Three screens cover a Turkish Van: an echocardiogram for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a BAER hearing test tied to the blue-eyed white coat, and a monthly weigh-in that catches a 5 percent gain before the big frame hides it. Start the heart and weight lines at 12 months. Move hearing forward to 6 to 8 weeks if the kitten is white with 2 blue eyes, because a deaf cat needs a different room from day 1.
Screen 1: the heart, first scan at 12 months
HCM thickens the left ventricular wall with no pressure load to explain it. A Van gets screened, never cleared, because one normal echo at 12 months predicts very little. The schedule, by age:
| Age | Echo | HCM panel | Chest X-ray | Urinalysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 8 weeks | 0 | optional, 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 months | 1 | 1, once | 1, baseline | 1, baseline |
| 24 months | 1 | 0 | if murmur | 1 |
| 2 to 8 years | 1 per 12 to 24 months | 0 | 1 per 24 months | 1 per 12 months |
| 8 years and up | 1 per 12 months | 0 | 1 per 12 months | 1 per 6 months |
Three numbers decide what happens next. Wall thickness in diastole: under 5 mm is normal, 5 to 5.9 mm is a grey zone with a recheck in 6 months, 6 mm or more meets the standard definition. Left atrium to aorta ratio: 1.5 or below is fine, 1.5 to 1.7 is equivocal, and above 1.7 means the atrium is dilating and the plan changes within 7 days. Third is systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (SAM), which points to a different drug class and often a louder murmur.
Screen 2: the DNA panel, and its limit
Commercial HCM panels test the Maine Coon variant (MYBPC3 A31P) and the Ragdoll variant (MYBPC3 R820W). No variant specific to the Turkish Van has been established, so a panel on a Van reports those 2 markers plus others of unknown significance. Treat the result as risk information: a positive justifies an echo every 12 months for life, and a negative does not clear the cat, because 2 markers cannot explain most HCM cases.
Run it once, at 12 months or with the first echo, for 60 to 200 dollars and 10 to 21 days of waiting. Repeating it later adds nothing, since the genotype does not change. Its value is a baseline for the cardiologist at year 5, when the wall measures 5.4 mm.
Screen 3: hearing in the blue-eyed white cat
Congenital sensorineural deafness clusters in white cats, and the odds rise with 2 blue eyes rather than 1. The test is BAER: 60 to 90 dB clicks into each ear through a foam insert, 3 electrodes on the scalp, a tracing in 10 to 15 minutes. Each ear is reported separately, and that is the point. A cat deaf on one side hears a call from the front and nothing from the deaf side.
Book BAER at 6 to 8 weeks, once the canals are open, at 60 to 150 dollars at a specialty clinic. Home tests are weaker than owners hope: keys jingled 1 m behind a sleeping kitten catch near-total loss, but nothing at home rules out 1 deaf ear. If one ear fails, no free roam outdoors, approach from the seeing side, and a bell on the other cat.
Screen 4: weight and body condition
A male Van sits in the 4.5 to 7 kg band and a female in 3.5 to 5.5 kg, and a heavy frame hides fat under a dense single coat. Weigh monthly on a baby scale readable to 5 or 10 g, same hour, before the morning meal. Score body condition on the 9 point scale: 5 is ideal, 6 to 7 is roughly 5 to 10 percent over ideal, and 8 to 9 is obesity. A 5 percent gain across 3 months is where treats get cut; a 10 percent gain is a vet visit with a thyroid panel and a glucose check.
On a weight loss plan, switch to weekly weigh-ins and aim for 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight per week, which is 30 to 60 g for a 6 kg cat. Faster than 1.5 percent a week is where hepatic lipidosis becomes a real risk, particularly in a cat that stops eating for 48 hours.
The 4 signals to log at home
Resting respiratory rate is the best home number for heart failure. Count chest movements for 30 seconds while the cat sleeps, multiply by 2, write it down. Under 30 breaths a minute is normal, 30 to 39 repeated on 2 separate days earns a call, and 40 or more at rest is an emergency. Then appetite in grams rather than scoops, movement minutes per day, and weight. Four lines in a phone note give the vet 3 months of trend instead of 1 bad afternoon.
Watch posture too. A cat that stops grooming the belly, or sits with elbows out and neck extended, is working to breathe. A 10 second video of that posture tells a cardiologist more than a paragraph.
When to call, by the hour
Grade the sign, not the mood. This table turns an observation into a deadline.
| Sign | Threshold | Call within | First move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleeping respiratory rate | 40 or more, or 30 to 39 twice in 24 hours | 2 hours | 30 second video, then drive in |
| Open-mouth breathing at rest | any episode past 60 seconds | 0, now | carrier, no scruffing, cool car |
| Hind legs weak, pads cold | any, even 1 episode | 1 hour | treat as a clot until cleared |
| No food for 24 hours, or hiding 12 hours | 1 missed day | 6 hours | note last stool and urine |
| New murmur grade 3 of 6 or louder | grade 3 of 6 at 1 visit | 7 days | book echo, no waiting for symptoms |
| Weight up 10 percent in 3 months | 0.6 kg on a 6 kg cat | 7 days | weigh weekly, start a log |
What the first year costs
Echo 220 to 450 dollars, DNA panel 60 to 200, baseline chest X-ray 90 to 180, urinalysis 40 to 90, BAER 60 to 150. A first year running all 5 lands at 470 to 1,070 dollars. After that, an annual echo plus urine is 260 to 540, and 320 to 690 once X-ray is added from age 8. Policies that exclude breed-linked screening are common, so read the exclusion list before the first scan rather than after the claim is denied.
Prescription items, including a beta blocker or a diuretic if HCM is confirmed, come from a veterinarian only. Dose is set from the echo and the kidney panel, never from a forum thread.
Five steps for this month
- Book the 12 month echo and request wall thickness, LA/Ao and SAM in the written report.
- Ask for the HCM panel at the same visit, once, and file the result with the echo.
- Book BAER at 6 to 8 weeks if the coat is white and the eyes are blue, or ask for a referral.
- Start a monthly weigh-in on the same scale, same hour, recorded in grams.
- Count the sleeping respiratory rate twice this week and write both numbers down.
Terms mentioned in this article
Frequently asked
How often should a Turkish Van have an echocardiogram?
A first scan at 12 months, a second at 24 months, then every 12 to 24 months to age 8, and every 12 months after that. A cat whose wall measures 5 to 5.9 mm moves to a 6 month recheck, and a positive HCM panel means a scan every 12 months for life regardless of age.
Can a white Turkish Van with blue eyes hear normally?
Some can, and only BAER tells you which. The test delivers 60 to 90 dB clicks to each ear and reports them separately in 10 to 15 minutes. Jangling keys or a vacuum at home catches near-total deafness but misses one deaf ear, so a kitten that reacts to sound can still be unilaterally deaf and needs the clinic test.
What weight should I keep a Turkish Van at?
A male usually sits between 4.5 and 7 kg and a female between 3.5 and 5.5 kg, with a body condition score of 5 on the 9 point scale. Judge by ribs and waist rather than the number alone, weigh monthly in grams, and act on a 5 percent gain over 3 months before it turns into a 10 percent gain.