This blog post deals with the genetic disease problem of Scottish Fold cats, which are loved for their cute appearance, and the social gaze that ignores it.
Scottish Fold cats have recently become popular among people. These cute cats are loved by many people because of their unique appearance. Scottish Fold is a breed of cats with impressive bent ears and is characterized by short legs and a chubby tail. Their cute appearance has become more widely known through the internet and social media, especially on YouTube and Instagram. On these platforms, videos and photos of Scottish Fold cats are shared with millions of followers, and their cute appearance and unique behaviors are attracting a lot of attention.
However, recently, the genetic disease of the Scottish Fold breed has become a social issue. Many people are attracted to the appearance of these cats and decide to adopt them, but it is easy to overlook the fact that there are serious genetic problems lurking behind them. Scottish Fold cat Raon from the famous YouTube channel “SuriNoel” and Scottish Fold pedigree cat Lulu from “Cream Heroes” were found to have genetic diseases called hip dysplasia and osteochondrodysplasia, respectively. These diseases can greatly affect the daily lives of cats and cause them a lot of pain. Many people who witnessed this situation began to be aware of the genetic disease problem of Scottish Fold.
Why are genetic diseases in cats becoming a social and ethical issue? These problems are fundamentally caused by the characteristic appearance of the Scottish Fold. In the mid-to-late 20th century, the folded ears of the Scottish Fold became popular among people, and in order to preserve the breed and make a profit, breeders began to breed cats with folded ears together. In the process, many people only considered the cute appearance and did not think enough about the genetic defects that could result from it. As a result, this indiscriminate breeding has caused fatal genetic diseases in cats.
This has led us to need a deeper understanding of the genetic characteristics of the Scottish Fold. The folded ears of the Scottish Fold described above are a trait that occurs due to a defect in the ear cartilage, which prevents the ears from supporting themselves, unlike other cats. This folded ear trait is an allele called Fd, which is an autosomal incomplete dominant trait. In other words, when the folded ear (Fd) gene and the unfolded ear (fd) gene coexist, the intermediate traits of the two are expressed. Therefore, it can be seen that the shape of the ear is determined by which of the two types of genes is present. However, this gene has a fatal drawback in that it can be expressed not only in ear cartilage but also in the joints of the limbs, such as the hip, knee, and shoulder. As a result, purebred Scottish Folds, which have folded ears and are more likely to have the FdFd genotype, are more likely to develop problems with their joints and growth plates than other cats, and from the age of 12, they show symptoms such as limping or stiffness in their limbs and tail, which is called Scottish Fold Osteochondrodysplasia (SFOCD). “ is a lifelong genetic disease that cannot be cured. To give an easily understandable example, it can be compared to suffering from rheumatoid arthritis in your teens and 20s, which cannot be cured, for the rest of your life.
What is more serious is that this problem is not limited to the Scottish Fold breed. In the case of dogs, people have repeatedly bred dogs with desirable characteristics in an attempt to produce them. As a result, recessive genes that rarely appear in normal breeding have been expressed, and purebred dogs of most famous breeds have recessive genetic diseases. The most common example is the bulldog. As a result of repeated breeding to preserve the short, wrinkled snout unique to bulldogs, many studies have reported that they are highly susceptible to various genetic diseases such as hip dysplasia, cysts, and dermatitis. Such cases can also be found in humans. The Habsburg family is a prime example of this, and as a result of in-marriage between relatives to maintain power, by the 19th century, they had a history of hereditary diseases such as a receding chin and mental illness. This may be a bit off-topic, but transgenic mice also suffer from various diseases, including the onset of hereditary diseases caused by genetic manipulation, for scientific research and clinical trials.
The lesson to be learned from all of these cases is clear. The commonality among the cases mentioned above is that they all were born with genetic diseases, or in other words, congenital diseases, due to human greed. In particular, pets such as cats and dogs are suffering because they have been bred for the mere reason that they are cute and pretty or useful to humans. As science, technology, and veterinary medicine knowledge in the life sciences field advances, humanity is increasingly benefiting from them, but we must make sure that our ethical awareness is growing in step. It is never justified for humans to expose animals to genetic diseases to satisfy their own greed. If we understand the situation in which companion animals that could be born healthy have to live with genetic diseases such as osteochondrodysplasia and retinal atrophy for the rest of their lives, there needs to be a social and ethical review of the act of keeping purebreds for the sake of mere human greed.
The additions to the book explain the popularity of the Scottish Fold cat and reinforce the description of the genetic problems that result from it. They also expand the discussion of ethical issues to help readers understand the issues in greater depth.
