Keeping cats
1. Introduction. Keeping cats is often more difficult than people think. When it comes to “loving” a cat many breeders start afresh. Nevertheless, in praxis considerations are sometimes made which harm the cat’s interest. In the other meaning of “loving”: (caring for and housing of), many breeders act wrongly. Every human being has a consideration mechanism which is partly emotional and partly rational. You could call it “ethics”. This means – for everyone personally- a feeling concerning what is right and what is wrong. It is a consideration which, if you acknowledge your own responsibility, raises a need “to do something about it”; i.e. turn right into wrong and/or prevent things.
The collective perception of a group of people first of all leads to group-ethics, a collective sense of standards which corrects deviating visions (mostly “more extended” visions). The group may then decide to take the responsibility and settle down the standards in legislations and instructions. And this is the point where we (as breeder, cat lover) have problems, because how do we translate every day’s complications and nuances in a legislation which does justice to all involved interests?
In the Cat Fancy there are many things which urgently need adjustment. If we look back on the changes which a number of breeds have gone through during the last couple of decades, the only thing we can conclude is that things have gone wrong. Many breeds are confronted with hereditary deviations. Besides, due to a conscious selection on extreme characteristics, cats are bred which are hindered in their biological functioning. Nevertheless, we hopefully all agree that we may not breed cats which are doomed to live a life with a bad health/well-being. Nevertheless they are born although in some cases people could have prevented that. In most cases, however not, at least not with short-term measurements.
Unless we are prepared to sweep away whole breeds by intervening rigorously by means of breed bans (the direct method) or by means of over selection on none of the characteristics (indirect method), we will have to apply other methods. We will have to correct but with a certain policy. Adjustments will have to take place in a subtle way if we wish to prevent that the means is worse than the evil.
Before we will discuss the present situation of our purebred cats we will first look back on the origin of the purebred cat.
2. The origin of the purebred cat Although the cat has been domesticated for thousands of years now, breeding consciously has only started recently. It was Mr. Harrison Weir who had the brilliant idea to organize a cat exhibition on 13th July 1871. He also formulated the first "Points of Excellence", the forerunner of the present breed standards. Many people got infected with the “cat fever” and after this first exhibition for cats many other exhibitions followed.
Breeding different breeds consciously also started, people formulated standards and started. In this way the cat was promoted from mouser to elegant socialite. Since cats, other than dogs, aren’t suitable for hunting, material arts, guarding etc people concentrated on the appearance of the animal. The cat exhibitions were (and are) therefore pure beauty contests since the cats are almost only judged on their appearance. The character and health of the animal are of minor importance.
After the 2nd WW breeding and keeping purebred cats really increased. It used to be a hobby only for the 'happy few', but thanks to the increasing wealth more and more people could afford this hobby. The fact that a vaccine against the dreaded cats’ disease had been developed gave breeding a huge impulse.
By means of selecting certain characteristics many new breeds were created next to the “natural” breeds like amongst others: Siamese, Blue Russian and Turkish Angora. The natural breeds were also made perfect by means of selection. Only few breeds have maintained their original appearance, the (Blue) Russian is an example of this.
Form- and color variants keep arising in each plant- and animal population because spontaneous hereditary changes occur: mutations. Under natural circumstances most of them disappear again, but with the breeding of purebred casts many of these mutations have been maintained and set down.
3. Causes of problems with purebred cats In the Cat Fancy we don’t only wish to maintain the breeds but also to improve them. In breed standards it is set down which exterior demands the ideal representative of a certain breed must meet. Breeders try to approach this ideal image as much as possible. Their reward: titles and cups on exhibitions.
The striving for “improvement”, however, and especially in the last 2 decades has largely contributed to the problems which we can observe with our cat breeds nowadays.
The cat turned from a practical animal (exterminating vermins), which had to manage himself, in a spoilt pet. In the meantime the cat is cared for and gets sympathy just like the dog. In the past a hard natural selection took place against everything that was weak or otherwise not well. Also, our present kindness, towards not optimal functioning animals, has a clear drawback which largely contributes to the problem.
To a larger extent the veterinary science offered possibilities to solve all kinds of diseases. Although a blessing for the individual, it often is a curse for the breed, because herewith we eliminate a part of the selection based on vitality. In other words: Mostly “hothouse plants” are kept alive and are used for breeding.
