Thread: HCM testing??

Well, as I understand it, the test for HCM isn't completely reliable, and ideally it should be done every year to be sure. But few breeders can afford to do this. On the other hand, one test is better than no test at all, and is the responsible thing to do.

yes the ultrasound would need to be repeated annually, but the DNA test is a once off, they either carry the mutation or they dont, althought HCM in humans is controlled by over 150 gene mutations and so far in our cats we can only test for one!

If both parents bin negative a kittens also negative for the gen. But you must have seen the test from the parrents then..otherwise you never know for sure.
I have tested most of my cats on both the gen's.
But I stopt, there is no guarantee that the cats don't get HCM,
The only thing you know now is that the cat is negative for that part..and possible there bin a other 20 parts. But they not found yet.
I think its a false test...

If you want to breed good, you alway's must do the screening. Our mainecoon club give the advice every 2 ore 2,5 year.
I must drive also a long end for the test. But its worth it.
THe screening is the only way that you can see if your cat get HCM ore not.
And all is the cat for 4 years negative...with 5 years he can be positive.
Not every HCM are hereditary.
It also can come , when the cat is very sick a infection, pneumonia ore something else...the heart must work hard then.
And sometime's it can damage the heart muscle.
But its very hard to find out if its from Illnes ore if its hereditary.

I believe strongly in the DNA testing & think that if a breeder is going to use a cat for breeding that has come from negative stock that cat should also be swabbed for proof before being used.The genetic test is something that can be done from birth,is never going to alter unlike the ultrasound,yes I know the MYBC3 gene is the only one identified at the moment & yes there most probaly are more waiting to be found but if it is strongly linked it must be in the interest of the breeding programs to have all those carrying the homozygous mutant gene taken out,with the ultrasound alone a male/female could have already been bred more than once producing kittens with that gene before any problem shows up,what if at worst both a stud cat & one female both show signs of HCM at a check up that in previous years had shown no signs,how many homozygous babes could be out there,some that could also have become breeding lines. Like everything it is time,history taking & more research that hopefully will get perhaps a step even closer to finding out more, the same as genetic testing in the humans,we don't discount that if something is found that helps you think thank goodness for that may they soon find more, at the moment this is the closest we can get to helping our MC's line become even stronger,nothing is going to stop anything 100% because you can never wipe out all the causes that could lead to it but....!

PS : Just for my interest alone I had four of mine swabbed even though they are neutered pets,was ready to take the results on the chin but also you never know what it could throw out to help especially from the older ones where the genetic test was not available when they were born.

But what is the use for testing on dna when your cat get HCM ?
And believe me, I whas one of the first who whas testing on DNA...both gen's who bin found.
And one of my male's who is negative for both have 1 offspring who have HCM also the mother whas negative for both...ultrasound whas also negative with the parrents...female at 7 years male at 4 years.I know that it can sit there for generation's but I never heard of it before.
I think its a bit useless to do...for me it is a false test.
As long there is no dna test whats for sure I will not test dna anymore...I prefer to give my money on the ultrasound ;)
And lucky that I'm not the only one who thinks like this

Originally Posted by Conny

But what is the use for testing on dna when your cat get HCM ?
And believe me, I whas one of the first who whas testing on DNA...both gen's who bin found.
And one of my male's who is negative for both have 1 offspring who have HCM also the mother whas negative for both...ultrasound whas also negative with the parrents...female at 7 years male at 4 years.I know that it can sit there for generation's but I never heard of it before.
I think its a bit useless to do...for me it is a false test.
As long there is no dna test whats for sure I will not test dna anymore...I prefer to give my money on the ultrasound ;)


And lucky that I'm not the only one who thinks like this

I said nothing about giving up or not ultrasounding but more to the point must be that if a genetic test is available to pick up on those cats carrying a gene that is higher in chances to turm to HCM that must be for the good of the breed,the idea is to make the breed genetically stronger & there is only one way of doing that.We are assuming because there are more genes involved in the human HCM that there are more to be found but they all start with one being discovered & moving on from there. Surely it must be better to stop a cat going into a breeding program from day one than perhaps having it discovered a few years down the line by ultrasound that it has developed HCM,too late for all the babes born prior. We know HCM is not going to be erradicated completely but hopefully lower in numbers due to the research being put into it,you can already help on the history by having a kitten born too neg. DNA tested parents,as I said in previous post that is the only way a fuller picture is going to be built up,I know because OH side of the family is being genetically tested for a fairly new problem just recently found,unfortunately his parents wouldn't be tested but our offspring were done at birth,puberty & adulthood along with other family members,it is interesting to see the picture coming together & even now has already helped one family member,as they in turn have their offspring done it will help even more. so back to genetic testing in our cats,it all has to start somewhere & can only get better,genes are a small part of the body but very powerful in the outcome of life,not something to be ignored.....

right!

I have just spoken to the clinical pathologist at Langford, Bristol university.

If both parents have been DNA tested and are negative for the gene mutation. there is no way the kittens can have the mutation as it is a purely inherited trait, so DNA testing the kittens from such matings is unneccesary.

even so these kittens could still develop HCM from another gene mutation we have yet to discover.

so the best way forward is to only breed from cats negative by parentage or that have been dna screened.

for me, by cattery is clear on the DNA side and although i wold love to ultrasound all my adults every year, at present there are not enough highly skilled cardiologists within travelling distance to make it feasable.

Screening for the HCM1 (Meurs) defect is the only way to eliminate that proportion of Maine Coon HCM which is caused by HCM1. According to the article linked below, coons homozygous for HCM1 have an extremely high risk of HCM.

Prevalence of the MYBPC3-A31P mutation in a la... [J Vet Cardiol. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

We do not know the proportion of HCM in Maine Coons caused specifically by HCM1, but the rate was extremely high in the French study, and lower in a German study a few years ago. Whatever the rate is, breeders can substantially reduce the incidence of HCM by avoiding HCM1 positive to positive matings. DNA screening does not eliminate the need for periodic echocardiograms.

There are clearly other defects that cause HCM in Maine Coons, so there will continue to be cases among cats negative for HCM1. That certainly doesn't mean that DNA testing can be omitted - HCM1 causes HCM in homozygous cats

We do ours every year, my boy and the older of our girls is also Echo tested, but I always say that people should test before they breed off the cats, also NEW owners should insist on a copy of the parents HCM test! everyone who adopts a cat from us gets a copy of the tests with all the rest of the paperwork.. after all it only cost 25 pounds per year per cat... whats that for peace of mind!