For dwarf cats..
Cat health issues are important to all cat owners and lovers, particularly in respect of dwarf cats. Like me you probably would like to know as much as you can about the health of a dwarf cat. I have said on the leading page that they are generally healthy. Here I add some detail on the matter of cat health issues and dwarf cats.
Caveat: I am not a vet. This page has been very well researched, however. It is intended to be an objective look at this topic. If I have made a mistake please tell me by going to the contact page and emailing me. There is no substitute for seeing a vet. Also, please note this:- I am not saying that all dwarf cats have a problem. I am saying that some dwarf cats (perhaps a v.small minority) may present with other physical abnormalities other than short limbs. As I said dwarf cats are generally healthy.Responsible dwarf cat breeders will take action to minimize any negative aspects of the dwarfism gene. The Dwarf Cat Association responsibly state: “We always recommend that you spend time in email, on the phone or in person with the breeder that you choose your new family member from, so that you make that choice with as much knowledge of your new baby’s breeder & birthplace as possible. As in all transactions with someone you may not know well, follow the doctrine of Caveat Emptor, learn all you can before you buy. TDCA is available to answer any breed questions you may have…”This article is simply meant to assist you in formulating relevant and useful questions when you talk to a breeder. A good breeder will give transparent and open answers.
The question that you may have asked is this – is the dwarfism confined to the length of the limbs (in which case there will it seems be no ill effects on other organs of the body) or are other bone structures in the body also misshaped and therefore an underlying cause of a medical condition (i.e. are there cat health issues)?
In “genetics speak” mutations of genes (as is the case for dwarf cats) are referred to as “defects”. For breeders, defects produce the very thing that makes the cat desirable so the term is re-phrased “anomaly”. Although the vast majority of breeders present the facts objectively, they are in business. As for all businesses they will present the facts in the best light for them. This is normal and to be expected.
It is interesting that we find dwarfism in humans unattractive. This is because the underlying cause of what makes other humans attractive is the other person’s ability to produce healthy offspring (i.e. attraction is ultimately driven by survival and the survival of ones offspring).
Humans, though, like the appearance of small, interesting, unusual, rare and compact things and this includes animals because a lot of humans don’t think of animals as fellow creatures but as things to be owned and possessed.
The recurring issue with dwarf cats (meaning those with the anomalous genetic makeup) is that you like their appearance but do they have more cat health issues compared to an ordinary or normal cat?
What causes a cat to be a dwarf cat? The Dwarf Cat Association state on their website
“The gene for achondroplasia, the most common type of human dwarfism, was discovered in 1994. Achondroplasia is caused by a gene mutation that is the same in 98% of the cases. The mutation, affecting growth, especially in the long bones, occurs early in fetal development. It is believed that an achondroplasia-like gene is responsible for the dwarfing in the Munchkin & all hybrid breeds based upon the Munchkin breed.”
In humans the clinical features of achondroplasia are:
- nonproportional dwarfism (short stature)
- shortening of the proximal limbs (termed rhizomelic shortening)
- short fingers and toes
- a large head with prominent forehead
- small midface with a flattened nasal bridge
- spinal kyphosis (convex curvature) or lordosis (concave curvature)
- varus (bowleg) or valgus (knock knee) deformities
- frequent ear infections (due to Eustachian tube blockages), sleep apnea (which can be central or obstructive), and hydrocephalus
- midface hypoplasia
This looks pretty daunting and suggests that there are a lot of health issues for humans suffering from this condition. Does this translate into cat health issues?
It seems that the clinical features for cats with dwarfism differs to those that are evident in humans with the same condition.
Sarah Hartwell confirms that “achondroplastic dwarfism” is characterised by short legs and enlarged head”. While pseudoachondroplasia is characterised by short limbs and a normal head.
As the Muchkin (the founding dwarf breed) has a normal head Sarah Hartwell says that this suggests that the Munchkin suffers from pseudoachondroplasia.
The prefix “pseudo” before achondroplasia means that the disorder resembles achondroplasia but is actually different in that the symptoms are the same as for achondroplasia except the head is normal size.
In a debateable classification (used by vets and breeders) of genetic anomalies, achondroplasia is considered semi-lethal and cosmetic. Cosmetic means medical treatment is not required but there are medical or physical repercussions and some limitations. This would indicate that dwarf cats have cat health issues.
Sarah Hartwell says that Munchkins can suffer from lordosis (inward curvature of the spine – the spine drops down around the shoulder blades) and pectus excavatum (funnel chest – flattened ribcage), indicating cat health issues may be in evidence.