Since there are, as already mentioned earlier, no other possibilities to compare cats with each other within the Cat Fancy, people focused on comparing the appearance and based on that chose the best cats. In the meantime we can establish that too often compromises have been reached, at the expense of the health and well-being of the cat. Unfortunately we must even establish that health and well-being has sometimes never played a role in either breeding or inspecting.
Also, an improper formulation and interpretation of the standards and the registration of pedigrees caused a huge problem: crossing in not-related genetical material was ended. “Pure-bred” cats came into being. By applying a rigorous selection on the “right” type the process of loosing hereditary material was started. Within Cat Fancy you can still find many “purists” among the breeders.
The process was reinforced due to conscious or unconscious application of line breeding. Some breeders understood that they, by applying line breeding, could breed the desired type much more directed. Other breeders unconsciously executed line breeding since they didn’t have enough knowledge and insight. For these reasons we lost many of the feno- (and of course geno-) typical variation, which occurs as soon as animals with a different hereditary appearance are mutually mated. In itself, if the population is large enough, and each breeder breeds his own line, inbreeding doesn’t have to cause problems concerning the quality and future of the breed. On the contrary, the application might have large advantages. The problems only occur if breeders make use of the same tomcats on a large scale. This concerns the tomcats which are very successful on exhibitions. In this way all lines (within a breed) are related to each other and except for some good, also the harmful genes of a couple of “Euro champs” are passed to the whole breed. This also explains the “sudden”, sometimes explosive, growth in hereditary deviations with a couple of breeds.
For some breeds the formulation of standards had drastic consequences, more drastic than the serious reduction of the gene pool, which we described earlier. Many people intend to exaggerate. If the standard mentioned that each cat should have a slender build, people started looking for the thinnest cat. A short snout must be as short as possible and a wide skull couldn’t therefore be wide enough. Because of this people disrupted the balance between exterior and the functional coupled characteristics. It is pretty simple to, through directed selection, drastically change an aspect of the cat’s appearance; selection on extreme characteristics like with the Persian and Siamese.
An other aspect which played a role is the fact that the possibilities for veterinary intervention have improved enormously. The fact that not much is known concerning the cat and his genes causes even more problems. Not every breeder understands that certain problems with their cats have a hereditary cause and that breeding with the “repaired” cats causes the same problems to the next generations. A certain blurring of moral standards has even occurred, people reason: “A good functioning with the help of veterinarian interventions” is also a good functioning? The individual interest is the most important and the interests of the total breed population fade into the background. Also, the fact that many breeders are only busy with their own “shop” hampers the situation enormously.
4. Mid-term review Primary the purebred breeding is a world in which the individual interests are most important. This doesn’t only go for the cats, but also for the people. Cat breeders are individuals whom based on the knowledge and insight they have try to strive for their ideals with the breed they love the most. The contributions of all these individual breeders give the result that the public experiences the breed as such. However, the problem is that the choices and priorities of the individual breeders of a breed are not always for the benefit of the whole breed population. It mostly concerns sub- optimizing: the breeder makes a well-considered choice within her/his cattery for the next generation but long-term this choice might be catastrophic for the whole breed population. An example is that many breeders go to the same cover tomcat with their female cats. Finally, the result is not for the benefit of the breed because the genetic variation will further increase because of this. A too strict selection on exterior “beauty” also influences the decline of genetical diversity within a breed.
Can the present situation with “problem breeds” be solved? That is the question. With a number of cat breeds hereditary deviations (and functional problems with a – very probably- hereditary basis) occur more often than acceptable.
Experience in a number of breeding programs shows, that it can almost always be solved. With an adequate selection program and of course a breeding policy focused on prevention, most problems can drastically be reduced within some generations (5-10 years). We mustn’t forget that hereditary deviations and disturbances are part of life. It is an utopia to think hink that all hereditary deviations could be prevented or exterminated. There isn’t a single selection and prevention program which could realize a complete elimination of whatever hereditary “shortcoming”. You can however reduce the frequencies to an acceptable level.
