# Burmese cats - potential health problems?



## koopla (May 20, 2011)

Hi all,

I have a question I would like to ask burmese breeders. I adore burmese cats but am worried about health problems in pedigrees due to in-breeding.

Are there common health problems in the burmese breed? Is there anything breeders do to lessen health issues?

Also are there more minor complaints that are common - eg sensitive tummies?

It would be great to know more about all this.

Thanks.


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

I knwo the skull problem that is only in america, dont think I even know of any, liz breeds them here, maybhe she can help! 

heres some good links (google is your friend! :laugh: )

Maharani Burmese. The Burmese Cat what it looks like and their personality. Why they make excellent companions and loving pets

Burmese Cat


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## koopla (May 20, 2011)

Thank you


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## lauren001 (Jun 30, 2008)

See for a list of the common problems in Burmese cats- Inherited disorders in cats - Burmese and Asians


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## koopla (May 20, 2011)

Thanks also


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> See for a list of the common problems in Burmese cats- Inherited disorders in cats - Burmese and Asians


That's a great link but I'm not it's a list of 'common' problems. Yes, these are problems which have been noted in 'some' Burmese and it is a highly responsible thing to check out a breed before buying a cat. What you must also take into account is the number of Burmese around - at one time they were the most popular pedigree breed. My last two Burmese lived to 18 and 19 years old.

You need to look at that list objectively to make your decision. Check the key to what the various coloured text means, see if it is actually a problem in the UK and look at how serious any of the potential problems may be.


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## greentea (Jun 6, 2011)

I've recently taken in a gorgeous blue Burmese and I did a lot of reading up on known issues with the breed before I bought him. I found some really useful information in the Burmese Cat Society breeding policy documents, which talks about predispositions to various conditions. I found it really helpful to have all this information to hand before talking to breeders about their kittens.

http://www.burmesecatsociety.org.uk/BurmeseBreedingPolicyVersion2.pdf


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## koopla (May 20, 2011)

Good advice. It is quite a list - I am quite shocked actually. Some of the conditions sound very horrible. 

eg Feline orofacial pain syndrome. Found in 100 cats so far.

This is also worrying. Elbow osteoarthritis - it says anecdotal but "Burmese cats appear to develop arthritic changes in their elbows at an early age, with few cats of this breed of >8 years having normal elbows on radiographs."

It is upsetting. They have such gorgeous personalities and temperaments and I am incredibly fond of them.

I actually will be looking to adopt an adult cat - the Burmese cat club for instance sometimes has cats that need a new home because maybe their owner died or something like that.

If I don't adopt a rescue burmese I will adopt an adult moggie instead.

My mum had a burmese when I was little and that's where my love for them stems from. I also have friends with burmese. I have had moggies too (and friends with moggies!) and they are lovely as well. But there's something about the burmese...

I'm glad yours lived such long lives, havoc.


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## koopla (May 20, 2011)

I thought my post above hadn't appeared but it has 

Also thanks greentea. I guess if I adopt an older burmese there will be less chance of knowing what the breeder was doing.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

The breed has a serious problem with inbreeding but at the moment that does not seem to be having too much effect on the health of the cats, only on their size which seems to be getting smaller and smaller. I can't add to the list of conditions given already.

Liz


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## greentea (Jun 6, 2011)

I think it's important to keep it in perspective, any and all cats can have a predisposition to certain problems, you're just more likely to be aware of these issues with a pedigree because you can see the previous generations on the pedigree certificate, all of whom should have been tested for various conditions and if any of their litters have shown any of these issues the parents would not be used to breed again and all the kittens sold as pets, because you can trace the parentage back you can identify any recurring issues in a specific breed, this is not possible with moggies. Burmese average life expectancy is a good indicator that a lot of the more serious problems are not overly common. And if you adopt via the Burmese Cat Club or Burmese Cat society you should still have all the pedigree information available to you.


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## koopla (May 20, 2011)

Thanks for that greentea - you have lovely angels by the way! 

Also thanks for your input too, liz.


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## lauren001 (Jun 30, 2008)

greentea said:


> I think it's important to keep it in perspective, any and all cats can have a predisposition to certain problems, you're just more likely to be aware of these issues with a pedigree because you can see the previous generations on the pedigree certificate, *all of whom should have been tested for various conditions and if any of their litters have shown any of these issues the parents would not be used to breed again and all the kittens sold as pets, because you can trace the parentage back you can identify any recurring issues in a specific breed*, this is not possible with moggies. Burmese average life expectancy is a good indicator that a lot of the more serious problems are not overly common. And if you adopt via the Burmese Cat Club or Burmese Cat society you should still have all the pedigree information available to you.


I think you will find that testing by breeders of any pedigree animal can be patchy, so it is not a done deal. What you describe would of course be the ideal. However you cannot guarantee or assume that a breeder is testing or is even aware of disease in her/his lines or even aware of the diseases that are common in the breed, or is actually caring as to whether her/his kittens do have genetic disease.


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## greentea (Jun 6, 2011)

Oh of course, I was trying to say that if you have Burmese breeding with Burmese and so on you can identify trends that it is that breed that is susceptible to a particular problem. A moggie has so many different bits of the feline gene pool that it may have inherited lots of predispositions to various conditions or it may have inherited none, there is no way of pinning them down to being susceptible to specific conditions as every moggie will be different. I know the potential issues that may affect my Burmese but I can't do the same research for my moggies because they're bits and pieces of all sorts (and gorgeous with it!)


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> you can identify trends


Absoloutely you can and it's especially valuable with conditions which can't be tested for. For example, there are lines of Burmese in the USA which have not shown any evidence of producing the lethal cranial defect for many, many generations.


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## Aysha-Zen (Oct 11, 2008)

Please take a look at my web page outlining the problems with Burmese at the moment. 
http://www.ayshazencats.com/the-burmese-crisis


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Aysha-Zen said:


> Please take a look at my web page outlining the problems with Burmese at the moment.
> http://www.ayshazencats.com/the-burmese-crisis


It's a good page outlining a very serious issue which you are making strides in addressing.

However the previous post on the thread was 2011 and the specific issue it mentions - head defect - does thankfully now have a DNA test which has been available via Langford since 2014.

http://www.langfordvets.co.uk/news/new-genetic-test-burmese-head-defect


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## Aysha-Zen (Oct 11, 2008)

OrientalSlave said:


> It's a good page outlining a very serious issue which you are making strides in addressing.
> 
> However the previous post on the thread was 2011 and the specific issue it mentions - head defect - does thankfully now have a DNA test which has been available via Langford since 2014.
> 
> http://www.langfordvets.co.uk/news/new-genetic-test-burmese-head-defect


Oh my goodness you are so right, I am sorry I didnt realise how old the thread is.


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