Chartreux Health Issues
Gus at around 5 months of age
Gus is very devoted and likes to be within a few feet of you at all times. For a cat who hates to be picked up or sit on your lap and meows his discontent, he never runs away when you put him down and is at your feet waiting to have his ears scratched.
He comes when called, comes to greet all new people, and runs to the door when the bell rings. He likes anyone who gives him a little attention.
Most of all, he loves to play fetch - a snake a mouse or a sock. I can throw a toy up or down a flight of stairs and he runs to retrieve. He brings the toy back and waits to get a little pat and is off and ready to retrieve it again.
As for Health: I would be concerned about buying from a breeder who recommended using a killed rabies vaccine. The second breeder I purchased from said not to and I probably will follow her instructions. The downside of using a killed vaccine is their association with injection site cancers.
The first breeder I bought from said not to and he was dead in app one week due to a disease called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). I believe my first cat was a descendent of a cat who had multiple siblings die of FIPS and he survived.
A decade has gone by and his descendants even remote are still dying after receiving Purevax live vaccine. I tried without success to have the breeder listed with the BBB and Cat Fanciers' Association as selling a sick animal.
My vet thought ill as well but with very treatable common kitten issues like worms. There are about a dozen breeders in the United States so one breeder having 3 FIP cases in a couple of years is rather suspect and could single handedly ruin the genetic pool.
I don't know if there is a problem with live vaccines or breeding stock, but I purposely chose Chartreux because of reports of it being a hardy cat.
I would be wary of purchasing a cat with any vaccine warnings unless there is a published report somewhere that implicates the live vaccine as the culprit.
At this point in time, I have not found any vet or FIP researcher that say there is a link.
