Myopathy (Spasticity)
Spasticity is a form of muscular dystrophy resulting in a muscle
weakness.
The trasmission is proven to be recessive, so both parents have
to carry the gene in order to have spastic kittens born.
Not all kittens are affected to the same degree even if syntomps
are quite similar in all spastic kittens.
The affected kittens show the first signs of the disease in
a range between 2 and 25 weeks.
The first syntomps are an unusual quietness of the kitten, associated
with a reluctant contact with food and difficulties in normal
feline actions like eating, playing, licking.
Spastic kittens still happen to be born from time to time.
A list of spastic cats, proven carriers and carriers by descendants
are listed here.
The list is not up to date. If you know of more carriers or
spastic litters not listed below, please let me know with all
the informations you have.
Here are a few links to read more about myopathy.
http://www.devonrex.com/faq/malik.cfm
http://www.devonrex.nu/library/myopathy/satheias.htm
http://www.devonrex.nu/library/myopathy/symptoms.htm
http://www.devonrex.nu/library/index.html
Here is a video of spastic kittens:
http://w1.312.telia.com/~u31237184/myopati/index2.htm
And a very good article about it:
http://www.rexunited.com/English/artikelmyopati.htm
Blood Groups
Cats have bloodgroups !
The more common ones are A and B. Very rare is the bloodgroup
AB.
This is something very important to know for breeders as in
case of mating among a B queen and a A stud there is a high
chance for the kittens born with bloodgroup A to die within
a few days.
It becomes very important then to know when a B x A breeding
is done, and hand feed the kittens for the first 16-24 hours
to prevent them to get sick, and eventually die.
To know more about bloodgroups read the below articles.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/blood-type.html
http://members.aol.com/Atochabsh/bloodtyp.htm
http://geocities.com/catdatandl/ENG_blood
Feline Immunodeficiency
Virus (FIV)
FIV belongs to the same family of viruses of HIV, but it is
NOT trasmissible from cats to people.
The main transimission way is through bites during cat fights,
it can be also trasmissed from the mother to her kittens while
still in utero.
The best way to be sure your cats will not get infected with
FIV is just to keep them indoor and let them live a safe indoor
life.
FIV is toxic to a special type of white blood cell, and this
is why FIV make the immune system to get worst and worst untill
the cat is no more able to fight against common diseases. A
cat infected with FIV can live from a few months to several
years. A test exists to know if a cat is actually infected by
the virus and with proper care affected cats can enjoy a good
quality of life.
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/Public/FHC/fiv.html
http://www.fabcats.org/fivhomepage.html
http://animalhealthchannel.com/fiv/
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/FIV.html
Feline leukemia virus
(FeLV)
FeLV is a retrovirus and it is not trasmissible to humans or
other animal species. Cats considered at risk (like the ones
living outside) can be vaccinated against it, even if the better
way to protect your cat is not to allow him outside.
FeLV is contagiuos and causes both fatal cancerous and non-cancerous
diseases. Transmission of FeLV requires close contacts among
an already infected cat and a not infected one.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/FeLV.html
http://www.fabcats.org/felvhomepage.html
FIP (Feline Infectious
Peritonitis)
FIP is maybe one of the worst disease worldwide. It is fatal,
and there is no treatment.
There are no tests available, and the so-called tests are just
antibodies titers.
All we can do is trying to prevent it.
There are different theories about the reasons for which at
some point a very common and not dangerous coronavirus present
in most of our cats (referred to as FECV) mutates into a disease
causing form, called FIP.
Here are a good number of articles I found very interesting.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/FIP.html
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/FIP-update-pt1.html
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/FIP-update-pt2.html
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/FIP-update-pt3.html
http://www.vetinfo.com/cencyclopedia/cefip.html
http://web.vet.cornell.edu/public/fhc/fip.html
http://www.dr-addie.com/
Feline Reproduction
Every breeder knows the difficulties and the dangers
of feline reproduction.
Starting with mating troubles when a queen has silent heats
or doesn’t like a boy, when a queen is sterile and in
case of uterus infections, sometimes life threatening.
Later with the litter deliver.
At every deliver the breeder is aware of the danger to loose
kittens or even the queen. There is the chance of bleeding,
a kitten too big or positioned in a wrong way may led to an
urgent vet visit… or even surgery. It may be necessary
an emergency C-section.
Kittens may be born podalic or with malfomations, amniotic liquid
may have gone in their lungs and they may need help to breath…
and live.
These are just a few examples of what can happen (and often
happens) in deliveries and breeding.
