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Character of the British Shorthair

The British Shorthair is affectionately called "Teddy Bear" by his admirers. Contrary to what this pet name suggests, the British Shorthair is not just a cat to cuddle. The British Shorthair is an uncomplicated, friendly breed with a balanced and affectionate character. He adapts easily, learns quickly, has a robust body and requires little coat maintenance. It's no wonder this breed is one of the most popular breeds!

The British Shorthair is a very strong breed. He can adapt very quickly to new situations without losing his interest in various matters. The Brit loves children and enjoys being close to people without imposing himself, but he is as devoted as a dog. This cat is a quiet family friend. This breed is never moody and can see the humor in certain things. Both sexes generally get along well with dogs and other pets if they have been properly introduced to each other.

Brits love to play and can spend hours playing with a mouse, ball or piece of paper. Brits need exercise to stay in good shape and a scratching post is an advantage. Brits remain playful well into old age. Brits have the habit of thoroughly inspecting new visitors and while they do this they often give away some hugs. After this need has been satisfied, the cat walks away regally and quietly sits down to watch the visitor from a respectful distance.

The British Shorthair is known for its intelligence and great learning capacity. They have an excellent memory. Once they learn how to open a door, they won't forget it.

Once this breed gets used to a daily routine, they will insist that you stick to it. In general, adult Brits are courageous and not easily frightened. In panic situations, the Brit often remains surprisingly calm.

In short, the British Shorthair is a perfect family cat!

Health

Hypertrophic CardioMyopathy, abbreviated HCM, is a heart condition characterized by thickening of the myocardial wall of the pumping chamber, usually the left pumping chamber. Put into simple words: hypertrophic = gaining weight, cardio = heart, myo = muscle and pathy = disease.

Ultrasound screening of the heart is done by Barbara Vandevelde or Ingrid Putcuyps. Barbara is a European Specialist in Veterinary Medical Imaging (Dipl ECVDI) and is allowed to carry out official screenings for PawPeds and other agencies.

Heredity and why screen?

HCM has a hereditary basis, but the heritability is very complex. After all, there are many gene mutations on different genes that could be responsible. HCM is not a congenital disease. Cats are born with a healthy heart, but can carry a number of genes, or rather gene mutations (small deviations in the DNA code), that can cause HCM later in life. Various studies have shown that many of these genes are not fully 'penetrant'. That is, they are there, but they are not active or not yet active. The cats are then 'carriers' of these gene mutations even though they do not or do not yet have the disease (genotype present, phenotype absent).

Why gene mutations suddenly become active ("gene expression") depends on environmental factors and perhaps also on other genes (i.e. the combination of genes or gene mutations). It is therefore quite possible that a cat tests negative in its early years, but that the faulty genes only become active at a later age, causing the cat to test positive on ultrasound. A one-off ultrasound test at 1 year is therefore not sufficient.

Due to the number of genes and gene mutations and the complex influence on each other, a genetic test as a screening method is not reliable. Ultrasound screening of the heart is currently the only method to reduce the occurrence of HCM in the cat population. As with hip dysplasia in dogs, we only detect cats that are phenotypically positive (= indications on ultrasound that may indicate HCM) and therefore not the carriers (phenotype absent, genotype present). This makes it possible for 2 parents who test negative at some point to still produce a kitten that develops the disease. Parents who test negative in the present may also become positive in the future. This makes ultrasound screening less than ideal and sometimes very frustrating for breeders. However, we must continue to motivate breeders to regularly screen their breeding animals by ultrasound so that the gene mutations spread as little as possible and it does not become catastrophic. In addition, it is advisable to keep an eye on the 'lines' and to communicate very openly through all kinds of channels when a breeding animal or offspring appears to have HCM. This openness makes it easier for breeders to figure out where something is wrong when they are unlucky enough to be confronted with HCM. This makes it possible to determine which lines should not be used for further breeding.

Source: Heelix

PKD is the abbreviation for Polycystic Kidney Disease. It is a hereditary condition that occurs in cats.

Cats with PKD have multiple cysts (= fluid-filled cavities) in both kidneys. Both the number of cysts and the size of the cysts will increase as the cat ages. (The size can vary from a few mm to a few cm). These cysts suppress healthy kidney tissue, causing kidney function to deteriorate. You can compare it to a balloon that is slowly inflated and, as it grows in size, it compresses the kidney tissue around it. Eventually, chronic renal failure will occur.

Complaints usually only arise later in life. On average, the first symptoms of kidney problems only appear around the age of 6-7.

Why should I test for PKD?

PKD is a dangerous disease. Because the disease only comes to light after years, it is important to detect the disease at an early stage, so that these pkd positive animals are not bred! If not tested for, a PKD sufferer may have fathered several generations before the disease manifests itself. It is therefore very important that the disease is recognized and investigated by all cat owners who want to breed in order to put a stop to the disease.

Cause of PKD

PKD is caused by an error in the DNA that causes a certain protein that is important for proper kidney function to be produced incorrectly. PKD is inherited dominantly. This means that the disease is expressed in the presence of one PKD1 allele. An allele is a carrier of hereditary information. There are 2 alleles: PKD1 and pkd1.

