- Joined
- Jun 16, 2013
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- 146
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Hi everyone. Please forgive me for the long message and for my bad english: I'm italian and I need a lot more words to get my point across 
My beloved Fletcher has almost surely some persian background: when I decided to get a kitten (my first one) I read everything on how to properly take care of him, but it wasn't until after I got him that I learned about backyard breeding, genetic issues and other problems related to irresponsible breeding of cats. It's not that I didn't want to learn, but I didn't even suspect that there was some deeper knowledge to gain.
I was set on a longhair kitten, I didn't care about breed and when I saw a lady advertising a litter of persian-cross kittens I fell in love and decided to take one (I did not pay for it except for a small adoption fee). I was fairly sure she was lying about his persian background just to get him adopted easily, because neither one of his parents had the flat faces that I used to associate with persians - which I did and do not like much. I later learned about so-called "traditional" persians and pet-quality persians, I read a lot about the breed and I now think it's likely that my kitten is the result of irresponsible breeding of persian-crosses. (He was given to me at 6 weeks of age: I knew even then that it was not ok but the owner told me that this was either me or someone else or the pound, but that he HAD to go at that moment. I took him, only to discover later that they kept his siblings a good while longer and that they sold the parents too!! I hate these people.)
So, now that I learned a lot about irresponsible breeding of persians I am obsessed with the possibility of him having hereditary PKD. I spoke about it with our vet and he basically told me that there was no point in testing him for it since if the disease is there it will show eventually anyway. But I need to know if there's something – really, ANYTHING – I could do to prevent or delay its development (IF, that is, the disease is present). Like feeding him a particular diet or paying attention to his bathroom habits and such.
Right now he's almost 8 months old, neutered and happily spoiled. He eats only high quality (no cereal) wet food 4 times a day, he plays with us and we are considering getting him a little companion within the next few months.
Is it of some use to get him tested anyway? Is there anything I can do to identify the disease in time, should it ever manifest itself? Do I have to pay attention to any particular sign?
I feel like I should remark that I have no particular reason to believe him to have PKD other than the fact that I know he is the result of poor breeding of persians. I know that his parents were not tested (I asked the owners) and they were too young to show symptoms, so I have no way of knowing.
Now, here's some pictures of the little goofball
Thank you all
My beloved Fletcher has almost surely some persian background: when I decided to get a kitten (my first one) I read everything on how to properly take care of him, but it wasn't until after I got him that I learned about backyard breeding, genetic issues and other problems related to irresponsible breeding of cats. It's not that I didn't want to learn, but I didn't even suspect that there was some deeper knowledge to gain.
I was set on a longhair kitten, I didn't care about breed and when I saw a lady advertising a litter of persian-cross kittens I fell in love and decided to take one (I did not pay for it except for a small adoption fee). I was fairly sure she was lying about his persian background just to get him adopted easily, because neither one of his parents had the flat faces that I used to associate with persians - which I did and do not like much. I later learned about so-called "traditional" persians and pet-quality persians, I read a lot about the breed and I now think it's likely that my kitten is the result of irresponsible breeding of persian-crosses. (He was given to me at 6 weeks of age: I knew even then that it was not ok but the owner told me that this was either me or someone else or the pound, but that he HAD to go at that moment. I took him, only to discover later that they kept his siblings a good while longer and that they sold the parents too!! I hate these people.)
So, now that I learned a lot about irresponsible breeding of persians I am obsessed with the possibility of him having hereditary PKD. I spoke about it with our vet and he basically told me that there was no point in testing him for it since if the disease is there it will show eventually anyway. But I need to know if there's something – really, ANYTHING – I could do to prevent or delay its development (IF, that is, the disease is present). Like feeding him a particular diet or paying attention to his bathroom habits and such.
Right now he's almost 8 months old, neutered and happily spoiled. He eats only high quality (no cereal) wet food 4 times a day, he plays with us and we are considering getting him a little companion within the next few months.
Is it of some use to get him tested anyway? Is there anything I can do to identify the disease in time, should it ever manifest itself? Do I have to pay attention to any particular sign?
I feel like I should remark that I have no particular reason to believe him to have PKD other than the fact that I know he is the result of poor breeding of persians. I know that his parents were not tested (I asked the owners) and they were too young to show symptoms, so I have no way of knowing.
Now, here's some pictures of the little goofball
Thank you all
but I see no point in testing him if there's nothing I can do should he came back positive. It would just be stressful for him. He is the perfect cat, I got him so young and he never, NEVER, did his business outside the litter box, he's super sweet and cuddly and very well behaved, so I could never regret adopting him. But for my next kitten I will know what to look for. 
