Border Collie Health
Collie eye anomaly (CEA)
CEA is a congenital, inherited, bilateral eye disease of dogs, which affects the retina, choroid, and sclera. It can be a mild disease or cause blindness. CEA is caused by a simple autosomal recessive gene defect. There is no treatment. With a simple DNA test we can test breeding dogs to ensure no puppies are born affected. Occasionally we have adults that carry CEA. This is perfect fine as we can choose to mate with a dog who has tested clear.
Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome. (TNS)
TNS is an immune deficiency in Border collies. It is an inherited disorder that is very common in all populations of Border collies with more than 10% of both working and show dogs carrying the defective gene and capable of having affected puppies. TNS affected puppies have and are still being born in backyard bred and farm bred Border Collies. TNS is a condition where the bone marrow produces neutrophils but they are not released into the bloodstream. This results in an impaired immune system that cannot fight infections. Some puppies with TNS have been small and fine boned with narrow heads at some point but this may not be evident until approximately 16 weeks. Most of them do not survive vaccinations or past the age for 4-5 months old. Thankfully we can DNA test our breeding stock to ensure puppies produced can not be born affected.
Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CL)
CL is another inherited disorder that is not contagious, cannot be treated and is fatal. It affects the nervous system and brain. Animals appear normal until around the age of 15 months (making this disease extra devastating for owners). After this time affected dogs show a various of symptoms such as unreasonable fear, sight disturbance, demented behaviour, mania, rage, hyperactivity, fixation, aggression and strange abnormal behaviour. Symptoms steadily increase in which medication can not help and euthanasia is the only option. We test all breeding stock for CL to ensure puppies can not be affected.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is something that is become increasingly popular to test for in Border Collies. The type of primary glaucoma seen in border collies is called narrow angle glaucoma. Goniodysgenesis is an inherited condition that can predispose a dog to developing glaucoma in later years. It is marked by an abnormality in the ligaments that are in the eye. This abnormality is that the ligament forms strings that resemble the teeth on a comb. These strings block the openings through which the fluid (called aqueous humor) can drain from the eye. There is a special test that can be performed by a veterinarian or canine ophthalmologist which will determine the presence of goniodysgenesis. The test is called gonioscopy. It is done with an instrument that must be laid against the dog's eye for examination. We do not fully understand the inherited pathway of Glaucoma but getting an eye exam on a breeding dog will help make sure you are not breeding 2 dogs together with poor drainage angles especially if there is a history of a dog being affected in the pedigree.
Hip Dysplasia (HD)
Hip Dysplasia in dogs is a disease that is characterised by instability of the hip joint (laxity), pain and eventually degenerative joint disease. It is considered to be inherited as a polygenic character (that is many genes are involved) and may be modified by many nongenitic factors. These non genetic factors are diet, rate of growth, body weight and exercise. In one report, rapid weight gain in the first 60 days of life and the ultimate above average weight of the dogs was associated with a higher level of hip dysphasia than the control group. There is evidence that desexing a dog before they have finished growing can also contribute to hip dysplasia. Desexing before the age of 9-10 months is not recommended. Hip dysplasia occurs in all breeds of dogs, without radiographic proof, no breeder can state that his or her dogs are free of hip dysplasia. Hip scoring is done by professional radiographers after a dog has been anaesthetised and x-rayed by a veterinarian. The radiographer studies the X-rays and rates each point within the hip joint to give a score on each side. Less points = better hips generally. All scored hips go into breed databases to generate breed averages in which we aim to keep below. There is no other way to determine the quality of a dogs hips. We can not can guarantee that puppies will not develop hip dysplasia but we can ensure through hip scoring every breeding dog that the contributing genetic factors should be reduced.
CEA is a congenital, inherited, bilateral eye disease of dogs, which affects the retina, choroid, and sclera. It can be a mild disease or cause blindness. CEA is caused by a simple autosomal recessive gene defect. There is no treatment. With a simple DNA test we can test breeding dogs to ensure no puppies are born affected. Occasionally we have adults that carry CEA. This is perfect fine as we can choose to mate with a dog who has tested clear.
Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome. (TNS)
TNS is an immune deficiency in Border collies. It is an inherited disorder that is very common in all populations of Border collies with more than 10% of both working and show dogs carrying the defective gene and capable of having affected puppies. TNS affected puppies have and are still being born in backyard bred and farm bred Border Collies. TNS is a condition where the bone marrow produces neutrophils but they are not released into the bloodstream. This results in an impaired immune system that cannot fight infections. Some puppies with TNS have been small and fine boned with narrow heads at some point but this may not be evident until approximately 16 weeks. Most of them do not survive vaccinations or past the age for 4-5 months old. Thankfully we can DNA test our breeding stock to ensure puppies produced can not be born affected.
Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CL)
CL is another inherited disorder that is not contagious, cannot be treated and is fatal. It affects the nervous system and brain. Animals appear normal until around the age of 15 months (making this disease extra devastating for owners). After this time affected dogs show a various of symptoms such as unreasonable fear, sight disturbance, demented behaviour, mania, rage, hyperactivity, fixation, aggression and strange abnormal behaviour. Symptoms steadily increase in which medication can not help and euthanasia is the only option. We test all breeding stock for CL to ensure puppies can not be affected.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is something that is become increasingly popular to test for in Border Collies. The type of primary glaucoma seen in border collies is called narrow angle glaucoma. Goniodysgenesis is an inherited condition that can predispose a dog to developing glaucoma in later years. It is marked by an abnormality in the ligaments that are in the eye. This abnormality is that the ligament forms strings that resemble the teeth on a comb. These strings block the openings through which the fluid (called aqueous humor) can drain from the eye. There is a special test that can be performed by a veterinarian or canine ophthalmologist which will determine the presence of goniodysgenesis. The test is called gonioscopy. It is done with an instrument that must be laid against the dog's eye for examination. We do not fully understand the inherited pathway of Glaucoma but getting an eye exam on a breeding dog will help make sure you are not breeding 2 dogs together with poor drainage angles especially if there is a history of a dog being affected in the pedigree.
Hip Dysplasia (HD)
Hip Dysplasia in dogs is a disease that is characterised by instability of the hip joint (laxity), pain and eventually degenerative joint disease. It is considered to be inherited as a polygenic character (that is many genes are involved) and may be modified by many nongenitic factors. These non genetic factors are diet, rate of growth, body weight and exercise. In one report, rapid weight gain in the first 60 days of life and the ultimate above average weight of the dogs was associated with a higher level of hip dysphasia than the control group. There is evidence that desexing a dog before they have finished growing can also contribute to hip dysplasia. Desexing before the age of 9-10 months is not recommended. Hip dysplasia occurs in all breeds of dogs, without radiographic proof, no breeder can state that his or her dogs are free of hip dysplasia. Hip scoring is done by professional radiographers after a dog has been anaesthetised and x-rayed by a veterinarian. The radiographer studies the X-rays and rates each point within the hip joint to give a score on each side. Less points = better hips generally. All scored hips go into breed databases to generate breed averages in which we aim to keep below. There is no other way to determine the quality of a dogs hips. We can not can guarantee that puppies will not develop hip dysplasia but we can ensure through hip scoring every breeding dog that the contributing genetic factors should be reduced.
