Thread: Should I get my kitten tested for HCM? 50% chance she has one gene

Thats where I had mine done....
If she is heterozygous she is still in the minority of those that will go onto develop HCM,what is there to say another gene won't be found out there that will also need to be bred out to help with reducing the HCM risk,it is still not saying that a negative will not go on to develop HCM all these things are doing is helping to promote the best breeding lines possible to reduce the possibility,if everything in life could be proven to be 100% guarantee against anything wouldn't it be grand for both for us & our little angels,but....
If you are going to keep thinking of the negatives you will already be distancing yourself "just in case" but I am sure you are not & will continue to luv her more each day,I thought I would be able to "distance"myself from our little flat chested girl that we thought we were taking on to give her a super family life for however short a period it was but by the time we had driven four hours home I knew it would break my heart if she died that night,well here we are several years later & guess who is still with us,no way are you not going to be able to send the swab off now you have gone that far,be strong,sit down when that envelope comes through the door {remember I had three to look at}take a deep breath & we will all be here on the end of the forum for you,in fact in the not too distant future I will be joining you as I am having my other three done,but whatever the outcome I will continue to love them just as much & so will you,it might never happen & chances are it won't...xxx

Thank you so much!!

You are right, theres no way I could distance myself.. I thought today if it came back positive what would I do- would I go back to the breeder and maybe see if she would home her AND THERES NO FLIPPING WAY!!! I am completely and utterly obsessed with this little girl and head over heels in love already- I think she's only been here for 10 days and my heart belongs to her entirely- it did from the first viewing! I really do need to get some pics on here as she is gorgeous, but my partner has gone to Wales walking with a friend all weekend and taken the camera Grrrr. Means Im cat sitting our angel though all to myself

The swabs actually came today! Wasnt expecting them so quick.. I ordered 4 just incase lol. Looking through the forms it appears that you need a vet stamp, so we can only send the swab off when Merry has been to our vets. I planned to do this anyway in a couple of weeks, to get another general health check and have her weighed. The form also asks for her microchip number, but the breeder didnt get her chipped and so we need to do that too..

Incidentally, i emailed the breeder yesterday asking whether she had had any of the litter tested for hcm, as there was a 50:50 chance they had inherited the gene from the mating; I asked as there were two girls in the litter, both brown tabby and the breeder wanted to keep one of them.. when i asked what had made her decide on the other kitten she said the shade of brown, but if I were her i would have got them tested and then let the results decide me.. The dam of the litter is the one who is hetero but she is 6/7 years old and hasnt shown any heart problems yet touch wood. I havent heard back from the breeder yet which is a bit unusual but if she knows something I dont I would rather she say.. TBH I will prob get Merry tested anyway, I trust Langfords implicitly. Our first MC Tinkerbell Twinkletoes was under their care for her last couple of days and although I did not drop her off at the hospital my partner did and he was pretty impressed. It is very hard to impress him so I was reassured that he was so confident in their abilities.

Merry is due another worming/flea treatment at 14 weeks- her third i do believe- and then we shall get her chipped and tested.

I shall update here! Thank you JC
Lolly xx

Unless it has changed you can do a swab & send it off yourself it only needs to go through the vets if you need an official signature on it say if you are a breeder or its a kitten going for breeding & the new owners would want it all done officially. You are right about it seeming a bit strange that the breeder perhaps didn't have the babes tested before keeping one for breeding as now her aim should be to do it with only negative breeding stock,also strange that she hasn't got back to you,perhaps you are treading a bit too close for comfort but you will know for yourself soon & Merry already seems to be doing what MC's are good at pulling those heart strings tight.....
Will look forward to the camera's return & some photos plus all the updates...x