PrairieBaby Maine Coon Cats
PrairieBaby Health Statistics
last update: December 2007
We created this page to give people an overview on what outcross- and foundation breeding has done for us health-wise over the past years. Outcrossing is definitely not the answer to all health problems, but we have experienced a great improvement in our breeding program since we changed our strategie. This statistic might not be 100 % accurate, but was created to our best knowledge. Please write to us if you have any additional information to be added to our health statistics.
We hope this summary will encourage people to start/continue working with outcrossed pedigrees.
In almost 10 years of foundation breeding, a total of 51 litters resulted in 262 kittens. (Sorry, we don't have an accurate statistics available for our breeding time from 1987 til 1998). Here are our observations of the kittens that were born at our house and at my friend's house (since a lot of cats are needed for successful foundation breeding, some litters were born at my friend's house):
Average litter size: approximately 5.1 kittens per litter
(2 x 8 kittens, 5 x 7 kittens, 13 x 6 kittens, 13 x 5 kittens, 15 x 4 kittens, 2 x 3 kittens, 1 x 2 kittens, never 1 kitten)
Amount of stillbirths in 51 litters: 8 (1 each in 6 litters, 2 in one litter)
Amount of Fading kitten syndrome: 5 out of 262 kittens
Amount of URI deaths: 6 kittens in one litter (age 1 week) out of 262 kittens (many years ago)
Amount of URI occurances: 14 litters out of 51 litters (4 of these 14 litters were born during same time)
Amount of kittens who needed antibiotic medication for URI: 25 kittens out of the 14 litters with URI occurance, not included the 6 kittens who died in first week of their life)
Kittens who stayed Chronic URI carriers as adults: 2 (3?)
Reaction to Intranasal Life Vaccines: very few kittens, very slightly, did not need treatment
Reaction to 4- way Modified Life Vaccines: None
Reaction to Rabies vaccination: one death (please read up on the side effects of vaccinations BEFORE you let your vet talk you into over-vacciating!)
Amount of navel infections: Two
Chronic Diarrhea: Zero
Bad gums: This is hard to tell in kittens, but only two foundation lines out of 12 foundation lines in total has produced bad gums.
Amount of small Umbilical Hernias: 9 out of 262 kittens from 51 litters (in five different litters), (this condition can have genetic causes or the mother can induce it during labour)
Amount of Intestinal Hernias: Zero
Amount of Pectus: Two (line was eliminated)
Amount of Cleft Pallet: Zero
Tail faults: 11 out of 262 kittens (have not seen this in 6 years!)
Misaligned Teeth: 7 kittens out of 262, (have not seen this in 6years!)
Crooked Jaws: Zero
Rolled in Eyelid: One
Cryptorchidism: One (sire from show lines)
Deformities resulting from 7 years of Polydcatyl breeding: 0 (polydactylism is a natural trait in Maine Coons and NOT a deformity!)
Amount of other deformed body parts: Zero
Fip Cases: Zero
Pyometra: 6 cases in 31 breeding females, 4 females were able to conceive after treatment, two had to be spayed. (please note, these 31 females were owned and used over the years to build up pedigrees, not all at once!)
Problems with conception: 2 in 31 breeding females (please note, these 31 females were owned and used over the years to build up pedigrees, not all at once!)
Problems with Milk Production or kitten-raising: 2 in 31 females
Problems with Birthing: 2 in 31 females
C-Section needed: 2 in 31 breeding females (one with birthing problem and one with a retained placenta)
Testing for genetic diseases: (we included our show line cats here)
Hip displasia: 50 cats were tested by US with OFA :
OFA excellent: 11 out of 50 (2 out of 11 from showlines, 9 full- or almost full foundation)
OFA good: 30 out of 50 (all 30 are mostly foundation lines)
OFA fair: 5 out of 50 (all 5 are a quite even mix out of showlines/part foundation)
OFA moderate: 3 out of 50 (1 out of the 3 cats is 80 % foundation, the other 2 are from regular show lines and NOT newer foundation)
All full foundation cats here have so far passed OFA.
Many offspring of our breeding have been tested for HD and tested clear.
Update from 2007: Report of moderate HD and one report of mild HD from kittens we sold into breeding. However, both cats were only tested ONCE . Breeders did not follow our advice to re-send the pictures to OFA for a second opinion. So these findings were not 100 % conclusive.
