Cat inbreeding causes what is described as “inbreeding depression” which is another term for general weakness. Robinson’s Genetics for Breeders and Veterinarians provides a list of signs of inbreeding depression which are as follows:
- There may be a decline in birth weight. The kittens may be small, thin or lethargic.
- The kittens may demonstrate developmental problems. There may be poor growth in later life and below standard adult individuals.
- The average litter size may be reduced. There may be an increase in the number of stillborn or abnormal kittens in litters.
- Reproductive performance may be negatively affected. The male my demonstrate a reluctance to copulate. The female may show a reluctance to come into heat. Either sex may show partial sterility.
- At any stage of development there may be a greater proneness to illness. For example, a regular appearance of cancer in younger animals. There may be a loss of immunological diversity which can cause significant losses of cats or kittens to the same disease.
- There may be physical signs such as asymmetry in the face, crooked noses, uneven eye size or alignment and misaligned jaws. Does coat pattern symmetry mean good health?
To this list I would add one more: a lack of intelligence or poor cognitive function. I have seen this in inbred British Shorthair cats. It is noticeable. The cat is dull and slow moving.
Only one of the above examples may be present. There may be a small but detectable deterioration in a number of the above symptoms. Inbreeding depression may come on gradually. It may affect some individuals and not others.
The point is this: some cats do carry deleterious genes and these deleterious genes may make their presence felt due to inbreeding.
There is an interesting story on the Internet today which is essentially about the inbreeding of Persian cats. Somebody who had purchased three Persian cats gave up on them and abandoned them. They were dumped outside an animal shelter (Woodside Animal Welfare Trust) in the UK.
The founder of the shelter, Carole Bowles, says that over the last 10 years they have had Persian cats dumped at the gate at least once a year. It would seem that local buyers are buying from the same breeder who is inbreeding her cats.
The founder of the shelter adds that on every occasion the Persian cats have had health issues which she says are commonly related to inbreeding or poor breeding. Sometimes the cats are so unwell that they have lost their fight for life. Other times they can be restored to reasonable health and adopted out. Inherent defects in inbred Persians cannot be cured such as tear duct overflow and poor breathing.
In this story of Persian cat abandonment, the cats arrived fearful and in bad health but the shelter did a very nice job and they are now less fearful and looking for attention. However, people who donate to a cat shelter should not be picking up the pieces left behind by irresponsible cat breeders who inbreed their cats while focusing on appearance. It is ironic that so often inbred Persian cats look weedy, ill, ugly and fragile. They do not look like healthy pet cats. So much for breeding for appearance.
When cat inbreeding is bad the “product” is ugly and the business is ugly too.
Here is a chart indicating in the degree of inbreeding in purebred cats:
Story source: devonlive.com.
This is horrible. We think my cat may be inbred. He was born on June 2nd, his mother abandoned him in a pile of black sand. We think he’s an inbred due to him always being in pain, we can’t pick him up because he cries all the time. We don’t have the money to take him to the vet and my mother thinks he’s an inbred and that his muscles aren’t developed as much as they should be.
Jasper, if you can afford it, it would make sense to have him checked out by a vet. There may be a simple explanation. It certainly sounds like he is in pain. Please have him checked out and thanks for commenting.
This is really sad because my husband and I are dealing with a Persian cat that we purchased, we’ve always adopted, and he is 6 months old and is having liver dysfunctions. Our vet suggested he was inbred because of his poor health and the breeder denied him ever being sick. The vet told us he was born with a liver disease and the breeder would have definitely known. He’s pooping blood 15 times a day and we’ve been to the vet more times than I have with my 8 year old dog, we’ve been to specialists and it’s like pulling teeth to fix our baby kitten. He’s supposed to have a stint put in his liver and a few other things, but they just keep running tests. I feel sorry for the cats that people abandon because of their health problems. We would never be able to do that because it’s not their fault they are not well.
I posted a picture of our handsome boy before his symptoms got worse.
Thank you for commenting, Kristen. I’m sorry to hear about your person cat. In my opinion both Persians and Siamese cats are the worst in respect of inbreeding. They are also two of the longest members of the cat fancy. Breeders have had longer to have had their way with these cats in terms of selective breeding. It is said that about 35% of Persians of polycystic kidney disease as well. We don’t see the number of Persian cats which have been badly bred and which have anatomical defects such as oversized eyes and undershot jaws etc.
My emergency vet wanted to do the same and said the same thing about my cat(pictured above).i came home one day and the was glowing bright yellow.they told me it would be around $1200.otherwise send him home with antibiotics and the he would most likely die..
They even went as fear as printing it in the discharge papers.i cried all night.but the next day he literally pepped up like nothing was wrong.so don’t give up on your baby. he’s fighting for something out just might be for you.my cat sleeps all day and has the same litter box problems and bad teeth problems you mentioned.and my cat is 8yrs.old.i just wanted to give you some encouragement.
This is so sad!
Yes it is. There is a lot of it.
Those poor babies. So heartbreaking! It should be illegal. Humans don’t do it with each other and shouldn’t do it to animals.
Agreed. It should be illegal. How we can let this happen is beyond me. I just shows how little humanity cares about animal welfare. Thankfully there are many people who do care but our voices are not strong enough.
No one applying for a commercial kennel license has to have one shred of knowledge about breeding beyond being able to obtain intact male and female animals. The USDA requires that puppy mills have a vet on staff or on call but what kind of veterinarian of any worth would work for a puppy mill or any mass production breeding operation except bottom feeders.
Yes, ME, no one is watching the cat breeders. It is the same with dog breeders. Certainly so in the UK. The cat associations condone bad breeding as far as I am concerned.
Judges reward it and then the deformity becomes the norm.
I do not believe there are any requirements for breeding other than the ability to buy the animals.
Ugly and Cruel} Eva say’s
Agreed. I happens quite a lot.