is to castrate the cat, since uncastrated animals have very concentrated urine. In such an environment, sand and rock formation is more likely. Urolithiasis is a chronic disease and requires constant monitoring.

For prevention, veterinarians advise feeding your pets with specialized dry food for sterilized/neutered animals. With this diet, the cat drinks more, and the kidneys and bladder are better washed. Also, with the help of food it is easier to control the weight of the animal - just reduce the portion.

note

Steady and constant growth is a key component in the proper development of a kitten. In the first days of life, still helpless kittens should, on average, gain about half an ounce of weight (15 grams) each day.

If they grow with such results, then we can assume that they are completely healthy. However, don't panic if your kitten stops gaining weight for a day or two. Quite often, kittens experience short-term weight stabilization, after which accelerated weight gain resumes.

https://www.purinaone.ru/cat/catmag/adoption-rescue/the-weight-of-the-kittens

https://petstime.ru/article/ves-kotenka-po-mesyacam-ot-rozhdeniya-do-goda

Toilet and tray training

Usually there are no problems with taming to the tray. In nature, cats bury their feces in the ground, so it is convenient for cats to do their business in a litter tray. Wood or cardboard is preferable as a filler - it does not generate dust and absorbs odors well.

Important! To accustom a kitten to the litter box, when the animal first appears at home, you can take it and show it where to go to the toilet. You can carefully dig your kitten's paw into the litter.

If a cat suddenly begins to go to the toilet in the wrong place, you should not scold them. Perhaps the reason is severe stress or poor health. For example, a Scottish cat will never stoop to peeing in a dirty litter box. If the reasons for this behavior are not obvious, an animal psychologist or veterinarian will help to deal with the problem.

Bringing a furry baby home

Just after bringing a young Scottish Fold into the house, you should not immediately allow him to run around the entire home; it is enough to provide him with a kitchen, a hall and a toilet. Ideally, in the first days, it is better to reduce the new home’s habitat to one room where there are no drafts, and there are no holes where a small kitten could escape and from where it would be difficult to remove it.

It is preferable to place the fluffy in the kitchen while he gets used to his new home. There you need to organize a bed, a toilet container and bowls for drinking and food. The food container should not be placed near the litter tray or resting place. You need to let the young Scottish Fold explore and sniff around everything himself.

You should be careful when introducing your new baby to other pets. It is enough to imagine yourself in his place, and you will be able to appreciate the difficulty of the little kitten’s situation. If the cat shows a desire, you can frolic with him using a bow on a string or a ball.

If he doesn’t want to communicate and hides, it’s better not to disturb him and let him get comfortable on his own. Eventually he will get hungry, want to play and get out to people. As a rule, the initial adaptation period takes 2-3 days, and after a week the pet is already quite used to it.

You should not allow your kitten to play with ropes, bags, pins, buttons, laces, balls and skeins of thread. Tinsel rain is extremely dangerous for cats. You need to hide paint materials and cleaning products away.

It is better not to spoil young Scottish Folds; they should understand the word “not allowed.” It is permissible to punish (lightly spank) only immediately after what has been done, since the child will not be able to compare a teaching that is more distant in time with his actions.

You shouldn’t waste your time training your cat; it’s wrong to think that the cattery has already taught him all the skills. The little Scotsman finds himself in a new home, and he needs to be made to understand what the rules are. Only owners can raise a kitten to be a suitable companion for themselves.

You need to get a scratching post that can be soaked in valerian; fold-eared cats will love it. The baby’s claws on the front legs can be cut (no more than 3 mm at the ends, so as not to damage the blood vessels). If your pet is allowed outside, this should not be done; it needs its claws for protection.

The eyes can be wiped from time to time with a cotton pad soaked in a light solution of boric acid (0.5 teaspoon per glass of boiled water). To prevent external parasites, “Frontline” and “Advantage” can be applied to fur. For internal parasites, Drontal or Febtal is given no more than once every six months. These products can be purchased at a pet store.

Your cat needs to be vaccinated once a year to avoid diseases in the future.

When the Scottish Fold is in good health, it willingly frolics, eats, washes itself (the fur is shiny), but also sleeps for a long time, especially a lot in bad weather. Normal stool for a baby: from once every couple of days to twice a day, if more, then the animal is given too much food.

In case of constipation, you can give concentrated milk to relax or force 0.5 teaspoons of olive oil into your mouth.

Diarrhea is stopped with a tenth of the Sulgina pill a couple of times a day, during which food is not given. If the baby is tired, refuses even to drink, has sudden diarrhea or vomiting, sneezes from time to time, and purulent discharge appears from the eyes and nose, then you need to go to a specialist. Human medications should not be given to cats without the consent of a veterinarian.

The toilet container can be filled with absorbent material (in which case a tray with high sides and without a grid is used) or empty.

