LaPerm — questions to ask before paying a deposit
A responsible breeder will have these readily available. Deflection is a red flag.
Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiencycan shorten life or cause chronic pain
The same inherited red-blood-cell enzyme defect documented in Abyssinian, Somali and several other landrace-derived breeds is also carried in the LaPerm, per UC Davis's own breed-tagged test list. It causes intermittent to chronic haemolytic anaemia of variable severity, from mild to repeated bouts of lethargy, pale gums, jaundice and weight loss.
Ask to see: Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency DNA test on both parents
UC Davis VGL — PK Deficiency test (https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/pk-deficiency-cat) · UC Davis VGL — La Perm breed test list (https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/breed/la-perm) · Grahn et al. 2012, BMC Veterinary Research (Tables 2 and 4, La Perm rows) (https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-8-207) · Anderson et al. 2022, PLOS Genetics (Table 2 and S4 Table, LaPerm rows) (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009804) · OMIA — Pyruvate kinase deficiency of erythrocyte (cat) (https://omia.org/OMIA000844/9685/)