Health Issues

When people talk about Norwegian Forest Cats, they refer to them as healthy cats, with few if any health problems. Until I got involved with breeding NFC's/NFO's, I too agreed with this comment. But there are in fact some health problems. Over the last 10 years or so more and more problems seem to be appearing in NFC's, not in huge numbers, but sufficient enough for people to be asking about specific problems - Diabetes, Cancer, heart problems - including HCM, tail faults of varying degrees, Chronic Renal failure, Polycistic Kidney Disease and Hip Dysplasia to name just a few. Some people lay the blame for many of the problems with too much "inbreeding" - ie a single cat may appear in a pedigree many times.

It also seems that few people seem to care about some of these problems and knowingly work with cats with some of these problems in their lines. Others may be working with them unwittingly as people are not always honest when it comes to health problems.

I can remember a few years ago when a breeder reported a number of cats that she has bred as having developed diabetes at varying early ages. When she undertook to found out the possible cause or causes, she was accused of being on a witchhunt, as she only wanted to find out the origins of the problem in order to victimise someone.

Once this article has been read, I too will no doubt be on the receiving end of this same label. However I intend to have my say in order to raise awareness generally amongst breeders and I am not going on a witch hunt - what has happened has happened and a witchhunt would change nothing at all. (I have in fact been receiving harrassment over the content of my site since January 2003).

If you have read any of my site you will be aware that in 1994 I bought 2 girls, 2 litter sisters in fact - Sonja and Marit. They were originally bought as pets, but the breeder encouraged us to breed them. The mating that produced Sonja and Marit has to the best of my knowledge never been repeated and they were the only 2 cats from this mating ever to go for breeding. In 1995 I chose 2 studs to go to. A different one for each of the girls, as they needed different traits that needed improving. It happened that these 2 boys were father and son. The mating that I performed with Sonja has never been repeated. Marit however was mated to the same boy twice. Therefore the specific problems that I have experienced are most likely exclusive to my cats and their offspring.

So in 1995 Sonja was mated. In June 1995 Sonja produced 5 kittens, 3 white like the father (2 boys and a girl) and 2 brown tabby and white like her (2 boys). From Sonja's litter I kept 2 whites for myself, a boy (Dagwood) and a girl (Madame Mani). The other 3 kittens, Thorald, Tormey and Skerry were all sold.

When Thorald (another white boy) was about 9 months old, I received a telephone call from his owner to say that he had been put to sleep as it was suspected that he might possibly have diabetes, or possibly renal failure and could not be treated. The diagnoses however had not been confirmed with either blood tests or a post mortem so a true cause for his euthanasia is unknown.

The rest of Sonja's kittens progressed well and continued to grow up with no problems. Sonja was spayed in late 1995, mainly because I didn't think that she could produce a litter any better than the one she already had produced, and there didn't seem any point in breeding just for the sake of it. My goal after all was to improve the breed if I could and not to keep the status quo. However Sonja also didn't enjoy the responsibility of being a mum.

In late 1998, I was to get another shock. I received a telephone call to say that Tormey the brown tabby and white boy in Sonja's litter had been put to sleep with CRF. I couldn't believe it. This time it had been confirmed by blood tests and in the vets opinion nothing could be done and so Tormey was put to sleep.

Time moved on with no more bad news and Sonja and Marit seemed to be fit and healthy and were nearing their 6th birthday. Apart from annual boosters the girls never saw the vet. Little did I know that things were about to change.

In May 2000 I noticed that Sonja was salivating a great deal and also went around with her tongue out most of the same. I watched this behaviour for a couple of days and then took her to the vet for a check up. The vet looked inside her mouth and found a tooth on its side. The vet decided that this was the problems and that once it was removed the situation should right itself. As it was only a minor operation the vet decided to deal with the tooth straight away. So I went home and left her there to have her tooth extracted. Unfortunately it was not as straight forward as that. I received a telephone call to say that in fact Sonja had a large number of loose teeth in her mouth. The teeth themselves were in good condition, it was the gums that had "loosened" and therefore the teeth were insecure. This had prompted them to do a blood test. As a result of the test they diagnosed Chronic Renal Failure. When I went to collect her that evening the vet said that he had removed about 12 teeth including her canines as they were all just sitting in their sockets waiting to fall out. Sonja spent the next 2 years receiving treatment and having her weight monitored. Sonja responded well to the treatment and only had her blood tests done every 6 months or so. In May 2002 her levels were back to those of a "normal" cat. Her kidney function although still impaired was coping. Cats with CRF have been known to live with it for a number of years following diagnosis. Many vets still recommend that a cat with CRF is put to sleep, thankfully mine did not. At the moment Sonja continues to hold her own in her battle against CRF.

The situation with another of her offspring however is not yet as good. See Dagwood's Story.

A mother and 2 sons all with CRF cannot be a coincidence. As expressed by our vet a genetic weakness is likely to exist in this Klatringkatt line somewhere. It is therefore unlikely that anyone can ascertain exactly where this weakness may be or come from. Sonja and Marit are at least spayed and can no longer pass the problem on ( IF there is one).

In the meantime we can only hope that any future owners of cats with links to Marit are aware of our cats' health issues and take a clear and balanced view in light of our situation. At least by writing this people cannot say that they were never made aware of any POSSIBLE health issues.