Hip Radiographs - Information to the Veterinarian
We also have information specific to cat owners.
PawPeds is an organisation working for better and healthier animal breeding. In January 2000 the Swedish Maine Coon Cat Club started a public register of hip radiographs. This register is since June 2010 administered by PawPeds. The recommendation is that all Maine Coons should be tested for HD before being used in a breeding programme, in order to reduce the frequency of HD in the breed.
As hip dysplasia is not only found in the Maine Coon breed, it might be of interest to know for other breeds that they also have the possibility to join this health programme. All radiographs that is sent in according to the rules of the health programme will be handled and registered independent of breed.
All results in the register are public 60 days after the cat owner has received the result. The results are published per breed on the Health Data Download page and for some breeds the results are also presented in the pedigree database.
PawPeds collaborate with the veterinarian and radiograph expert Elisabeth Ball who evaluates all the hip radiographs on behalf of the health programme. We believe that it is very important that these radiographs are evaluated by one person only, in order to obtain the most consistent assessment possible.
Below you will find information on how the cat should be radiographed, some recommendations, and how to submit the HD form and radiographs to PawPeds.
Note: Cat owners with breeds other than the Maine Coon are also welcome!
Checklist
- Please note that the cat must have an identification such as a microchip or a tattoo
- The ID number written on the HD form must be verified with a chip reader or by checking the tattoo
- The ID number and pedigree name must be checked against the cat's pedigree or similar identification paper
- The ID number and the date of the examination must be exposed into the radiographs, not added digitally
- If there is room for it, it would help if the cat's pedigree name and registration number is visible on the radiograph too
- It is also very important that PawPeds' HD form is used
- One part of the HD form is filled in by the cat owner in advance and the second part by the veterinarian
- The cat owner must have signed the HD form before the radiographs are made
- With the signature the owner gives us permission to register and publish the results into the public registry
- We need sufficient submissions to evaluate the correct frequency of HD in the breeds to see the effect of testing on later generations
- If the owner refused to sign the HD form i advance, the HD form of PawPeds should not be used and the radiographs should not be submitted to PawPeds
- The images must be digital and saved in DICOM format
- The images should not be compressed
Recommendations
A mild sedative (injection) is recommended before the radiograph to facilitate the positioning of the cat. The cat should however not be heavily sedated.
The same routines should be used as radiographing a dog’s hips. The pelvis and the knee joints should be seen on the radiographs. The legs should lie parallel and the knee joint should lie in a straight line with the thighbone. The legs should not be rotated inwards or outwards.
Submit the HD Form and Radiographs
- Check and fill in information about the examination on the HD form and sign it
- The HD form and the DICOM file/files with the radiographs are uploaded to PawPeds in the HealthWeb: https://health.pawpeds.com/
- The HD form must be scanned to jpg, png, or pdf
- The radiographs must be in DICOM format (.dcm) and the images must not be compressed
The first time an upload is made a personal account must be created. This can be anyone at the clinic with that responsibility, it doesn't need to be the veterinarian. Read more about the HealthWeb to get the overall process described.
Information
The Evaluation Grades
The evaluation grades on the scale used are the same ones as for hip radiographing dogs, but due to the fact that the anatomical picture is different for cats the usual "Norberg’s angle" is not used. This means that we do not use the ABCD evaluation scale. Instead we use "normal", "1", "2" and "3" where each hip will be scored separately:
- Normal (grade 0) - no signs of hip dysplasia and/or degenerative joint disease and the acetabulum covering at least 50% of the femoral head
- Grade 1 (mild hip dysplasia) - mild signs of hip dysplasia and/or the acetabulum covering less than 50% of the femoral head but no signs of deforming degenerative joint disease
- Grade 2 (moderate hip dysplasia) - moderate signs of hip dysplasia and/or signs of deforming degenerative joint disease
- Grade 3 (severe hip dysplasia) - severe signs of hip dysplasia and/or deforming degenerative joint disease
Payment
The cat owner pays directly to PawPeds for the assessment of the radiographs, made by PawPeds' evaluator. There is no action expected from the veterinarian.