5. Possible solutions Like mentioned before, it isn’t too late to reduce the problems within the cat breeding to an acceptable level. A condition is that we must tackle this case on all fronts. A. Acknowledgment policy. First of all there is an important role for the government (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries). The government’s task is the following: The government must create a legal frame in which the Cat Fancy can operate. LNV can realize this by means of an acknowledgment policy concerning the pedigree and the exhibition of cats. At this moment anyone can ground a new cat club if you don’t like the statues and regulations, which the existing cat clubs handle. B. Central pedigree registration. Until now all 14 cat clubs in Holland have their own pedigree. Only by means of centralization it will be possible to register and make an inventory of the problems which occur at each breed. C. Duty to report health and/or well-being problems. We could set up a duty to report for the breeders and veterinaries in this field. These data also need to be registered centrally. D. Breed and advice committee. A breed and advice committee should be installed in which external experts would take place. These experts could set up a breeding plan per breed by means of the information of the central pedigree registration and other data supplied by breeders and veterinarians. They could also advise the individual breeder. Such a committee should consist of at least a geneticist, a veterinarian and a number of external experts. E. Smoother pedigree registration. Many breeds have the rule that the cats may only be crossed in with representatives of that breed. An inventory should be made in which cases you are allowed to and should deviate from this F. Standard adaptations. At this moment it is possible to give diverse, usually deviating interpretations to certain standards. Also, too many standards leave little room for breeding certain characteristics on a large scale. It should be observed which standards should be adapted. This could take place in consultation with inspectors and external experts. G. Inspectors. The present inspectors should follow a retraining or extra training which should emphasize the health and well-being aspects which a certain testing policy brings. Prospective inspectors must be offered a course which gives more attention to the health and well-being of the cat and in which they learn to see the “interest” of a certain desired appearance in its true perspective. All inspectors must be convinced that they are co-responsible for the destiny of a certain breed. H. Change in mentality. Cat breeders will have to be convinced that, although breeding cats is a hobby, it isn’t fully without obligations. You are responsible, both legally and morally for the well-being of the cats you have and the kittens you breed. The average breeder must start cooperating with other breeders much more in the future for the benefit of the breed’s well-being. The interests of the breed are ore more important than the own catteries’ interest. Also, the willingness to participate in various researches must be much larger than it is now. I. Generating knowledge and transfer of knowledge. More contacts will have to be made between on the one hand scientists and on the other hand breeders. Until now both groups have trouble finding each other. Further, more research will have to take place concerning the cat. Still, less is known and in many fields we are in the dark. Of course funds will have to be created in order to bear the cost of such research. J. Breeding bans? The RDA, advisory body on behalf of the government, has made a report “Breeding with recreation animals” with a list of candidates consisting of harmful hereditary characteristics. You also find a weigh model: a method for classifying the “seriousness” of hereditary deviations. The weigh model starts from the criterions “health”, “well-being” and “integrity” and besides also considers the “the extent of prevention”. After reading this report the conclusion is that, according to the RDA, a number of cat breeds are qualified for a breeding ban, such as: 1) The Munchkin 2) The Manx 3) The Scottish/Highland Fold 4) The Sphynx
At the moment the Munchkin has 6 specimens in Holland. It is a very young “breed” based on a simple dominant inherited deviation. The Consultation Platform of the Dutch Cat Fancy (OP), almost all cat clubs in Holland join this platform, supports a breeding and exhibition ban (based on preventing health and/or well-being problems within certain breeds) of the Munchkin and the Scottish/Highland Fold. The OP doesn’t fid this necessary for the Manx and the Sphynx. Of course the breeders of the Munchkin and Fold defend their animals and refuse a breeding and exhibition ban. The problem however is that hardly any research has taken place concerning the health and well-being problems which could exist within the 4 breeds mentioned. An other problem is the fact that within the Cat Fancy there isn’t a broad basis for carrying out breeding bans. A compromise might be to make the above mentioned 4 breeds a ward of court during 10 years and release them after it has been proved indisputably that it concerns “healthy” breeds. Banning these 4 breeds unscrupulously would only shift the problem from “aboveground” to “underground copyright Y.E.W. Heuzen 1999 Consulted literature:
A Standard Guide to Cat Breeds, Pond G. and Raleigh I., 1979, MacMillan, London. Verantwoord houden van honden, het begint met verantwoord fokken!, Gubbels E.J. March 1999. Fokken met recreatiedieren, rapport van de Werkgroep fokken met recreatiedieren van de Raad voor dierenaangelegenheden, June 1998. Veterinary Genetics, Nicholas. F.W., 1987, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Genetics of the Dog, Willis, M.B, 1989, Howell Book House, New York. ??