Pedigree cats with folded ears are still bred when they are not allowed to. The NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) has recently seen a trend in which breeders opt for the appearance of a cat with small ears, when this may be harmful to animals.
“In recent years, we have seen trends of pets with increasingly extreme (external) characteristics, where animals suffer because of their appearance,” the authority wrote on its website. Examples include dogs with a very short snout, short-legged cats, or so-called cats with folded ears. These are the cats you are famous for Scottish Fold (Scottish Crested cat) carries a gene that causes cartilage abnormalities throughout the body. As they get older, they can develop serious health problems such as lameness and pain.
Breeding these types of breeds entails a fine of 1,500 euros, even if they are crossed with another breed. NVWA says it will enforce this more stringently. Animal Welfare also monitors this. The rules apply to professional breeders, but also to people who breed cats with folded ears once or several times.
Nasal insufficiency and epilepsy
The NVWA previously warned against breeding with dogs with extremely short snouts and dogs with epilepsy. For example, the Drench partridge dog breeder has been warned to deliberately breed animals that can transmit epilepsy. Breeders of Bambino (Sphinx) cats have also been warned for violating the ban on working with such animals.
Since 2014, mating with animals that harm the welfare or health of the mother animal or the offspring is not allowed. NVWA contains a file private page On her website with the rules for breeding dogs and cats.
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