But unfortunately one can´t always be sure what is lying in the genes of the cats one is using in the breeding programme. This can be because some breeders simply won´t tell you if there is anything untoward lurking in the background when you are looking for a new kitten, and can be because the breeders don`t know it themselves. This is usually because the breeders that they started buying cats from in the beginning, either chose not to share that information or simply made the assumption that the information wasn´t important enough to share. That´s why it`s impossible to be absolutely sure that there are no inheritable defects in the cat you are about to buy. Or put in another way, if you do not want to own or breed cats with the "potential" of some inheritable defects lurking in the background of your cat, then you can forget about owning or breeding cats totally!
Bearing this in mind, how can I claim that I am building my breeding program on health and temperament? I just mean that I have ALWAYS tried to produce healthy cats, meaning that the cats were free of any sickness, such as bacterial or viral infections. If you want to learn more about diseases, you can read about it here! (Will come soon!)
I have of course also tried to avoid inheritable defects, but as I have written above, this has not always been possible. I have luckily been spared much of that.
And furthermore, it is important to know that the vets/scientists do not always agree on what`s inheritable and what is not. And in most cases the way that most defects are inheriated isn´t even known!
For instance the last couple of years we have seen some *new* diseases/inheriated defects, both in other breeds and in Norwegian Forest Cats. Among those are PKD, HCM, HD, PL and umbellical hernia. We have therefor desided that all our breeding cats, current and future once, will be tested for PKD, HCM, PL and HD. The test will either be done at a veterinarian hospital in Sweden, in Helsingborg, or at The Royal Danish Veterinarian University Hospital. Today kittens are already being examined for umbellical hernia when they are in for their first shot and check-up by the vet, and it has been so in DK ever since January 1st 2003.
In regards to temperament, I have always made an effort to only use cats with the best temperament, with a few exceptions, but I have mentioned those in the statistics that I have made on my litters and they can be viewed here. (Will come soon!)
I had my first Wegie in 1991 and she had her first litter in 1993, but even though I`ve been around for a fairly long time, there are still a lot of things I don`t know about, simply because the knowledge is not available... yet. If there are any questions you would like me to answer, you are more than welcome to send me an email.
Allan is a member of Racekatten, one of the 4 main clubs under Felis danica and The Norwegian Club in Denmark. Carli is a member of TICA, BKV94, The Maine Coon club in Denmark and the Maine Coon club in Sweden.
Best regards,
Carli Hækkerup