We plan to add all the information regarding health and genetic that will cover the areas relevant for our cat breeding.

We have 2 things that is the very basis of our cat breeding: health and an excellent temperament which comes before anything else!

But it is a fact that there can be diseases present in cats, diseases that we can't discover that the cat is carrying around. And there are also mulitiple categories of diseases in cats, some you can prevent by vaccinating your cats against the viruses, some you can cure once the cat has become sick and finally there is the incurable diseases that we can't vaccinate agains, treat against or cure in anyway.

The reality is that the more cats you have the bigger the likelyhood is that they either have or will develop diseases. It's what the vet refers to as: "Multiple cat syndrom", which basically means that you either have a cattery or "just" have a lot of cats living together. If your cat(s) is allowed to roam free the risk is even higher because they will have contact with other cats (e. i. sources of infection(s)) that is living in your area.

The kitten is vaccinated twice, with 3 - 5 weeks of interval, beginning when it's app. 11 - 12 weeks old, to give it the highest possible protection against the most common cat diseases. You then have the cat vaccinated on a yearly basis, at app. the same time every year to ensure that it stays protected. There is however some diseases that even though the cat is vaccinated in order to be protected from having it, there is an insecurity margin which means that the cat may be infected even though it has been vaccinated . Once a cat is vaccinated it's understod that the vaccine will protect the cat 100%, but some vaccines has been known to fade over time, which means that the cat will not be fully covered until next time it's vaccinated.

Some times it can be difficult, almost impossible to find out IF a cat has been infected if it has been vaccinated. In order to understand this one has to understand the possibilities we have when testing our cats for diseases.

When you are testing you cat for a disease you can either test for antibodies or antigenes. Antibodies are the substances a cat developes after it has been either infected by a disease or vaccinated against the disease. It's the same mechanism that is present in humans. You either caccinate with a *mild live* version of the disease or with the so-called *killed vaccine*. This will provoke the T-helping-cells to make antibodies against the disease and the T-memory-cells then *store* the information about the disease, because the bodys immunesystem will react much faster if you are attacked by the disease either for the first time or at a repeat attack. The normal course when you get an infection, if not vaccinated, is as follows: If it's a first time infection, the body won't react fully until 1 week - 10 days has passed, whereas a second time infections will make the body react within one day. This is due to the fact that the T-memory-cells will make the immunesystem react within a day, if you have already had a vaccination against it, and this is very handy, isn't it? The T-memory-cells doesn't remember all diseases forever and that's why the cat needs to be re-vaccinated on a yearly basis, to achive full immunity or at least a quicker response if the cat is infected with the disease.

Diseases that can be traces through antigenes is present in the cats body for life and can be found even when the cat is no longer showing signs of the disease, because they don't need to be repeated each year like some of the diseases with the anitbodies needs to. Some diseases can be carried by the cat without the cat showing any signs of ever being sick, this condition is called being a healthy carrier. Antigenes can usually be traced through a DNA or PCR test, if such a test is available.

Here we have listed some of the diseases all cats can have, whether they are pedigreed or domestic cats:
 

Infectious diseases:	Inherited diseases:	Parasitic diseases:
Calici virus	Hip dysplasia (HD)	Tapeworm
Chlamydia	Hypertrofic cardiomyopati (HCM)	Spoleorm (ascaris lumbricoides)
FIP	Patella Luxation (PL)	Deworming treatment
FiV	Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)
FeLV	Only NFO - Glycogen storage disease (GSD IV)
Herpes		Miscellaneous:
Haemabatonella (Felis Mycoplasma)		Bloodtypes in cats
Panleuchemia

Since 2005 we have taken swab from our cats, both the adults we use in our breeding program as well as the kittens born in our cattery, regardless of what they are sold as. We have done this because we want to ensure that if a dna test becomes available in the future for one or more disease(s), then we can test if any of our past  breeding cats or kittens has any of the disease(s) that can be tested for. The method we use when taken the swabs is now described on pawpeds and can be seen here.

If there are any questions you would like to have answered regarding diseases you are welcome to contact me and I will try my best to answer them. You are welcome to send me an email and if I can't answer your question(s) I'm sure I know some one who can.

Best wishes,

Carli Hækkerup