Can you show me HCM heart ultrasound screening paperwork? How often do you rescan cats and is it a board certified cardiologist?
HCM screening is a surefire way to weed out backyard breeders who are more concerned with costs than health of their cats. Only 2 forms of genetic HCM are currently known but there are thought to be over 50. We have DNA tested for those and have the reports available to view. Reputable breeders scan their breeding cats’ hearts and rescan throughout their breeding career. Because ultra sounding is so expensive, most backyard breeders will not do it. Ultrasounds reports do not mean the cat will never get HCM, just that it doesn’t have it yet, so rescanning throughout the breeding years is needed. We have reports of our scans done by a board certified cardiologist to view. We also scan to help find cats with HCM to remove them from breeding programs, and to send their DNA in to help find other forms of HCM.
HCM will lead to a painful death from heart failure, sometimes dragging on for months and with large medical bills. Cats that “mysteriously” die of heart failure before the age of 8 are often from HCM.
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Here are some website with info on HCM.
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/28/feline-hcm-treatment.aspx