Re the age situation I would just say....there is more to a heart screen then HCM - the screens cover congenital heart defects (inc HCM) .....if a breeder screens BEFORE they breed that cat then they can remove any affected cats - whether thats due to HCM, RCM, DCM, hole in the heart, MVD, Murmurs, SAM - and all the other abbreviations.

I totally agree the importance of screenings through the pedigree - the picture is really important too - I have seen terrible pedigrees being bred from - but its ok the parent to the litter was screened at 1 year old so I will offer the kittens into breeding programmes - nevermind their pedigree is riddled with positive cats!

There has to be a healthy balance.

The trouble is that EQ does exsist, it isn't a breeder term and it can mean anything from nothing to a death sentence. That is why seeing the report is so important. We have neutered cats for being EQ - because of the reasons for their diagnosis, not because of the diagnosis itself.

All too often breeders are seen as being emotionally void. Do you know the stress and upset caused when a kitten owner calls with news that all your effort, time and money has been worthless? That, despite making sacrifices and doing everything right, a problem has still found its way into your programme? There is nothing so disheartening or upsetting. The feeling of futility is overwhelming. The kitten owner may lose their beloved pet, we may lose many of ours. It will cost thousands to replace the cats involved and be a certain impossibility to purchase exclusively from screened lines due to so few screening breeders, so the cycle begins again and we make the best decisions we can on the little knowledge we have, hoping that the new additions don't bring new threats to the healthy cats we have remaining.

Screening breeders give their all, above and beyond what other breeders do. They spend more money, more time and go to greater lengths to ensure that they are doing everything they can for their cats and kittens, the breed as a whole and the people who buy their kittens. They follow the direction of their cardiologist and still it is not considered enough. Still, someone out there will gladly put them down and bad mouth them. Still, someone out there claims to have the asnwers that the cardiologists do not. Little wonder we are so few in number.

Wow! I have certainly learned a lot from this thread.

Steven, thank you for showing me the broader picture, I knew nothing about EQ, but now you have explained it so well it would not necessarily put me off.

Heather