I would love to purchase a Maine Coon kitty, but I am very concerned about the genetics of cardiomyopathy. Do you know what percentage of Maine Coons have this? I have had 5 mixed breed cats pass away in the past 18 months due to different health issues, and I know it would push me over the edge to go through this one more time (all were under 1 year old).

Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2001

Answers

I am so sorry to hear about your loss of five furbabies in the last 18 months. I lost one cat to cardiomyopathy three years ago, and it was devastating, so I know what you must be going through.

I also heard that main coons sometimes get this disease. I have a main coon that is 9 years old now, and when my mixed-breed died of that disease I called the breeder where I got my main coon from and asked him what he knows about it. He said he has never heard of any of his cats getting cardiomyopathy. Of course, I am no expert on this, but I believe that if you go to a reputable breeder, a main coon will not have a higher risk of becoming ill than any other cat. They are so wonderful and beautiful, the main coons. He is my one "designer" cat among my other mixed-breed cats.

Good luck.

Alex

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Hello Laurie,

I'm also very sorry to hear about the loss of your cats. You wondered if cardiomyopathie was a regular disease on Maine Coons. I will try to tell you our experience with this disease, I come from Holland so please forgive any bad spelling. About two years ago my Maine Coon male was diagnosed with this disease; it started really strange: one night we heard a big noise in the garden and we thought that our two males were having a bit of a fight, when we checked it out we would find our MC laying on the ground, could not move his behind legs at all, and had major respiratory difficulties; his mouth and tongue were blue. After about ten minutes he seemed to be fine; as quickly as it came up, it was also gone.. Very strange!! When we talked to the vet he told us that the cat was suffering from cardiomyopathie. He got some pills for his heart and they helped for about half a year, and then all of a sudden on a hot summerday it was over. Looking back I can say that this cat was a very heavy breather, even when he was a sleep, he would breathe very intense, extremily deep in a way. Unfortunately this male cat was used for breeding, by his previous owners, and we also had a daughter by him. She was diagnosed with the same disease, but is still living and doing very well, has never been sick in her life. According to the vet the cats become sick when they are about 4 years old; in his case that was right, his daughter will be 4 in 5 months, so fingers crossed!! Because we were not the first owners it was a bit more difficult to check his pedigree, but with the help from his breeder I did found out that, for example, his brother suddenly died on the age of 3; just fell from the table and was gone instantly, that his father also died really young. But on the other hand, some babies from that litter of eight are still doing extremily well. What I wanted to say is that there ofcourse is always a risk, but when you buy your MC from a responsible breeder, and perhaps do a bit of investigation to the familymembers on the pedigree; are some real old cats still alive, can the breeder show you some kittens out of previous litters by the same mother or father. And I was told that cardiomyopathie can be diagnosed at the age of 8 weeks. At this time I have the brother of my cat living with us, he is now 1,5 years old, came from the same breeder, has a different father and has no heart difficulties what so ever... He recently gave me a beautiful silver tabby kitten, with a perfect heart also!!! I really hope you will be very lucky with your new Maine Coon. try to look at it in a positive way, and with checking the ancestors of the cat you are thinking to purchase, you can minimize the risk. I would really like to hear from you in the future, telling us all about your new cat. Best of luck!!!!!!!!! Marion

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001