Access to the Assessment
When PawPeds' evaluator has made the assessment the result will be visible for you in the HealthWeb. Also until that time you can view the status of the HD cases that you have submitted to the evaluator.
Help!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the contact persons for the health programme! You can also email
Information about the HealthWeb system
In the beginning of 2023 we launched a new web based system called HealthWeb where the veterinary clinic can upload the images of the hips directly in the system.
To initiate a HD case in the new system the owner must first create the HD form via the system. The HD form is then printed and signed. Se more detailed information on the page How to test.
The HealthWeb is available on this page: https://health.pawpeds.com/
Both owners and veterinarian needs to have an account for the HealthWeb. For the owners it is the same account that is used for NetPedigree (the online database system for pedigrees). The veterinarian must create a new account the first time they want to use the system.
More information and details are found when visiting the HealthWeb via the link above.
| How do I create my case | What does the status mean | Criteria for Fancy Certificat |
The Overall Process
- The cat owner registers a new HD case in the system and prints a pre-filled form and signs it before the visit to the clinic
- At the clinic the veterinarian fills in information about the examination, signs the form, and performs the x-ray
- The form is scanned by the clinic
- The clinic first uploads the form which has a QR code that is used to connect the form to the right HD case in the HealthWeb
- Then the DICOM files (that contains the x-ray images) are uploaded by the clinic to the HD case
- When everything is uploaded and filled in, the HD case is submitted by the clinic
- When payment has been received from the cat owner and is noted in the system, the HD case becomes available for our evaluator
- Our evaluator looks at the images and register the assessment
- The result of the assessment is registered in our health register
- The result is sent to the cat owner by email
How do I create my case?
1. Register an account if you do not have one yet, if you already have an account login.
2. When logged on click on CatOwner if you are at the start page, there you will see up in the top row "New FHD Examination", click on that to enter your cat.
3. When the cat is added, click on Download form to download the already filled in form to your computer, print it out, sign it and take it with you to the veterinarian.
What does the status mean?
Here is a list of the statuses that you might see, the one in bold is the one you most likely will come in contact with or see.
-
Started - This is the first status when you created the case. -
Form uploaded - Your veterinarian uploaded your picture. -
Image uploading ongoing - Uploading of pictures are ongoing or is partially done. -
Returned to vet for completion - Elisabeth sent the case back to the veterinarian for completions.
(Both veterinarian and owner shall get an email including Elisabeths message) -
Sent in for evaluation - The veterinarian marked that the upload of the x-ray is done
The files will go to Elisabeth when payment is received. -
Returned case sent again for evaluation - A case sent back for completion is now back for Elisabeth to check again. -
Evaluation ongoing - Elisabeth is doing the reading, will only show if she cannot finish the assessment right away for some reason. -
Evaluation done - Elisabeth is done with the evaluation, but still not printed the document she is signing. -
Ready for registration - The evaluation has arrived at the registrator to be registered. -
Registration ongoing - The registrator is managing the registration
(Will only be shown if something needs to checked before the registration can be finished). -
Result registered - The result is registrated and results sent out by mail.
Criteria to get a fancy certificate?
We now send out official certificates with the result to the owner by email.
It’s a PDF document that shows the official result and the details of the cat. You can validate the authenticity of the certificate and its content, by scanning the QR-code on the right bottom.
It will take you to the verification page, where you should see the same information about the cat, as written on the certificate.
Not all evaluated X-rays will receive an official certificate.
It will only be sent when all these criteria are met:
- The cat’s identity is verified by the veterinarian and the ID (chip) is visible on the image (X-ray).
- The owner has signed the HD form in advance.
- The images are sent in by the veterinarian through their account on Healthweb (https://health.pawpeds.com/).
Images that are sent in by the owner will not receive an official certificate.
- The cat is at least 10 months old when the X-ray was taken. (Younger cats will get a preliminary result.)
- And of course the evaluation fee is paid. If not all of these criteria are met, you will receive the result in a different looking document with a remark added.