Alleles always occur in pairs, making the following combinations possible:
pkd1/pkd1. The cat is PKD free.
PKD1/pkd1. The cat is a sufferer and will develop PKD in the future. He or she can pass on PKD to the next generation.
PKD1/PKD1: Recent research has shown that this genetic combination does not occur in adult animals. This indicates that it is a fatal defect in which the kittens die as embryos or die shortly after birth. (The moment of death is not yet clear)

If a cat has PKD, one or both of the parents must always have PKD. A PKD cat cannot be born from two PKD free parents.

What are the symptoms of PKD?

As long as the kidneys are still functioning sufficiently, there will be no complaints. As soon as kidney function deteriorates and more than 70% of the kidney tissue is affected, the cat will develop symptoms of kidney failure. This can take years.

The symptoms of kidney failure are
decreased appetite
lose weight
drink a lot and pee a lot
less active
large lumpy kidneys may be felt on abdominal palpation
dehydration, the skin remains standing when you lift it
pale mucous membranes due to anemia
vomit

A DNA test for PKD

DNA testing is also available to determine the hereditary predisposition to PKD in cats. This means that it can be determined in advance, before the animals are used for breeding, which cats will run into problems later in life as a result of PKD.

The DNA test is reliable. The advantage of the DNA test is that it only needs to be done once, regardless of age.

Source: Wilhelminapark Veterinary Clinic

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (feline AIDS) is a leading cause of illness in cats worldwide. The virus was first discovered during the investigation of a major disease outbreak in a group of stray cats in America. These cats had the same disease symptoms as people with AIDS as a result of HIV infection. Although HIV and FIV are very similar, the viruses are species specific. This means that FIV can only make cats sick and HIV can only make people sick. There is therefore no risk of infection for people who have contact with FIV-positive cats. FIV cannot be cured. Once infected, a cat will carry the virus for the rest of its life. Over time, the virus will damage the immune system.

Source: licg.nl

Feline Leukemia Virus is a virus that occurs worldwide in cats. FeLV is a leading cause of illness and death in cats. A cat that is permanently (persistently) infected with this virus has a high chance of developing all kinds of serious diseases such as anemia, damage to the immune system and the development of cancer. It is estimated that 70 to 90% of all permanently infected cats die within 2 to 3 years after the infection is discovered.

What is FeLV?

FeLV belongs to the same virus family as the feline AIDS virus (FIV), namely the retroviridae family. The virus has the ability to cause tumors to develop. In addition, a FeLV infection can lead to anemia and the immune system can be damaged. The virus then attacks the blood cells of the immune system, causing them to die or become damaged. This makes a cat more susceptible to other conditions and infections. Many cats die from complications due to a reduced immune system, and not from tumors. The total number of cats infected with FeLV is low (around or below 1%) in most European countries, although in some areas it may be more than 20%. Nowadays it is possible to test whether a cat is infected, and there are also effective vaccines. As a result, FeLV infection is fortunately less common, although it is still an important disease.

How does a cat become infected?

The main source of infection is the saliva of an infected cat. The virus is spread when there is an exchange of saliva between cats, such as when bathing each other, sharing a food bowl, or through cat bites.

FeLV can also be transmitted to other cats through contact with urine or feces, for example in the litter box. The virus can also be transmitted from a cat to her unborn kittens in the womb, or after birth through contaminated breast milk. However, it is rare for a cat infected with FeLV to have kittens, because in most cases FeLV leads to death of the unborn kittens, which are then resorbed (absorbed into the body) or aborted. The majority of cats become infected with the virus through ingestion through the mouth or nose. The virus then multiplies in this location before spreading further through the bloodstream to the rest of the body and especially to the bone marrow.

Not all cats exposed to FeLV become permanently infected. For example, the amount of virus to which the cat was exposed may not have been high enough or the immune system may have successfully fought the infection.

In rare cases, a FeLV infection is limited to certain body parts such as the mammary gland tissue. This is called a 'localized infection'.

If the cat is able to fight the virus, this will happen in the first stages (4 to 12 weeks) of the infection. Once the bone marrow is infected, most cats remain infected for life. Cats that continuously produce and excrete viruses in, among other things. the saliva, we call it permanently (persistently) contaminated. These cats are positive in the FeLV tests.

Some cats (30 to 40% in a population) are able to suppress virus multiplication even after infection of the bone marrow. We call this 'latently infected'. These animals are negative in the test for the virus in the blood, do not excrete any virus and are therefore not contagious to other cats. If the immune system is strongly suppressed, for example due to stress, a latently infected cat could produce and excrete virus again. However, this is rare.

Source: licg.nl

Feline Infectious Peritonitis is a disease caused by a virus. This virus occurs all over the world. The FIP virus arises as a variant (mutation) of a Coronavirus that usually does not cause illness or sometimes mild diarrhea in cats. FIP is fatal without treatment.

Treating FIP Once a cat shows clinical symptoms, the animal cannot be cured without treatment and will die. Most cats that get FIP die within a few weeks.

Until recently, there was no effective treatment for FIP and cats died from this disease. In 2018, an initial study was published showing that the antiviral drug GS-441524 was effective in treating FIP. Further research has been done on this agent, which showed that GS-441524 is effective in treating both wet and dry FIP. As of June 2023, this drug will be available on the Dutch market through Veterinary Medicine Utrecht. Unfortunately, medicines for FIP are not yet recognized / approved on the Belgian market and there are only unrecognized channels that offer this medicine. Some people import this from America themselves.

Source: licg.nl

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