Lordosis in humans can be minimized by the use of a cross trainer a device which helps to straighten the spine; also exercise helps. Surgery is the last resort.
(The term “lordosis” is also used to describe the raised posture of a female cat in heat when she is assuming a mating position.)
Lordosis causes misalignment in the thoracic region of the spine, which is the upper part of the spine including the vertebrae that connect to the ribs.
The spine dips down compressing the heart lungs and trachea. When severe, the kitten will die apparently at 10-11 weeks of age. The cats appear swaybacked or humpbacked. The condition may be due to shortened muscles that cradle the spine. Some breeders refuse to accept that this condition exists. Breeders need to do genetic studies to see if this condition can be bred out. Not enough is known about the secondary problems surrounding the dwarf gene in cats. How many die of this in breeding programs? When mild it causes infections, pneumonia and breathing and cardiac distress. When very mild, the cat can lead a normal life.
Breeders need to do studies to see if this condition can be bred out and if not perhaps thought should it seems be given to the breeding programme generally.
Pectus in humans (and I think it is fair and helpful to look at this from the human standpoint as there is less research data on these conditions in relation to cats) can cause pain and result in breathing problems, if it is a severe case. There is a procedure to help correct it. This may indicate that there could be cat health issues for cats with the same condition. A cat’s chest cavity is normally oval 
while in pectus the chest cavity is narrower top to bottom, the sternum being displaced upwards 
{see the diagrams and x-ray picture}.
In severe cases of pectus the reduced space in the chest results in a compression of the heart and lungs. This in turn leads to aversion to exercise, breathing difficulties, coughing, weight loss or failure to gain weight; in other words cat health issues. There appears to be no information as to the frequency of occurrence of this condition. Clearly then in severe examples of pectus there are accompanying cat health issues.
I believe that breeders of dwarf cats refer to these conditions as “LP”.
Confused…? Well you might be because I’m still not sure if dwarf cats have a higher frequency of cat health issues than a normally proportioned cat and that is the question we set out to answer.
It would seem that good breeding is the key as to whether lordosis and pectus occur. I’m sure good breeders try to track these problems to minimize their occurrence. Although as they are part of the genetic make up of a dwarf cat it would seem that these conditions cannot be eradicated. If you have views on this and if I am incorrect, please leave a comment.
However, in conclusion, if I were homing a dwarf cat I would at least have a thought for these conditions before proceeding and to check for cat health issues. This is good practice anyway and, as mentioned, recommended by The Dwarf Cat Association and by good breeders. Also, by working with a responsible breeder who will speak openly about health issues, you are encouraging sound breeding practices. This is all for the better for dwarf cat breeders and the association as it must always be wise to air (through discussion) cat health issues that people are concerned about.
There is still not enough information about dwarfism in cats it seems. This article is intended to help not criticise.
One final thing; I would suggest that you instruct your own vet, if that is practical, to carry out tests on your intended adopted dwarf cat, as this would provide an independent appraisal.
Sources:
- Wikipedia
- Yahoo Answers
- Sarah Hartwell, MessyBeasts
- www.munchkins.com
- Catvet.homestead.com who refer to:
References:
Boudrieau R et al. Pectus excavatum in dogs and cats. Comp Contin Edu Pract Vet 12(3): 341-355, 1990
Fossum TW et al. Pectus excavatum in eight dogs and six cats. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 25:595-605, 1989
McAnulty JF, Harvey CE. Repair of pectus excavatum by percutaneous suturing and temporary external coaptation in a kitten. J Am Vet Med Assoc 194(8): 1065-1067, 1989
Sturgess C. Flat chested kittens – does taurine have a role to play? Burmese Cat Club News (U.K.), vol 12, no 8, 1995
Sturgess CP, Waters L, Gruffydd-Jones TJ et al. Investigation of the association between whole blood and tissue taurine levels and the development of thoracic deformities in neonatal Burmese kittens. Vet Rec 141:566-570, 1997
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How would a reader know if Sara Hartwell was knowledgeable about genetics? Most people who have knowledge in a specific area usually have a degree or some other credits to their name. Does she have a degree is this area? I have been studying genetics for over 20+ but I don’t claim to be any sort of an expert. I could set up a site and write articles too. Writing articles also does not prove that anyone is an expert in any specific area. When some people read your articles the are impressed with them, but do they know that the information contained in the articles are correct? Or are they impressed because it is a well written article and your statements convinced the reader that the statements within it seem to be true?
