Blood clotting disorder in Maine Coon cats?

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Definitions:

  • Dysfibrinogenaemia - this is a blood clotting disorder because of an abnormal form of fibrinogen in the blood which is a protein produced by the liver which helps control bleeding by helping blood clots to form.
  • Afibrinogenemia - this is an inherited fibrinogen abnormality causing a rare bleeding disorder.
  • Haemostasis (hemostatis) - this describes a mechanism which leads to the stopping of bleeding from a blood vessel.
  • Hereditable (heritable) - this means capable of being inherited.
  • Coagulopathy - a disorder causing either excessive bleeding or clotting.

An investigation carried out in 2020 and published on August 21, 2020, found that dysfibrinogenaemia may be a hereditary condition in Maine Coon cats. They were investigating a report of afibrinogenaemic haemorrhage in a Maine Coon cat. Two littermates subsequently died from surgical non-haemostasis (not stopping bleeding) which suggested to the researchers that this was hereditable coagulopathy.

They concluded that "clinicians should be aware of the increased potential for non-homeostasis in this cat breed and consider assessing clotting function before (elective) surgery". What they mean is that if a veterinarian is going to conduct surgery on a Maine Coon cat which is not essential, they should balance the benefits of the surgery against the possibility that there may be a problem with blood clotting which would be a risk factor arising out of the surgery.

The study: "Investigation of pathological haemorrhage in Maine Coon cats" by Dr Conor O'Halloran and colleagues. It is published on the BVA website.

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