Ho Chi Minh City
HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) HCM and the Bengal HCM is one of the most common hereditary heart diseases that can affect different cat breeds – including the Bengal. What is HCM? HCM is a hereditary defect of the heart, in which the muscles of the left ventricle gradually become thicker - and thus stiffer. This prevents the heart from filling with blood properly. The space in the left ventricle becomes smaller and smaller, which, among other things, increases the risk of thrombosis. Because the pressure in the left atrium rises, fluid can build up in the lungs and chest. This in turn creates greater pressure in the blood vessels. All this results in a shorter lifespan. Males often show a worse form of the disease than females. In summary: HCM cannot be cured, but it can be slowed down HCM is dominantly inheritedHCM is difficult to detect at an early stage HCM is not curable This means that the cat will die sooner or later. The disease can already be visible around six months, but usually the cat will be 2 to 3 years old. At three to five years of age, the disease often becomes severe. HCM has a number of possible symptoms. Increasing shortness of breath due to fluid in the chest cavity, sudden paralysis symptoms on one of the front legs or on both hind legs due to a clot in the large blood vessels or sudden death due to clots in the brain. HCM can be slowed down by means of medication. In HCM the heart walls become thicker and thicker. This puts the heart in a downward spiral. Because a thicker heart has to work harder to pump enough oxygen around the body, the heart muscle grows (just like any muscle grows with extra training). This aggravates the situation, because the heart walls then become thicker due to the HCM and thicker due to overtraining. There is a drug called Atenolol that forces the heart to work a little less hard. As a result, the thickening of the heart muscle will decrease slightly, making the cat feel comfortable again and extending its lifespan. Please note: Atenolol is only prescribed to cats with HCM if the heart rate at home and at rest is really too high, or if there are life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Studies have shown that giving Atenolol to clinically healthy cats with HCM is of no use. HCM is difficult to detect at an early stage. This is an important point. It is difficult to diagnose HCM, especially in the early stages of the disease. HCM often reveals itself later in life. This means that a cat cannot show any symptoms of the disease for years, while the animal does have HCM. You can imagine that when this cat has been bred, a large part of the offspring also has HCM. These offspring can in turn spread the disease further if they are also sold as breeding stock. Add to that the fact that HCM is dominantly hereditary and you immediately understand why this disease is a major threat to the breed. Snapshot A good, serious breeder, who gives the health of his animals the highest priority, will have his Bengal tested periodically (often annually) for HCM by means of an ultrasound. These investigations are expensive and are only a snapshot. Each time the cat is declared 'provisionally free'. It is therefore true that, despite the fact that a female or male has been declared HCM-free for the time being, there is still no certainty about this. But remember: it's the only thing breeders can do to give kitten buyers some form of assurance about their cat's health. There are no HCM-free lines. It would be best if cats from pedigree lines in which HCM is clearly present (the so-called high-risk lines) would not be bred. However, the disease is now so intertwined in the breed that it would be quite a challenge. HCM-free lines do not exist. Because the Bengal is a relatively new cat breed, excluding those lines also causes other problems because the gene pool is reduced (higher inbreeding percentages). Even if lines have been HCM negative for several generations and the breeder always periodically tests the parents for HCM and both are negative, a kitten can suddenly be born with HCM.