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[quote="Jenda" I wondered how you came to decide to buy into these lines. Were you aware of how risky they were when you got your cats and are you confident using these cats when you aren't currently screening them.

I bought most of my lines from an ethical experienced breeder who tests annually all of her cats for HCM, she also even pays for her breeder cats that have gone to pet homes to be tested annually. I trust this breeder implicitly. It is the safest way to have bought my lines over here as there is a history of HCM results in these lines.
There are lots of similar lines that do not have this history. I am being singled out here and it is not fair, there are lots of breeders with cats that come from risky lines, they don`t test either but nothing is said about them.
My cats are all getting HCM tested soon.
I see you have my Willow, I hope she is doing well, at least her lines come from lines that were tested, what about Luna.

Yes Willow is doing great she is a cheeky monkey!

I was only asking though, I'm not on a witch hunt or trying to single you out as a bad breeder or anything like that, I trusted you as a breeder and I think it is important to allow people to put across their thoughts and reasons. It was a genuine question as a lot of the opinions on this forum are very anti using lines with links to HCM cats and I think it is good to get the views of as many people as possible.

I was interested to hear how you came to the decisions to used cats from these lines, I now have one so I thought your opinions would be helpful to me. It is brilliant that despite the lines having the HCM links the majority of the cats are being tested and the results so far are negative. I was interested in whether you put your trust in the screening results over the HCM history in a line as obviously even if a cat is from a more risky line it could still be negative.

I haven't been able to find out much information on Luna's HCM risk as unfortunately many of the cats in her pedigree are untested, Willows is much easier to research.
As there is not currently an easy way to work out the risk in a lot of lines and pedigrees it is difficult to gather all the information to work out which cats are from low risk lines but I am trying to gather as much information on my girls as I can.
I will be screening them both when they are about 1 year old and then annualy after that, I'll keep you updated with Willows results, I think that it is just as important for me to let you know my results as it would be for me to let anyone buying my kittens know the results.

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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:20 pm Post subject:

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continued......

(Suntouched wrote:

Louise, there is an HCM article on my 'Advice about Buying a Kitten' page and also a link to Fabcats which explains more.


Ahh, so you do, I missed that page..

But I was thinking a more up front kind of thing. I can only speak from my own experience but when I started looking for a bengal I bounced around lots of breeder websites and mostly it was..

Home page...
Kittens available page..
About us page..
Next search result..

I didn't really start looking at contracts and how to buy pages until I had sort of short listed a few based on availability of kittens and location.

If say 50% of the websites I happened upon had a clear "This is Important, read it" message on the home page and/ or the kittens available page which informed me about HCM and the importance of screening then very quickly that would have become a part of the selection process..

I am not having a go or anything, but the information is not real easy to spot, the fact that is is there at all is a vast improvement on many! but I am just thinking how people could be made more aware including those that maybe end up on your website but for whatever reason they do not shortlist you but take away with them another example where a breeder is saying "BUY FROM HCM SCREENED PARENTS")
(ABOVE COPIED/MOVED FROM PREVIOUS POST)

I think this (BUY FROM SCREENED PARENTS) could be added on the kittens page Louise, but really and truthfully I think the fact that there are the words "HCM screened by Dr........" on most cats (i.e. several times each page) should be enough to make people think 'what is that'? and go and look it up on the relevant sites.
Just my thoughts.

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Best Wishes,
Karen <UK>
http://www.suntouchedbengals.com
http://www.bengalbreedersunited.co.uk

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Diane & The Posse

Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post that reply, Tracey.

I think everyone knows HCM screening is not a solution since it is not completely reliable, but it certainly helps to lessen the problem and therefore is still necessary. I don't like when breeders complain that it is too expensive (and superfluous) to scan every year, because it's an essential part of being an ethical breeder. If you don't have the money for it, don't breed at all. As obsessed as I am with the breed, I would never be a breeder. I get stressed out just thinking about all the time, effort, and money required. Plus worrying about the babies once they go to their new homes... yikes!

Anyway it is awesome you see the shortcomings to scanning but still do it every year. Even better that you continue to scan retired girls. Truly an example of someone who is doing it 100% right. I want to give you an e-hug.

Thank you both for your lovely comments. It means a lot to me.
xx

A truly great post Tracey! I wouldn't have been able to put it across as well as you have, but you have it in a nutshell.
I would also add that it is an expensive hobby and as you say, losses over 5 years (or even more!) can be enormous!

As for breeders not wanting to get involved in discussions, I do know that that is partly down to the witch hunts and lynchings that go on constantly over HCM and breeders are sick to the back teeth of it. In ALL kinds of breeding, there will be good breeders and not-so-good breeders, whether HCM existed or not. That is life. As harsh as it may sound, it is up to the prospective pet buyer to do their research into finding a breeder that they are happy with. If you were buying a car you would go to a dealer with a good reputation and you would do research to find that 'good' dealer. It is the same when researching to buy an animal......you MUST read up and find the right breeder.

When posting things on our websites....we have already been accused of using screening as a 'marketing tool' by MANY people, so we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. For me, I am PROUD to put on my website that I screen, and if people think that is a marketing tool, well let them think it! Websites are marketing tools, adverts are marketing tools......screening would be one hell of an expensive marketing tool I think? You also need to consider that lots of breeders had their programmes set up before HCM was ever mentioned, and have had those cats to feed and care for throughout the recession, where sometimes kitten sales have been few and far between, not even enough to cover the food bills. It is no good screening one week then not being able to afford the vet or buy food the next week.

At the end of the day, there will always be arguments about HCM as no-one will agree all the time, but I think encouraging breeders to get involved in conversations and doing more screening is likely to have more effect than lambasting them, attacking them and so alienating them?
For me, the carrot works better than the stick every time!

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Best Wishes,
Karen <UK>
http://www.suntouchedbengals.com
http://www.bengalbreedersunited.co.uk

Really good posts Karen and Tracey .
I agree that encouragement and balanced discussion would be the more likely approach to see positive results Karen, after all we all tend to advise that gentle persuasion and possitive reinforcement work best on our cats, and our children (not that i'm imply breeders are like cats or children before anyone gets offended) and in my experience just shouting at people only makes them deffensive and unwilling to listen even if the original message is one of good intention.
I much prefer seeing balanced informative disscussion than lots of one sided accusations so thank you to those breeders who have come on to this thread and been open about their reasons and views on screening and HCM it is hugely useful to new breeders like me .

Personally, if a breeder has a website, I expect to see GOOD information about their studs and queens. Further, I expect to see the HCM screening on the website. If you already have a competent website, then it's not much more to say you screen. Breeders should be PROUD of screening. I'm not likely to jump out and ask if they screen. Even if they are, this is information that should be on the cat's page. ESPECIALLY when the page has things like "FeLV negative." Why post SOME health screenings but not others?

Other that vein, a breeder's website is of NO USE to me if the only info they have about their kings and queens is "suchandsuch is the most snuggly cat! Love attention! Dripping with glitter and huge rosettes!" That's great. I don't mind hearing about your cat's temperament, that's an important factor. But I've been to so many websites where this is all they have to say. If I only cared about this, I would just look at the kitten pictures, find the one with the prettiest fur and grab it. I am visiting the parent's pages so I can LEARN about then and EVALUATE their health record.

And I expect it to go beyond FeLV at this point. I will not buy a kitten from unscreened parents.