ForestWind   

Any feline can be diagnosed with heart disease. The most comon inherited feline heart disease is HCM = Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

This disease is a tricky one for cat breeders and veterinarians alike. While HCM is inherited dominantly (meaning if the gene is inherited, the cat has the disease), confusingly the disease is not ...

PKD is polycystic kidney disease. This is a genetic disease where cysts form on the kidneys, eventually producing loss of effective renal (kidney) function. Cats diagnosed with PKD can live many years, or die quickly.

For many years feline PKD was believed to be a disease of Persian cats and cat breeds such as Ragdoll, Himalyan, Neva ...

Zhelan Manchzhury turned three years old on 27 January 2013! Happy Birthday, Zhelan!

Zhelan is a terrific asset to the Siberian breed. Zhelan is the very first Manchzhury Siberian

PKD = polycystic kidney disease. Cats can inherit it, people can inherit it. If a cat's parent has PKD, that cat has a 50% chance of having inherited the gene and later expressing the disease.

This information sheet on Polycystic Kidney Disease from FAB (the Feline Advisory Bureau in the UK), clearly explains about the disease. Read t...

As a prospective ForestWind Kitten Family Member, it is important for you to know the steps we take to keep our cats and kittens healthy and vibrant.

1. Our Siberians are scanned by Board Certified Specialists every two years for HCM. Even in breeds with identified HCM mutations, regular ultrasonography is necessary to rule out development of HCM.
2. We belong to several breeder groups that follow HCM research as well as...

One of the adoption questions we are asked a lot is about predicting allergy levels  in Siberian cats. Folks would like to know if there is any relationship between coat color and allergen level. The short answer is "no." Folks would like to know if there is any relationship between sex and allergen level. The short answer is "sort of." Folks would like to know if there is any way to predict allergen level in a litter if both Siberian parents are tested low allergen. The s...

Cats produce 7 different allergenic proteins. Scientists label these feline allergens fel d-1, fel d-2, fel d-3, and so on. The cat allergen most people react to is named fel d-1. Some Siberian cats produce very little fel d-1, allowing most cat allergic people to live happily with them.

It is important to note that a few individuals are not allergic to feld-1 but to one of the other proteins produced by felines. For these persons, Siber...