In the first days, there is no need to carefully scrub the tray, because the kitten follows the smell. If a small Scottish Fold has gone the wrong way, then you need to moisten a piece of paper in urine and place it in a toilet container, then put the pet there and dig with its limbs.

The same place where he went must be thoroughly washed with a detergent, such as Domestos, or treated with vinegar. In the first week, you can place scraps of napkins in a lattice container to preserve the smell. You should not let the animal wander around the rooms until it has mastered the toilet.

Vaccination

The comprehensive cat vaccine includes three main infectious diseases - panleukopenia (feline distemper), calcivirosis and rhinotracheitis (herpes virus), as well as a fatal disease - rabies. Vaccines that include chlamydia and viral leukemia are also available upon request.

Types of vaccines

For the first time in life, viral diseases are vaccinated twice, with an interval of 21 days. Infections can be vaccinated starting at 8 weeks of age. After a double vaccination, vaccination is carried out once a year, along with rabies. The first time the rabies vaccine is given is at three months, and then once a year.

Important! Even those animals that live in an apartment and do not go outside need to be vaccinated. The infection can easily be brought on by shoes. All viral diseases of cats have a very high mortality rate.

If the cat has never been wormed in its life, then it is better to do it 10 days before vaccination. If, after giving an anthelmintic, vomiting, diarrhea or worms in the feces appear, the treatment against parasites should be repeated and the vaccination should be delayed. In general, an anthelmintic drug should be given once every 3-4 months.

Weight gain chart

Scottish kitten weight table by month

Thus, the weight table for Scottish kittens shows the approximate rate of weight gain. A kitten at 2 months is approaching 1 kg, while a Scottish kitten at 3 months weighs about one and a half. During this period, their appetite is very good, babies eat everything offered and wash it down with mother's milk.

The weight of a 2 month old kitten increases every day. At 4 months your kitten’s weight is already the same as that of an adult; at 5 months it reaches an average of 3-4 kilograms. After which the grown-up cat does not gain weight so quickly.

A Scottish kitten at 4 months is ahead of its peers of other breeds, for example, Siamese. At 7 months, cats grow to five-kilogram animals. At 9 months and cats weigh more than 4 kg. An average measurement at 1 year shows that the weight of an adult male cat is 5-6.5 kg, and a female cat is 4.5 kg.

By the age of two, the animal becomes more imposing and adds another kilo to its weight. But if a two-year-old weighs 3 kg, this is not a reason to be upset, if the pet looks healthy, perhaps this is its genetic feature.

How to raise a newborn kitten

The Scots are good parents. Attentive, caring and patient. How long do pregnant Scottish cats walk? Pregnancy lasts 60-65 days, like all representatives of domestic cats.

But it happens that a mother cat refuses her kittens. Raising a newborn kitten without a cat is not an easy task. It is quite difficult to organize proper care for a Scottish kitten, because the baby requires a lot of time, effort and money.

Newborn Scottish kittens

Nutrition

Until 1.5 months, all kittens eat mother's milk. The best replacement would be special milk powder from Royal Canin and Beafar. From 1.5 months of age, you can slowly switch kittens to soft pates from Royal Canin.

Defecation and urination

The mother helps newborn kittens go to the toilet by licking the underbelly. In conditions without a cat, the mother's tongue can be replaced with a soft, wet cloth. In order for the baby to go to the toilet, you need to gently rub his genitals and anus until discharge appears. If this is not done, the kitten may die.

If an accident befell the mother of the kittens or the babies were found on the street, it is better to place them with another cat that has recently lambed. As a rule, cats calmly raise and educate other people's babies. In this regard, the Scots are excellent parents to both their own and adopted children.

The life expectancy of Scottish cats at home is 15-20 years. Spayed and neutered animals live longer and happier lives. What kind of life a cat has to live depends only on its owners. Surrounded by care and attention, she will give her people many pleasant years.

Bicolors

The bicolor tartan will be painted in two colors. The first one is necessarily white. The second one can be cream, tabby, black, red, blue. Breed standards require that the double coloring be symmetrical.

Photo of “Scots” bicolor:

Chinchilla

Another variation of the tipped color: only a certain part of the hair is colored, and the base is white. If smoky cats have ⅔ colored hairs, then chinchillas have only ⅛ colored hairs. Because of such an unusual coloring, it seems that the white Scottish Fold has an unusual color coating. The chinchilla color comes in variations:

• golden;
• silver;
• blue golden.

The last type is the rarest, which is why its owners are the most expensive.

"Scots" chinchilla colors:

Shaded

Shedded (shaded color) is the third variation of typing colors. These cats have ⅔ white hair and ⅓ colored hair. Tipped fur does not cover the entire body, but only the back, sides, back of the head, neck, and tail. White coat - on the belly, chin, and lower part of the tail.

Shedded is represented by coloring pages:

Photo of “Scots” of shaded color: