Screening of breeding cats – test av avlskatter

Screening: Which tests – Hvilke tester?

Nye oppdrettere spør ofte:

Hva bør jeg teste for? Hvorfor skal jeg teste for akkurat dette?

Svarene vil ofte sprike, for oppdrettere mener mye, har forskjellige erfaringer, og forteller deg forskjellig når du spør, så det er ikke alltid lett å vite hva man bør gjøre selv.

For å ha faglige retningslinjer er det derfor utviklet helseprogrammer, gjennom den uavhengige stiftelsen PawPeds. Det fins også en god del forskning som gjelder katter og avl generelt, som man kan bruke som basis for en fornuftig avgjørelse.

Her kommer en oversikt over anbefalt testing, basert på tall, forskning, og faktisk helserisiko.

Screening betyr helseundersøkelse av mange/alle individer i en rase, for å vite status og risiko for et helseproblem.

New breeders often ask:

What should we test for? Why should I test for this?

Answers will typically vary a lot, since breeders have differing opinions, experiences, and will tell you different things when you ask, so it is not easy to know what you should do.

In order to have qualified guidelines, the independent society PawPeds has developed health programmes. There is also some good research on cats and breeding in general, which makes a basis for a good decision.

Here is an overview of recommended testing, based on numbers, research, and actual health risk.

Screening means: Systematic testing of all individuals (in a breed) to check prevalence and minimize health risks.

What should we screen for?  –  Hva bør man teste?

For Maine Coon er det i hovedsak to alvorlige lidelser som fins i rasen, og generell DNA-screening man bør teste.

For Maine Coon it is mainly two serious conditions in the breed and general DNA screening one should test.

  1. HCM
  2. HD
  3. DNA-screening
  4. Total Risk
  5. Total Cost – Kostnad

HCM

HCM er en hjertesykdom som kan ramme alle katter, og der Maine Coon er en av de utsatte rasene. Avlskatter må både ha  gjentatte ultralydundersøkelser hos godkjent kardiolog veterinær, og kjent DNA-status for den ene mutasjonen vi vet om som øker risiko.

  • Actual risk of HCM – Faktisk risiko for HCM: around 5-15 %
  • Cost of testing – Kostnader for testingen: ca 10 000 NOK – approx 1200 €

HCM is a heart disorder that almost any cat can get, and Maine Coon is a breed at risk. Both repeated ultrasound screenings, and known DNA status for HCM1-A31P is needed.

HCM ultrasound – ultralyd

Dette er den dyreste testingen for oppdretteren, ettersom ultralydundersøkelsene med kardiologspesialist (helst PawPeds-godkjent) er dyrt, og trenger utføres 4 – 5 ganger for hver avlskatt, den siste screeningen skal gjøres etter at katten er fylt 5 år. Undersøkelsene vil beløpe seg til rundt 10 000 NOK totalt gjennom kattens liv, sjekk priser i listen over veterinærer.

This is the most expensive screening you make as a breeder, as ultrasound (echocardiogram) with a cardiologist veterinarian (PawPeds approved recommended) is expensive, and needs to be done 4 – 5 times for each breeding cat, the last screening after the cat is more than 5 years old. This will amount to about 10 000 NOK or perhaps 1200 € total for all the scans. Check prices at the List of veterinaries in PawPeds.

HCM

Note: Some breeders sell their kittens writing “Free of HCM” – this is an impossible promise or claim to make. Status NN for the HCM1-A31P mutation is good, but no guarantee for the other causes. Normal screening only once, or at young age, is no guarantee, more than half of the cases of HCM develop after the cat is 3-5 years old.

DNA status for HCM1-A31P – risk:

HCM risk from research A31P and echo

Read more about HCM

HD

Røntging for hofteleddsdysplasi bør gjøres for alle Maine Coon før de brukes i avl. Røntgingen skjer hos en dyktig veterinær som har erfaring med korrekt posisjonering, og bildene sendes inn til avlesning i helseprogrammet.

X-rays for hip dysplasia should be done for all Maine Coon before they are used in breeding. X-rays can be done by any good veterinary with experience of correct positioning. Images are sent for evaluation within the health programme.

  • Actual risk: 37 % (Low 2019)
  • Cost: 1000-2000 NOK  – approx 75 – 200 €

Paringer gjøres etter avlsanbefalinger: Grad 2 og 3 tas ut av avl, grad 1 pares kun med normale hofter. Risiko vurderes etter hver katts individuelle resultater, men også “HD index”, å se helheten i bred testing av slekten, foreldre og kullsøsken.

Matings should be done according to the recommendations: Grade 2 and 3 should not be used for breeding, and Grade 1 only mated to Normal. To assess risk, the individual result for each cat is considered, but also “HD index”, meaning seeing the public results of as many cats related to yours as possible, especially parents and siblings.

Read more about HD

DNA-screening

Minimum DNA-screening for Maine Coon er å vite status for:

Minimum DNA-screening for a Maine Coon is to know status for:

  • HCM1-A31P – actual risk only around 1-7 % now in 2022
  • SMA – actual risk of carrier status less than 1 %, basically in known lines
  • Blood type: actual risk of B carrier status ca 15 %
  • PK-def: actual risk of carrier status ca 15 %

Additional diseases that can be found in the breed, included in some test panels:

  • Cystinuria SCL7A9 – actual risk of carrier status less than 1 %
  • Blood-brain barrier dysfunction MDR1 – actual risk of carrier status 5-6 %
  • Factor XII deficiency – actual risk of carrier status around 10 %

Sjeldne sykdommer med under 1 % risk er det ingen grunn til å kjøpe separate tester for, men fins de i en pakke er det greit å vite status. I tillegg kan det være interessant å kjenne status på gener for farge, mønster og annet. Testpakken MyCatDNA inneholder alt dette og mer.

Rare disorders with less than 1 % risk are not worth buying separate tests for, but when they are included in a package, knowing status is OK. In addition it can be interesting to know status for genes for colour, pattern and more. A complete test at MyCatDNA covers all this and also much more.

Sometimes the status for a cat is N/N (negative) for the important mutations by parent status, and new testing might be unnecessary. Other times only one single test is needed, and the cost is lower.

  • Cost – Kostnad: ca 800-1000 NOK – 89-99 € (MyCatDNA)
  • Cost – Kostnad single test: ca 250 NOK – 25 €
Read more about MyCatDNA screening

Total Risk – Risiko

En oppsummering og sortering i rekkefølge etter risiko.  Summary of risk sorted by numbers and actual risk – Updated June 2022 after Anderson 2022:

  • HD: Actual risk: 37 %
  • HCM: Actual risk: around 5-15 %
  • HCM1-A31P – actual risk now in 2022 1-7 %
  • Blood type: actual risk of B carrier status ca 15 %
  • PK-def: actual risk of carrier status ca 15 %
  • Factor XII deficiency – actual risk of carrier status ca 10 %
  • Blood-brain barrier dysfunction MDR1 – actual risk of carrier status 5-6 %
  • SMA – actual risk of carrier status less than 1 %
  • Cystinuria SCL7A9 – actual risk of carrier status less than 1 %
  • PKD DNA (Persian) – very rarely found in MCO, less than 0,5 %

Total Cost – Kostnad

Å drive ansvarlig oppdrett og teste etter anbefalinger er dyrt. Hver avlskatt koster rundt 12 000 NOK i testing. Alle priser er grove overslag, og kan variere stort, men poenget kommer vel fram: Det er dyrt å være ansvarlig oppdretter.

Being a responsible breeder and testing according to recommendations is expensive. Each breeding cat will cost around 1500 € in testing. All prices are rough estimates.

  • HCM: ca 10 000 NOK – approx 1200 €
  • HD: ca 1000-2000 NOK  – approx 75 – 200 €
  • DNA-screening: ca 800-1000 NOK – 89-99 € (MyCatDNA)
  • Total:  ca 12 000 NOK  –  appr 1500 €
Helsetesting er en investering i rasens fremtid, og i helsen til kattunger som fødes i ditt oppdrett.
Health testing is an investment in the future of the breed, and in the health of the kittens born in your cattery.

For references, research and numbers, see each main article linked. DNA gene frequency from Genoscoper/MyCatDNA.

(Updated June 2022)

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