Look ear! I’m the cat’s whiskers

THERE’S money in the kitty. A rare breed of feline descended from a Perthshire barn cat has become the hottest new pet in Hollywood.

The Scottish Fold – distinctive because its folded down ears give it an appealing “owl-like” appearance – has become one of the most desired cat breeds in America, with celebrities including Kirsten Dunst, Mia Farrow and country music megastar Taylor Swift – who tweeted pictures of her new Scottish Fold kitten last week – shelling out thousands of dollars to get hold of one.

The exotic breed is descended from a white barn cat that lived on a farm near Coupar Angus in 1961, when its unusual folded-ear appearance, believed to be the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation, caught the eye of local shepherd William Ross. He asked for a kitten from the litter for breeding purposes and every Scottish Fold is believed to be descended from that one animal.

Scottish Folds cannot be bred with each other without causing severe genetic mutation, meaning it is common for a litter to contain only one cat with the true folded ear appearance. As a result they regularly change hands for up to £1,000. Prospective owners are often placed on waiting lists or even entered into lotteries for available kittens.

Glasgow-based Scottish Fold breeder Rafal Majek said there was huge demand. “We can’t produce as many as we would like, as kittens with the folded ears are extremely rare. The waiting list is huge, and for the right cat you can wait a really long time, especially if you’re particular about the colour or the markings.” One of Majek’s clients has been waiting a year for a cat.

In the US, where the breed has been granted championship status by the Cat Fanciers Association, the pets are highly popular and have been featured on TV shows such as Tonight with Jay Leno and the Martha Stewart Show. They regularly feature on “top ten cat breed” lists and have even been bred with the “Munchkin” breed of cat, which has abnormally short legs, to create the “Scottish Fold Munchkin”. It is rare for a Scottish Fold to change hands for less than $1,000 in the US.

“Once you’ve had a Scottish Fold you will never have another cat breed,” said Magic. “Everyone falls in love with them because they’re such lovely friendly cats. They’re very curious, quite like dogs in some ways. They follow you everywhere, you may even find them in the shower with you.”

Swift, who last week won Entertainer of the Year at the prestigious American Country Music Awards, has been Tweeting pictures of her new Scottish Fold kitten – Meredith – to her nine million followers. Her friend, pop star Katy Perry, is said to be so captivated by the pictures she is now considering getting a Scottish Fold kitten of her own.

Other famous Scottish Fold owners include Grey’s Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey, who owns a Scottish Fold and a Persian, and Esther Newberg, a New York literary agent who represents writers including Patricia Cornwell and Carl Hiaasen, who has a Scottish Fold named Tate George.

A Scottish Fold has also become one of the biggest sensations on YouTube with some videos of Maru, a Japanese example of the breed who likes to squeeze into boxes, being viewed over 100 million times.

Such is Maru’s popularity that when the Japanese earthquake struck earlier this year, thousands sent emails of concern to his owners wondering about the Scottish Fold’s welfare. The cat’s anonymous owner updates a daily blog for the cat, and has released a DVD and two books featuring Maru.

In Russia, the cat’s value is so high that creditors seeking to recover expensive debts have been known to seize pet Scottish Folds and hold them hostage until the bills are paid.

The Scottish Fold is believed to be the only breed of indigenous Scottish domestic cat. Originally called lop-eared or just lops after the lop-eared rabbit, Scottish Fold became the breed’s name in 1966 after it was registered by Ross with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in Britain. He started to breed Scottish Fold kittens with the help of geneticist Pat Turner and the programme produced 76 in the first three years – 42 with folded ears and 34 with straight ears.

However, despite their popularity abroad Scottish Folds are still relatively rare in the UK, where the breed was officially derecognised in 1971 because of the potential deformities. Breeding, however, continued in the US where their popularity has soared.