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Hugo, Rufus, Inca and Marley

I'll admit, I didn't know a great deal about HCM before getting my bengal. Thankfully the breeder I got my cat from does regularly screen with a cardiologist & has that information available. I guess I got lucky.

However the "general public" has no idea, and if they don't come across this website and sit and do some reading then what hope is there? Most people base their decisions on looks and price and unfortunately that isn't going to be what counts in the future.

My breeder has had some financial troubles (laid off from her job!!) so she hasn't been able to screen her cats recently; at least she was very upfront about it and brought up HCM without me having to ask. Unfortunately I didn't know it was such a huuuuge problem at the time. Like others have mentioned, I thought I did my research but obviously I know a lot more now than I did before. She does have one of those cats on the HCM-positive list in almost all her cats but I think this is unavoidable, as HCM is in ALL the lines. And another cat on there is the grandsire of one of her studs so she retired him, which was responsible of her. It sucks that even if you do screen every year you can't guarantee a kitten won't have it. I guess I feel better that she often breeds her cats until they are ~4ish and then keeps them as altered pets for a long time. I know Toast's mom is spayed and a pet in her home; his dad is still a stud... and she also has Toast's older brothers from different litters in her home too. I am more worried about Snowpoke because his parents are young (1-2 years old). It seems though, with the unreliability of screening, that the only way to guarantee not having HCM is by not getting a bengal at all. Of course screening greatly minimizes the risk, but it's still very scary.

screening is good as long as its done yearly and if a breeder keeps a neutered ex stud or queen to scan them yearly too to see if hcm pops up later. also knowing their lines well And not using cats from very high risk cats. And keeping the same lines, not keep buying in new.

The big thing i feel is sharing results publicly, so other breeders know which lines to avoid, many breeders will share their negative cats but not their positive cats, which is defeating the object.

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Miki & My Beloved Bengals http://mybelovedbengals.blogspot.com/

Shiloh, Darcy, Rudy The Roodster & Ozzy...

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Miki & My Beloved Bengals http://mybelovedbengals.blogspot.com/

Shiloh, Darcy, Rudy The Roodster & Ozzy...

There is no need for pet owners to scan and scan and scan, past what is necessary for the upkeep of their pet's health, it is up to breeders to scan retired cats so that they can establish what is happening in their lines, so that can alter what they breed from in the future, it is not up to pet owners to do that job for them.
Both my cats have heart disease, that is what any breeder needs to take away from my scanning. Their lines are high risk HCM, both from their family history and those of close relatives, there is no need to emphasise that fact any further.

Their pedigrees
http://www.bengalpedigrees.com/showone. ... 0&jid=8127
http://www.bengalpedigrees.com/showone. ... 6&jid=8256

I take every day as it comes.

Of course its the breeders responsibility Miki I dont dispute that in the slightest - but as you have said any results should be made public - regardless of who did the screening. And that any scans be kept upto date and in the public eye - its about being for the good of the breed - and that in my opinion should cover EVERYONE.

Many thanks Elaine for that information - much appreciated.

How can one establish a EQ cat either staying EQ or developing into a positive without rescanning? - as previously stated this is the only accurate measurement of HCM.

I find all this information very interesting and important being new to this breed, its always a learning curve - but an extremely important one

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Miki & My Beloved Bengals http://mybelovedbengals.blogspot.com/

Shiloh, Darcy, Rudy The Roodster & Ozzy...