English: The Scottish Fold cat was first seen as natural mutation in Scotland in the 1960’s. British cat show judges and numerous veterinary surgeons decided that the cat's ears were a deformity and would stop the cat hearing properly and make it impossible for the cat to clean the ear. Deformities of the spine, hind legs and tail also appeared when folded-ear cats were bred to one another. Therefore the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in the UK decided against allowing the registration of the Scottish Fold cat and consequently the breed is not shown or bred in this country. However, the breed’s originators continued to breed the Scottish Fold and exported it to Europe and America, and it proved possible to elimate the spine, leg and tail deformities by careful breeding, incorporatine 'normal' eared cats into the gene pool. The Scottish Fold is now recognised in America and can be seen at shows there.