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HCM sometimes feels like the elephant in the room when we talk about cats. Some people prefer not to think too much about it when adopting or breeding because HCM can happen in many different breeds and even in domestic cats. Others choose to take a more proactive approach through regular veterinary care and heart screening.
British Shorthairs are among the pedigree breeds in which HCM has been reported, but the ACVIM consensus also notes that comprehensive breed-specific prevalence data are still limited. Since different breeds have been studied to different extents, these findings should be interpreted with some caution rather than meaning that British cats are uniquely prone to HCM.
This makes us think a lot about what we can realistically do as breeders.
During our recent screening appointment, we had a short conversation with the cardiology team about their heart screening program for breeding cats. They told us that this type of program has been running for many years with the goal of reducing heart problems in breeding populations and that they have seen improvement over time.
They also explained that screening very young kittens has limited value because their hearts are still developing and a normal result at a young age cannot guarantee that HCM will never develop later. This is why screening mature breeding cats and repeating those screenings over time is much more meaningful.
Even breeding cats with normal heart screening results cannot guarantee that every kitten will remain free from HCM throughout life. However, identifying breeding cats that develop HCM and removing them from the breeding program can help breeders make better decisions and hopefully reduce the risk over generations.
For pet families, regular veterinary checkups are still important. If a veterinarian finds a heart murmur or another reason to suspect heart disease, further evaluation by a veterinary cardiologist and an echocardiogram may be recommended.
So yes, we still believe there is more we can do for the heart health of both our breeding cats and our kittens. We will continue screening our breeding cats, keeping track of their screening results and family history and making responsible breeding decisions based on what we learn.
At the same time, we provide HCM protection through our kitten health warranty and will continue doing our best to improve the heart health of our breeding program through regular screening, careful breeding decisions and long term follow up of our cats and kittens. |
