Ragdoll Cat Forums

I hope to be able to understand and explain myself, because the subject is not very easy to discuss in a foreign language for me
Looking around the forum I have read about HCM, I have understood that it is a genetic mutation which concerns also ragdolls
I would like to have more information about this disease, because in Italy this disease has been identified mostly in Maine Coon and Persian, and very little ragdoll breeders talk about HCM in their web site.
In Italy the Maine Coon club has created a web site project called “Osservatorio Italiano HCM Felina” (translation = Italian Observatory Feline HCM), where the breeder of Maine Coon together with the veterinarian association AVIEC (who deals ultrasound ) have the goal to obtain more informations about HCM thanks to test, ultrasounds, autopsy on suspected subject. This project is open also to the private owner of cats, with special attention to the owner of Maine Coon.
How is the way of behaving of breeders in USA, Australia, New Zeland….?
Before choosing the breeder, I visit a lot of web site Italian breeders and only one of them issues a document where he declares to have cats without genetic mutations.
My breeder doesn’t issue this kind of declaration…. I was quiet, but after reading on this forum…..Do I have to be worried?

A gene associated with HCM has been identified in Ragdolls. If breeders are using a breeding ragdoll that carries that gene, then there is a possibility that it will pass the gene to the kitten who may then develop HCM. Having the gene does not mean they WILL get HCM, but just that they have a higher probability of developing HCM in their lifetime. Breeders may use a DNA test to test for this gene. If they find it in one of their breeding ragdolls, then they should retire the breeder from their program. If all breeders would test and retire breeders who have the gene, then we could eventually breed out HCM in ragdolls.

Teresa has done a good job of explaining this.

HCM in cats is common and is the most common cause of heart failure in cats. It is genetic and there are expected to be over 200 DNA mutations that cause it (based on HCM in humans and the current research on HCM in cats). Only two mutations have been identified in cats. One in the Maine Coon and another in the Ragdoll.

NO breeding Ragdoll should be bred without testing for these two known mutations. I would not get a Ragdoll kitten whose parents have not been tested for both the Ragdoll mutation and the Maine Coon mutation and you know the test results. (Keep in mind that these tests are new and many of us with kittens have not had the parents tested.) If you already have a kitten from parents who were not tested, then you can test yourself. The person who found the mutation and whose tests are felt to be the most reliable is Dr. Meurs in the US. You just mail in dry cheek swabs, so she will test samples and email results anyplace in the world. The lab web site is at http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/deptsvcgl/felineTests.aspx

These mutations were common in Ragdolls, as in other cats, before they could be identified and bred out. Over 20% of Ragdolls worldwide tested by the lab have had a mutation, close to the number of Maine Coon cats tested at the lab who had the mutation first discovered in the Maine Coon. So testing for them in breeding cats and breeding the mutations out of the Ragdoll breed is very important.

thank you very much for your replies.
Janh I have visited the web site, it is very interesting
I wait to have Alice in my home and then I will test her.
I will inform you about the result

Why not ask the breeder to test her before she gets to you - at your expense if needed? If you want to avoid that risk, then it will be too late after she arrives unless you are prepared to return her, which is a very difficult thing to do.

JanH Wrote:Why not ask the breeder to test her before she gets to you - at your expense if needed? If you want to avoid that risk, then it will be too late after she arrives unless you are prepared to return her, which is a very difficult thing to do.

You are right, it would be impossible for me to be separated from Alice... I have just written to my breeder......
thank you

The breeder has replied that the parents of Alice have been tested by an australian laboratory (http://www.animalsdna.com), she has send me the copy of the negative results

That's great news and very reassuring for you.

Glad your mind can be at ease about it. It is a terrible condition.