Interesting information: So far all the F1 and F2 full foundation cats (and their offspring) we have found in Canada have had wonderful hip confirmation. All of them so far passed OFA with either "Excellent" or "Good". In comparison to current OFA statistics, we see a significant difference in numbers! The definite improvement of hip confirmation would be one of MANY reasons to use newer (HD tested) foundation lines.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, HCM:
2 out of 36 tested cats tested positive (One of the two with HCM was 25 % foundation, the other cat with HCM was show lines, none of them had our Cattery prefix).
We almost forgot, we had one HCM case reported to us from Germany of a kitten born in 1999. Sire was Cooncreole Farraday of Prairiebaby who was also diagnosed with HCM and neutered immediately.
Other heart problems (Aortic Stenosis and Moderator Bands) : 3 in 36 tested cats. All three cats were part - or full foundation lines.
One breeding cat living in Denmark tested HCM equivocal and has to be re-tested. The cat later tested negative for the MyBPC3-1 mutation. We have had no HCM cases or sudden deaths in our lines so far. Praise the Lord for this!
We had about 25 to 30 (or more) of our offspring tested by breeder collegues for the MYBPC3-Gen mutation. All tests turned out negative. We also tested all our current breeding cats for this mutation and ALL of them tested negative.
Polycystic Kidney Disease, PKD:
1 in 18 tested cats tested positive so far (however, this cat is from regular show lines and has not been used for breeding here).
2 cats from my breeding were diagnosed with a cyst on their kidney in 2005. They have to be re-tested. In case we are dealing with PkD here, it is NOT is not from our lines. The mother of these kittens and many anchestors have been tested for PKD at a reliable age. However, the sire (not from my breeding) could not be tested yet. He does not have PkD tested anchestry.
Two of my part foundation cats that were sold to a breeder have thrown a pectus kitten.
Patella Laxation
We had one case of patella laxation in one of our offspring kittens. If we see more cases we will start testing for this also. Since PL is not always genetic, we are presently just "watching".
Temperamental problems (excessive shyness or agressiveness): 10 out of 262 kittens (the lines were eliminated!)
By always keeping the most social and affectionate for breeding, we have now managed to have total consistency with very loving temperaments.
Conclusion: Out of 262 kittens, I have lost 19 kittens at early age
(ca. 8 %), either through an early URI at one week of age, a still birth, a deformity or fading kitten syndrome.
So far out of the 243 remaining foundation or part foundation kittens 4 cats have died as adults:
1 from swallowing a needle in pet home (owner's fault),
1 from panleukopenia in a pet home (owner's fault),
1 from enlarged liver at pet home (autopsie was not conclusive but suggested fatty liver syndrome as either primary or secondary disease)
1 from chronic kidney infection in a breeder home (caused either by a chronic, undiagnosed/untreated bladder infection or possibly a (genetic?) malformation of the eurethra).
Important note: Foundation breeding is an exciting adventure but can be full of disappointments, downfalls and surprises. It is NOT the answer to all health problems. When we work with a fresh bloodline, we are hoping for a lower mortality rate in kittens, a better immune system, larger, healthier litters and eventually hopefully the defeat of heart-, kidney- and joint problems. Even though new foundation lines are thoroughly screened and tried out, we cannot guarantee these lines to be free from genetic faults. As a matter of fact, no living being is free of genetic faults. Also, every single mating produces new gene mutations that would have not even occurred in a different breeding, even of the same breeding couple. Defective recessive genes can only be detected to some extent, no matter if test-breedings are done or not. This is also true for ALL Maine Coon cats from common lines. TOS (Testing, outcrossing and selecting) is the most efficient way to reduce problems with genetic diseases. I know for a fact that if we weren't outcrossing we would be encountering a LOT more problems.
This page was written and updated to the best of our knowledge. Please write to us if you have any additional information to be added to our health statistics.
Thanks , Judith
General Information:
revised on May 04, 2003!
This is a private list for people working with foundation and part foundation. We are presently only accepting members who are actively working with newer foundation lines and who test for HCM and HD.
(This is a public list where people can post and view pictures of foundation/part foundation cats)
