The Differences Between Scottish Fold and British Shorthair Cats

Many of us think of British Shorthair or Scottish Fold cats as chubby gray cats with golden eyes, or tabby kitties with folded ears. But it’s not quite clear which one is which.

5-Minute Crafts decided to figure out how these 2 cat breeds are different from each other.

British Shorthair

This is one of the oldest known cat breeds and the most popular cat in the UK. The coat of this cat is one of the most recognizable and one of the characteristic features of the breed. The coat of British Shorthair cats is very soft and thick, and they don’t have an undercoat. Therefore, the texture is plush. Even though the blue color remains the most common, the British Shorthair can be of a wide variety of colors: golden, black, white and gray, tabby, white, and silver.

British Shorthair cats have a rounded and relatively large head, broad cheeks, and large eyes, the color of which may vary depending on the color of the coat. For example, blue cats usually have coppery orange eyes. British Shorthair cats mature more slowly than many other cat breeds: they reach full physical development at 3 years of age.

Scottish Fold

The Scottish Fold is a breed of cats with a gene mutation that affects the cartilage throughout their body, causing the cat’s ears to “fold” bending forward and down toward their head. The very first Scottish Fold cat was an ordinary barn cat named Susie who had folded ears. She was found at a Scottish farm in 1961. 2 of her kittens were also born with folded ears, and one of them was purchased by William Ross who started breeding these cats. Thus, all Scottish Fold cats in the world have one common ancestor — Susie the cat.

Scottish Fold cats can be either long-haired or short-haired. Their coat can have almost any color but, as a rule, Scottish Fold cats are ash in color. Their body is rounded, their neck is very short, and their eyes are broadly-spaced which gives the cat’s face a very cute expression.

There are also Scottish Fold cats whose ears are not folded, and they are called Scottish Straights.

Main differences

• Ears: Scottish Fold cats have folded ears, as a rule.
• Size: British Shorthair cats are larger.
• Body: Scottish Fold cats are more slender and graceful.
• Paws: British Shorthair cats have short and powerful paws while Scottish Folds’ paws are slender and proportional.
• Tail: British Shorthair cats have a short tail that is rounded at the tip. The tail of Scottish Folds is longer and pointed at the tip. Among other things, you can easily distinguish a Scottish Fold from a British Shorthair by the tail.