Читать книгу Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team - Группа авторов - Страница 317

Purebred pets are those with a documented pedigree and there are literally hundreds of dog breeds and dozens of cat breeds in the world today. Many countries have organizations that recognize breed status and record pedigrees (e.g., American Kennel Club, The Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, etc.) and it is quite possible that some breeds recognized as purebreds by one organization may not be recognized by another (see 11.1 Finding More Information on Pet‐Specific Care). There are also international organizations dealing with purebreds, such as the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (www.fci.be) for dogs, and the International Cat Association (TICA) (www.tica.org) and the Cat Fanciers Association (www.cfa.org) for cats.

One of the most useful features of purebreds, from a pet‐specific care perspective, is that they tend to have more predictable behaviors and predispositions to disease (see 11.4 Heritable Health Conditions – By Breed). Many behaviors are highly ingrained in a breed (e.g., retrieving, herding), and pet owners may have certain expectations in this regard. It is also easier to predict features such as personality in purebreds, adult size and, as mentioned, breed predisposition to certain diseases. In addition, there are a variety of genetic screening tests now available, and most are applicable to diseases recognized in certain purebreds (although some can also be detected in mixed‐breed and hybrid animals).