Thanks Dharma66, that is more up to date link than the one I supplied.

I quote from the article:
I had heard of patellar luxation in some pedigree cats which can also be associated with hip dysplasia and also cow-hocking.

I think the slightly worrying thing is that cats can hide pain very well so some may be suffering in silence, with only those who are in serious trouble showing problems.

BB76 - I think that raising the awareness among breeders of any disease that appears to be an inherited disorder and causes suffering can only be a good thing

__________________
Lauren

Don't Shop Adopt! - Stop Puppy Farming

Battery Farmed Dogs Campaign (Puppy Farming)

HIP DYSPLASIA: A FELINE POPULATION STUDY by G.G.KELLER DVM,MS, A.L.REED D, VM,MS, J.C.LATTIMER DVM,MS, E.A.CORLEY DVM,PHD, published in Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, Vol 40, No. 4, 1999, p p 460-464 gives the following incidences of FHD by breed:

696 cats were studied. The following shows how many of each breed were were found to have FHD over how many of that breed were studied. (for example, of domestics, 35 from 603 werefound to have FHD).

Domestic: 35/603
Abyssinian 0/2
Balinese 0/1
Birman 0/3
Burmese 0/5
Havana 0/1
Himalayan 4/16
Japanese Bobtail 0/1
Manx 0/3
Persian 3/19
Russian Blue 1/2
Siamese 2/28


IMPORTANT NOTE. This is a study of animals that were inspected. Reading those results should not cause alarm. Fro example, you might look at the table and think 'Oh no! Half of Russian Blues have FHD!" The truth is, that is very, very unlikely to be the case. What happened was that two cats of the that breed were examined, and one had it. It may well be that another hundred could be examined, and none of hem have it!

What can be taken from this is that it is definitely not restricted to large cats only. Even a couple of Siamese were found to have the condition.

Another point f interest is tat out of the 81 pedigree cats examined, 12.3% were found to have dysplastic tissue (i.e. to have FHD), whereas 5.8% of domestic cats were affected.

Of the 81 pedigree cats, 40 were male, and 41 female, only 2 males were affected, whereas 8 females were.

This study was of cats presented to the University of Missouri-Columbia Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital from January 1 1991, through December 31 1995.

In Veterinary Gross Anatomy: Twelve Smal Animal Clinical Practice Problems, by Alvin F Weber VM, PhD, case of a Siamese is quoted. his cat was diagnosed with FHD, and was relived of lameness by a minor operation. (See Case 5 in this document)

Prevalence of radiographic signs of degenerative joint disease in a hospital population of cats by
S. P. Clarke, D. Mellor, D. N. Clements, T. Gemmill, M. Farrell, S. Carmichael, D. Bennett from Veterinary Record (2005) 157, 793-799.

This is a study of degenerative joint disease in a hospital population of cats.

Most of the study is concerned wit osteoarthritis, and covers the entire skeletal structure. During the study, it is mentioned that five cases of hip osteoarthritis were found to be caused by FHD. This is from 113 cats, the breed and sex is not specified for those specifically suffering degenerative disease of the hips.

It is interesting that this study and the 'population study' show ~5% and ~6% of cats exhibiting FHD.

There is only one other article I can find reference to that seems really relevant, and it's not available online.

If anyone has a loft full of back issues of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, I'd be really interested in 1979:5, 447-48, Hayes HM, Wilson GP, Burt JK: Feline Hip Dysplasia.

Interesting, so perhaps about 1 in 20.
Of course if a popular pedigree stud or dam line were in fact affected or carriers then that would bump up the percentages in any particular breed.

__________________
Lauren

Don't Shop Adopt! - Stop Puppy Farming

Battery Farmed Dogs Campaign (Puppy Farming)

Indeed. I suspect thats why there's a greater occurrence among pedigrees, due to the reduced gene pool size.

Thank you for all taking the time to read this thread and to share your research - I sincerely hope that the profile of this condition is being raised and every breeder who was not aware of Hip Dysplasia will now ensure they discuss it with their vet before any future breeding is planned. You may also be interested to read about a HD Health Programme which is underway:

PawPeds

Again this highlights the condition, brings awareness that HD is a hereditary defect in cats and more importantly confirms the test that breeding cats should have.

Please do not ignore this test if you are a breeder (especially of BSH cats). Whatever the percentages state I can confirm this is a truly awful condition and not as uncommon as people think and the profile must continue to be raised through all possible avenues. Talk to your vet, add it to your next cat breeding meeting agenda and note on your websites that you test for HD in your breeding line.

Keep posting your research!

I would say the numbers of pedigree cats studied are too small to be statistically significant akthough the incidence in Persians/Himalayans (the same breed in effect) seems rather high (and they are a larger breed)


Interesting anyway.




quote=dharma66;1132408]HIP DYSPLASIA: A FELINE POPULATION STUDY by G.G.KELLER DVM,MS, A.L.REED D, VM,MS, J.C.LATTIMER DVM,MS, E.A.CORLEY DVM,PHD, published in Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, Vol 40, No. 4, 1999, p p 460-464 gives the following incidences of FHD by breed:

696 cats were studied. The following shows how many of each breed were were found to have FHD over how many of that breed were studied. (for example, of domestics, 35 from 603 werefound to have FHD).

Domestic: 35/603
Abyssinian 0/2
Balinese 0/1
Birman 0/3
Burmese 0/5
Havana 0/1
Himalayan 4/16
Japanese Bobtail 0/1
Manx 0/3
Persian 3/19
Russian Blue 1/2
Siamese 2/28


IMPORTANT NOTE. This is a study of animals that were inspected. Reading those results should not cause alarm. Fro example, you might look at the table and think 'Oh no! Half of Russian Blues have FHD!" The truth is, that is very, very unlikely to be the case. What happened was that two cats of the that breed were examined, and one had it. It may well be that another hundred could be examined, and none of hem have it!

What can be taken from this is that it is definitely not restricted to large cats only. Even a couple of Siamese were found to have the condition.

Another point f interest is tat out of the 81 pedigree cats examined, 12.3% were found to have dysplastic tissue (i.e. to have FHD), whereas 5.8% of domestic cats were affected.

Of the 81 pedigree cats, 40 were male, and 41 female, only 2 males were affected, whereas 8 females were.

This study was of cats presented to the University of Missouri-Columbia Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital from January 1 1991, through December 31 1995.[/quote]

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Worth noting on that study is the low numbers of cats parcipitating. A total of 78 cats and add to that of various breeds. 8 different breeds to be exact. If divided somewhat equal not even 10 cats from each breed. I quote:

...Dr. Smith was unable to determine whether the hip laxity profiles found in this particular pool of cats is representative of the cat population at large...

What is interesting is the relationship between PL and HD the researcher found. PL can be diagnosed without x-rays and according to this study it might be adviceable to x-ray the hips of a cat diagnosed with PL.

I don't x-ray my cats for HD but I do have them checked for PL so should I ever have a cat diagnosed with PL I'd probably have it's hips x-rayed.