Here are a good number of links to know enough about how things
work, what you need to let your queen deliver kittens is a safer
way.
Knowledge is always the best way to be at least aware of what
may happen and what can save the life of your kittens and your
queens.
A very useful guide to everything you may need
to know was done by Dr. Susan Little:
http://www.cfainc.org/health/reproduction1.html
http://www.tasc.freeservers.com/forbreeders/Kittens.htm
http://www.netcat.org/birth.html
http://www.drpetra.com/Cats/Breeding%20Cats.htm
http://www.drpetra.com/Cats/Cesarean%20Section%20in%20Cats.htm
Gestation calendar
http://www.dataweb.nl/%7Esham/misc7.html
Mating and conception in cats
http://cats.about.com/cs/pregnancybirth/a/mating_game.htm
Pyometra
http://www.animalhelp.com/hometown/articledetail.cfm?artid=36
Heart problems
There are several diseases related to the feline
heart. Some of them may be not severe and the cat may live a
long and healthy life with just some care and attention.
Other ones are very severe and may not be compatible with life.
Here are some links to heart diseases and the links of the discussion
group.
Italiano
Le patologie del cuore sono molte e diverse tra loro nella gravità
e nel modo in cui influiscono o meno sulla vita del gatto. Alcune
patologie sono lievi e permettono una vita lunga e senza particolari
problemi al nostro compagno. Altre sono molto gravi, possono
essere contenute per mesi o anni con gli appropriati trattamenti,
o possono non avere cura alcuna.
Qui sotto vi sono alcuni links informativi sulle patologie cardiache
più diffuse.
Se voleste saperne di più potete iscrivervi alla lista
di discussione sulle patologia cardiache (in inglese).
Feline Hyperthrophic Cardiomyopathy
http://www.fabcats.org/cardiomyopathy.html
http://www.dsl.org/hcm/
http://members.aol.com/jchinitz/hcm/hcmbr400.pdf
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/cardiomyopathy.html
Heart Murmurs
http://maxshouse.com/heart_murmurs.htm
Discussion groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-heart/
Hip Dysplasia
An increased incidence of Hip Dysplasia was found in Abyssinian
and Devon Rex breeds.
It is a disease of the hip joint in wich parts of the hip joint
have an abnormal shape so that the femur head doesn’t
fit well in the acetabulum. This allows the head of the femur
to easily move out of the joint to some degree. Being HD often
undetected in cats the only way to screen cats for it is with
an X-ray.
HD is considered an inherited disease, but it’s not caused
by a single gene, more probably by a poligenetic factor. In
order to have a kitten born with HD both parents must have it
or at least carry it.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/hip-dysplasia.html
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/hip-dysplasia.html
http://www.fhda.com/
Patella Luxation
http://www.kingstownecatclinic.net/encycEntry.cfm?ENTRY=98&COLLECTION=EncycIllness&MODE=full
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is a disease caused by an enlargement of the
tyroid gland due to an adenoma (non cancerous tumor). As a consequence
there is an increased production of T3 and T4 Tyroid hormones.
The most common signs are weight loss, increased appetite (even
if some patients have decreased appetite), vomiting, increased
thirst and increased urination, hyperactivity, diarrhea.
In the worst cases may appear an heart disease.
The available treatments are different and depends on the general
cat condition and the kidney functionality.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/hyperthyroidism.html
http://www.vetinfo.com/cencyclopedia/cehyperthy.html
URI
URI means Upper Respiratory Infections and most
breeders experienced them while breeding. URIs are very common
respiratory viruses for which our cats are vaccinated at the
age of 8 and 12 weeks as kittens, and then once a year.
Depending on how aggressive is the virus it may happen kittens
to become affected at a tender age, usually when the mother’s
antibodies become weaker.
Herpesvirus and Calicivirus are the most common viruses that
lead to upper respiratory infections. If kittens get sick very
young they may be in life danger. If kittens get sick later,
usually at 6-8 weeks of age URI can be treated, but the cat
will probably become a carrier.
Many breeders use intranasals, a special type of vaccine given
in the nostrils (and sometimes the eyes) of still very young
kittens helping them to develop antibodies. Intranasals are
a very important and effective way not to have to deal with
URIs.
Herpes
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/rhinotracheitis.html
http://www.vetinfo.com/cencyclopedia/cerhino.html
Calici
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/calici.html
Pamleukopia
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/panleukopenia.html
Feline Vaccine Guidelines
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/health/vaccination-guidelines.html
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