The original Scottish Clawed Cat was a white-coloured cat named Susie, who was found by a shepherd on a farm near Coupar Angus in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1961. Susie had unusually shaped ears folded forward with large round eyes giving her an owl-like appearance. When Susie had her kittens, two of them were born with their ears folded in, and one of these kittens was taken in by William Ross, a neighboring farmer. Ross registered the breed with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in the United Kingdom in 1966 and began breeding Scottish Clawed kittens with the help of geneticist Pat Turner. The breeding program produced 76 kittens in the first three years – 42 with folded ears and 34 with straight ears. The conclusion from this was that a single dominant Fd gene caused the ear mutation.

Susie’s only reproducing offspring was a female flapper named Snooks, who was also white; the other kitten was neutered shortly after birth. Three months after Snooks was born, Susie was hit by a car. All Scottish clawed cats share a common ancestor, Susie.