Just because you have read many of the authors articles written by Sara or have worked with someone for many years does not mean that you know how much knowledge someone has about a specific area like genetics. I was merely reading articles about the various breeds and came across several statements that I knew were incorrect and thus stated so. After researching some of Sara Hartwell’s information I came across a statement were she admits that she is not a genetics expert. Here statement about genetics were incorrect and I was simply pointing them out. Since she is not a genetics specialist then why are you quoting here statements as though she is? If I were going to quote a statement about genetics in an article I was writing, I would look for statements from a University or person with a degree in genetics. I would not quote a person who clearly states that they are not a specialist or expert on that subject.
From my research I have not found that the Napoleon, or any other dwarf breed is prone to any predisposed decease like the flat chested disorders. I have found that these disorders are some of the disorders that are in all cats. This means that they can occur in any breed or non-breed (domestics)of cats.
The Nap breeders are watching for all the health problems that can occur in cats and they are keeping records so that some day this information could be useful to breed out of all cats. I don’t understand why you have singled out dwarf breeds to write about in your articles that may be prone to these deceases. Singling them out and writing about a general cat decease gives the public a false impression that this decease is prone in this group of cat breeds and thus they should avoid getting one of these breeds for this reason. That was my impression when I read your article.
Why did you pick out just the flat chested deceases to write about in your article about dwarf cats? Why not add all the deceases that cats in general are prone to have? Why not add all these deceases that all cats are prone to have in all the breeds of cats that you are writing articles about? This is a more fair thing to do than to pick out a specific group of breeds of
cats and to pick out a couple related deceases and state that these breeds are prone to these deceases. Even if this is true the way you worded the article did not make it clear the these breeds are no more prone to it than any other breed. I think that is a fair question. If you go to Dr Susan Lions webpage, she states that this is not a breed specific decease. Why did you not make this clear in your article? You seemed to avoid making this clear throughout your article. Instead you quoted a non genetics expert (without a degree) to state the opposite.
Yes I am writing in defense of breeders, because I am a breeder. And I am writing in defense to the group of dwarf breeds because I have researched these breeds and I have decided to breed some of them. I did not make my decision lightly. I made the decision based on the information that the breed that I have chosen to breed, has no known breed specific deceases. After surfing the internet and finding information about the breed, I came across a group of articles that contained information that stated incorrectly about the Napoleon breed. Which articles should I believe? The other articles from people and Universities with degrees and the breeders who have helped to create the breed or your articles?
As a breeder myself for 28 years, my experience does not correspond with some of the information contained in some of your articles. I did however admit to some of the health problems I had with the Persians on the Persian health pages and I found that some of the information in your article to be somewhat true on some specific occasions. But I must point out as you did that not all Persians have these health problems and not all the time. I do not in anyway claim to be an expert in any area of cats. I only make my statements from my specific experiences as I know them to be true. I am not a creative writer such as someone that makes up fictional stories for entertainment purposes. My motives are simply to state that from my experience that some of your articles contain incorrect information and I am questioning some of your quotes and some of your sources. As a reader that is all I can do. And as a reader and a breeder I am powerless to do any more. Since the Internet contains many articles and pages with incorrect or false information, the reader has no power to do anything more than to point out that some of the information is incorrect in a reply such as this. I suggest to all readers who read information on the Internet, please do not automatically assume that the information is true. Check out the sources yourself before you make any important decisions.
Totally agreed. Rebecca is being defensive of cat breeders. Understandable but it has resulted in a slightly insulting comment with respect to Sarah Hartwell and I don’t like that.
Hi Rebecca, thanks for visiting and commenting. I wrote this article about 6 years ago. It was one the first cat articles I wrote and I was very careful and respectful of the dwarf cats and the Dwarf Cat Association. I believe I was fair. The page was carefully researched. Sarah Hartwell can be relied upon to provide quality information and I have credited all the sources carefully. Not many people do that.
You are considered an authority on almost everything to do with the domestic, stray and feral cat. Rebecca is wrong. She is defending the breeding fraternity as I am sure you have guessed, which is odd because I wrote this article in a very respectful and gentle way (for me!).
Sarah, I found Rebecca’s statement very odd.
To say that you have no knowledge of cat genetics is simply absurd.
I have read a lot of your pages, and your writing is careful and very informed.
“Sarah Hartwell is not a breeder or a geneticist. She has no knowledge of cat genetics. ”
Dear Rebecca – I may not be a cat breeder, but I’ve been studying feline genetics for almost 30 years. Which is a long way from having “no knowledge of genetics”. I contributed material to the 4th Edition “Genetics for Cat Breeders & Veterinarians” and sometimes geneticists email me with “have you come across this?” questions.