Our Health Programmes
The health of our cats and breeds is one of the major concerns of the PawPeds project. As this project has grown, more and more breeders have raised the question of adding health information to the cats in the databases. We have now taken the first steps towards making this happen!
What we have done is add a health record for each cat where there is any health information available for publication. You will reach it by clicking on a clipboard symbol, which can be found after the name, colour code, and birthdate of the cat in any list or pedigree.
Please, take the time to read about the disorders and health programmes in question, to avoid unnecessary misinterpretations!
We will only publish information from those health programmes that we have agreed to participate in. The reason for this is that it is very, very important to avoid errors, and that we need to know that the owners of the cats have agreed to have the information about their cats published. We also want to avoid publishing information that could be misleading.
If the breeders of a breed would like to register a health programme with us, you are welcome to contact us to discuss the matter further. Click here to read more about this!
IMPORTANT: The fact that breeders of certain breeds have decided to work with health programmes does not necessarily mean that these breeds are worse affected by genetic diseases than other breeds! It just means that these breeders have decided to work together in a more organized way, to improve the health of their breed further.
Present Health Programmes at PawPeds
| Disorder | Species | Breeds with results in db |
|---|---|---|
| Glycogen Storage Disease (GSD IV) | Cat | Norwegian Forest Cat |
| Burmese Lysosomal Storage Disease (GM2) | Cat | Burmese |
| Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) | Cat | Maine Coon |
| Siberian (incl. Neva Masquerade) | ||
| Norwegian Forest Cat | ||
| British Shorthair/Longhair (incl. Scottish Fold) | ||
| Bengal | ||
| Birman | ||
| Cornish Rex | ||
| Devon Rex | ||
| Selkirk Rex | ||
| Ragdoll | ||
| Sphynx | ||
| Persian/Exotic | ||
| Hip Dysplasia (HD) | Cat | Maine Coon |
| Norwegian Forest Cat | ||
| PK Deficiency | Cat | Abyssinian |
| Somali | ||
| Bengal | ||
| Maine Coon | ||
| Norwegian Forest Cat | ||
| Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) | Cat | Abyssinian |
| Somali | ||
| Siamese and related breeds | ||
| Ocicat | ||
| Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) | Cat | Maine Coon |
Testing for SMA
There is a DNA test available at several labs to identify the gene mutation that causes SMA in Maine Coons. Using this test it will be possible to identify the gene mutation in cats that are affected with SMA or carriers of SMA and to identify those cats that are genetically normal for this disease.
How do I get the results public on PawPeds?
In order to have your cat's result registered in the health program, you have to send in a copy of the result to the registrar. You can find the contact info in the contact-link in the menu.
You can also click here:
Make sure the cat's pedigree is already registered in the pedigree database of PawPeds before you send in any test results, by sending the pedigree to one of your breeds registrars.
Help!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the contact persons for the health program!
Breeding Recommendations, SMA
SMA is an autosomal recessive disorder. To date we do not know how widespread this disease is in the Maine Coon breed; initially it was thought to mainly be found in one line but lately it has been discovered also in other lines.
As there is a DNA-test available, both carriers and affected cats can be diagnosed. We recommend the following routines for cats in a breeding program:
- It is strongly recommended to test cats that have a relative who is a carrier or affected.
- Testing of breeding cats not known to be particularly risky is also a good idea because recently carriers have turned up in lines previously not considered risky.
- Carriers can be used for breeding, but only when partnered to cats that are normal with respect to the SMA-mutation, and knowing that 50% of the offspring will also be carriers. All buyers of carrier kittens and kittens of unknown status from combinations where both parents are not negative should be informed about the disease and the risks of using the kitten for breeding. Heterozygous carriers will never get any signs of the disorder; so one might think it is irrelevant information for a pet buyer. However, since it isn't uncommon that pet buyers later get the idea to have a litter from their cat and sometimes without contacting its breeder, it is important that also pet buyers fully understand the nature of the disease and the situation with their kitten.
- Affected cats (with both SMA-genes defective) should not be used for breeding.