CAT GENETICS - The new black!

[MelvinVinakra]

I’m attending a summer program where we talk a lot about genetics and what you can see and not see in an analysis. I searched and found a lot of products for DNA analysis of dogs, most for breed reasons, but there is nothing out there for cats.
It's a funny idea but also a scary idea; you could get information about origin, breed, description of your particular cat's historic spread, potential information about risk (or no risk) to certain diseases, how closely related your cat is with grumpy cat, if it has dominance for six claws (it is, in fact, a dominant gene), how much wild cat is left in there , perhaps what should be suitable food, etc etc. Could be used in consultation with a veterinarian to optimise the conditions of a healthy life (food, medicine, allergies). A growing number of exciting info. But maybe also undesired info may be revealed; do you want to know about your pets potential future problems, which may never happen?

What do you say about this?
Would you pay for it?
Should life be left alone?

[meriad]

potential information about risk (or no risk) to certain diseases,

Could be used in consultation with a veterinarian to optimise the conditions of a healthy life (food, medicine, allergies)

My concern would be that should these tests become more common place and thereby cheaper, then insurances may ask for these tests to be carried out before they will insure an animal. And then what? How many may end up in rescues because they may at some point in their life become ill

Opening a can of worms if you ask me - so no; not in favour

[OHWS]

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[Crewella]

As someone with a houseful of moggies of indeterminate history, let alone breed, it's not something I'd be interested in. I would, in fact, be wary for all the good reasons already outlined by Meriad and OHWS.

[MelvinVinakra]

Very interesting points,
But there is always a flip coin; what if you're actually feeding your cat with something not good for them. Lactose and gluten intolerance is very common in humans but still a lot of people have not realized and lives with constant bad stomach etc. And these allergies are easy identified in terms of genetic testing. I would assume same can be true for cats. We humans are always scared about the future and it's very comfortable to have the opinion of "best to keep things as they are", but looking back in medical technical development no one would like to go back to live without CT-scanning, antibiotics or tuberculosis vaccine.
So I kind of still think this will come, and we have to find ways of dealing with it. But it is scary about the insurance part of things.

[booktigger]

My concern is how many might end up in rescue because of perceived problems, which a rescue may have to declare which could make it harder to home. As cat health care is private, I'm not convinced it will become common place

[bobbys girl]

As someone with a houseful of moggies of indeterminate history, let alone breed, it's not something I'd be interested in. I would, in fact, be wary for all the good reasons already outlined by Meriad and OHWS.

I second that!

As mum to a FIV+ boy, I think that idea sucks!

As for Antibiotics and vaccines - they are not all they are cracked up to be!

[Crewella]

I can understand why there is so much more information for dogs - there has been so much more input from the human race in breeding dogs than there has been for cats, there is much more information out there generally. Genetically, even the pampered pure breed cats are not too far from their wild cousins, whereas there have been centuries of dog breeding for various purposes that come between the wolf and the chihuahua (for example).

[bobbys girl]

I can understand why there is so much more information for dogs - there has been so much more input from the human race in breeding dogs than there has been for cats, there is much more information out there generally. Genetically, even the pampered pure breed cats are not too far from their wild cousins, whereas there have been centuries of dog breeding for various purposes that come between the wolf and the chihuahua (for example).

Yeh, and look at the mess we made of that!

[MelvinVinakra]

To "bobbys girl", I'm very sorry to hear about FIV.

About cats ending up in a shelter because of some genetic likelihood for some disease, that is because of misunderstanding and I think this is the knowledge we humans will gain after this technology will become more widespread. I just did the 23&me test myself, and obviously, I have a higher risk of getting Alzheimer's. That is of course very severe, but one has to understand that what they tell you is that I have a slightly higher risk of something which in total is not so likely. But there are things I can do to lower my risk, which I will, like making sure my blood pressure is good, eating less sweet stuff, etc. Genetic info is not a death sentence.

[bobbys girl]

Sorry to hear that, but you are wise to avoid sugar. There is an idea (that makes sense) going around that Alzheimer's could be called Type 3 diabetes.

Stay clear of statins too. 25% of the cholesterol in your body is in the brain and you don't want to be getting rid of THAT!

I'm afraid I'm not so optimistic about 'the knowledge we humans will gain after this technology (becomes) more widespread'. Some very bird-brained things happen on the back of new technology.

[Crewella]

IMHO it's the combination of new technology and business (ie. money) that causes most of the problems.

[OHWS]

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[Ruth B]

I am all for improvements in technology, the problem always arise when you combine that technology with ignorant or unscrupulous people.

As a society we are very good at focusing on a single element without looking at the bigger picture. The ultra clean, germ free existance that is so popular is partly responsible for the rise in allergies and antibiotic resistant bacteria. I have heard of places where the reliance on the antibacterial gel has lead to a rise in bacteria in the area, as people no longer consider they have to wash there hands properly. A food scare makes the news and suddenly that particular type of food isn't eaten, even though the benefits often out weigh the good. (I remember a scare with salmon a few years ago). I fear the same will happen if we look too closely at any genome, we will pick out a certain gene that gives the possibility of something detrimental, but we won't look at everything else it effects.

We don't need to look as far as the genetics to see the mess we can make of things anyway. While cat breeds haven't quite got the problem yet that dog breeds have it does seem that some breeders are going the same way. They breed for specific physical traits, regardless of what problems that brings the animal. If we allow that to be taken deeper and breed for specific genes, I hate to think what we might end up with.

However, just to show how hypocritical this whole subject can make us, I have an eye defect, they don't quite know what is wrong, I just can't see detail, I never have and I never will. Lenses help correct my normal shortsightedness that I have in addition to the underlying problem but nothing can improve my basic vision. One doctor once asked if I ever decided to have children, did I want to consider seeing if it could be screened for. I didn't want children so it never came up, but to be honest, I would have said yes, this isn't a condition I would want to pass on if I could have avoided it.

At what point does making decisions like that, start to become eugenics.

[bobbys girl]

IMHO it's the combination of new technology and business (ie. money) that causes most of the problems.

Yup, sounds about right.

Here's a thought - Zika Virus - Who'd patent a virus? Follow the money ......

So pleased that we haven't mucked-up cats the same as we have dogs.