Pure breds and health

Have you noticed that pure bred cats, and dogs for that matter, have more health issues than mixed breeds? My sister had a pure bred Persian that spent more time in the vet's than any other cat we ever owned. Not to mention that little fur ball was the most ornery cat I have ever met. It refused to use the litter box, just went where it wanted to, which included the countertops!

Do your pure bred cats have more health issues?

 

Oh, yes they do. They are always so sensitive. They have skin issues and upset stomachs all of the time. Poor kitties. I wonder why that is. Is it some genetics problem?

 

This seems to be biologically proven for most creatures not just cats as the more inbred something is the weaker it's genes tend to be and this can result in genetic disorders or weaknesses. It's a shame though as some breeds are gorgeous and have wonderful personality traits. I guess people just have to accept that if they buy a pure breed they might have to fork out down the road for expensive procedures and treatment. Although of course some people have pure breeds who never get sick or develop illnesses.

 

From what I have read, the only purebreds which do not have this problem with disease are probably the Savannahs and the Bengals. Maybe that's because they still are not that far removed from wild cats.

 

Yes this is very true, the more inbred a species is, even humans there is an increased risk of genetic disorders and illnesses. It makes sense if you think about it. If two different lines come together from a different genetic makeup, a majority of the time genetic disorders and illnesses are recessive, which means they will not manifest unless there are two recessive genes (one from each parent) coming together. You increase the likelihood that this happens with inbreeding. There have been speculations that some societies and cultures like Jewish and countries in Asia such as Japan that this is why there are so many different illnesses and handicaps so to speak. We were talking about how nearly everyone we know who is of Asian descent of some kind needs to wear glasses for example or they are also lactose intolerant.
It is quite a shame when it comes to dogs and cats, because they can be such beautiful creatures, however I do wonder how bad that is for them. It's a lot of the reason incest is so frowned upon. Think back to some of the royal families in Europe who had hemophilia commonly pop up in their young boys.

 

Yes, I almost brought up hemophilia as an example as I remember learning about it during a lesson on genetics in high school. I agree with what you wrote about humans also. I always wondered growing up if that's why I had good eye sight and health compared to my father's side of the family who are European and all have glasses. I'm seriously the only one without glasses. My mum's side of the family is Polynesian with a little Asian and German so I'm quite ethnically mixed. My step dad's family is 100% English and the family shares and suffers from a multitude of illnesses such as Cancer. Almost every member of his family has had to be treated for Cancer and a few have passed away.

Anyhow on the subject of cats thanks Victor Leigh for telling us about the Savannah and Bengal cats. That's certainly interesting that the more wild they are the less they seem to be affected by disease!

 

Personally I look at this as Nature's way of rewarding those who have the courage to go far afield to find their mates. Also it puts the lie to the myth of the superiority of pure races. The truth of the matter is actually that the mixed breeds are superior by far.

 

Yes, this was the same response that my biology professor gave when going of the genetics talk. I had to agree. Makes sense.