Hip dysplasia in Maine Coons is not caused by the extra weight of the cat
I have to keep this very brief. Scientists decided that the health problems associated with Maine Coons concerning the hind limbs namely hip dysplasia and patellar luxation are due to inheriting defective genes and not due to the extra weight of this cat breed which I decided years ago is the biggest domestic cat breed.
In the words of the scientists:
The authors therefore conclude that genetic or other causes may be involved in orthopaedic hind limb pathogenesis seen in MC cats more often than in other breeds.
The word 'pathogenesis' means in this case the development and persists of diseases affecting the hind limbs of the Maine Coon. As you see they conclude that inherited genes cause the problem. They also meekly refer to 'or other causes' but there are none that I can think of and which would be plausible.
Separately if hip dysplasia affects both legs it it worse. And bigger Maine Coons have worse cases of hip dysplasia. This may be because as the problem develops due to the presence of inherited genes the weight of the cat makes matters worse i.e. forces the hip joint to be even looser and less functional.
The study is titled: Comparison of ground reaction force measurements in a population of Domestic Shorthair and Maine Coon cats. Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208085
The use of the world 'ground force' means the force applied by the ground in reaction to the force applied by the paws of the cat on the ground due to the weight of the cat which is due to gravity.
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