Canine Diseases Common to Specific Breeds

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The Poodle Club of America -- poodleclubofamerica.org
Poodle Club of Canada -- poodleclubcanada.com
Poodle History.org
Poodle Health Registry -- www.poodlehealthregistry.org
The Corded Poodle -- http://www.caninechronicle.com/Features/Sammett/sammett_1006.html

Genetic neurodegenerative disease which accumulates autofluorescent pigments in the cells of the nervous system.

Symptoms: Seizures, visual loss, loss of behavioral and house training, cerebral atrophy (decrease in the size or a wasting away of brain cells and tissues).

There is no cure for this disease. Recent studies have shown, however, that at a relatively early stage of the disease dietary supplements, including carnitine, fish oil and corn oil can increase the dog's lifespan.

DNA testing has been started for certain of the species with this disease.

Hereditary bone disease of young, small breed dogs, usually those weighing less than 24 pounds, in which the growing end of a bone dies and then is gradually replaced over a period of years. The immediate cause of bone death is loss of blood supply. Both sexes are affected, but males suffer 4 times more often than females. Usually occurs in puppies between 4 and 12 months of age.

Symptoms: Your dog will limp and experience pain on extension of the hip joint during exercise or veterinarian examination. At the advanced stage of the disease signs include muscle contracture and/or apparent shortening of the leg on the affected side.

Causes: The cause of this disease is unknown but recent studies show strong evidence of the hereditary nature of the disease.

Treatment: There are two approaches in treating this disease -- conservative therapy and surgical.

With the conservative therapy, the dog is enforced to rest in a cage and is allowed out of the cage only to maintain its toilet training. The animal is carried to and from the cage and kept on a leash during evacuation. Strict adherence to this form of treatment results in a dog with nearly normal femoral head (bone end) and complete return of pain-free motion and a normal gait. It takes 4 to 6 months before the femoral head heals sufficiently to permit normal movement.

If collapse of the femoral head occurs during the confinement, surgical is performed. Chronic cases will lead to degenerative joint disease.

The kneecap slips out of place, causing lameness, and then slips back. Patellar luxation is graded 1 to 4 based on the severity of the defect, 1 being occasional mild lameness. As the disease progresses in duration and severity, lameness becomes more frequent and eventually continuous.

In young puppies with severe patellar luxation, the rear legs often present a "bow-legged" appearance that worsens with growth.

Surgical correction of patellar luxation grades 1, 2, or 3 is usually successful; however, surgical correction of grade 4 patellar luxations may not be as effective in young dogs.

When the luxation is left alone, it causes leg deformity. In severe cases, the limb may cease to function or cause other degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis.

Early surgical correction is therefore essential, but owners are not able to detect the disorder at an early age and surgical intervention in most cases will take place after 6 months of age.

The causes of patellar luxation is not known.

PRA is a disease of the retina, which eventually leads to blindness.

The retina, located inside the back of the eye, contains specialized photoreceptor cells that absorb light focused on them by the eye's lens, and converts that light, through a series of chemical reactions into electrical nerve signals. The nerve signals from the retina are passed by the optic nerve to the brain where they are perceived as vision.

Retinal photoreceptors are specialized -- rods, for vision in dim light (night vision), and cones for vision in bright light (day and color vision). PRA usually affects the rods initially, and then cones in later stages of the disease.

Symptoms: In all canine breeds PRA has certain common features. Early in the disease, affected dogs are nightblind, lacking the ability to adjust their vision to dim light; later their daytime vision also fails.

As their vision deteriorates, affected dogs will adapt to their handicap as long as their environment remains constant, and they are not faced with situations requiring excellent vision.

Also, the pupils of the affected dog's eyes become increasingly dilated, in an attempt to gather more light, causing a noticeable "shine" to the eyes; while the lens of the eyes may become cloudy, or opaque, resulting in a cataract.

The big difference in PRA among breeds is in the age of onset and the rate of progression of the disease. Certain breeds, notably including the Collie, the Irish Setter, the Norwegian Elkhound and the Miniature Schnauzer, have early onset PRA. In these breeds the disease results from abnormal or arrested development of the photoreceptors-the visual cells in their retina, and affects pups very early in life.

In other breeds, PRA is much later in onset. Affected dogs in these breeds appear normal when young, but develop PRA as adults.

The retinal cells receive light stimuli from the external environment and transmit the information to the brain where it is interpreted to create vision.

In retinal dysplasia, there is abnormal development of the retina. The disorder can be inherited, or it can be acquired as a result of a viral infection or some other event before the pups were born.

There are 3 forms of retinal dysplasia

i) folding of 1 or more area(s) of the retina. This is the mildest form, and the significance to the dog's vision is unknown.

ii) geographic - areas of thinning, folding and disorganization of the retina.

iii) detached - severe disorganization associated with separation (detachment) of the retina.

The geographic and detached forms cause some degree of visual impairment, or blindness.

Inherited blood clotting defect which results in prolonged bleeding.

Symptoms: Bleeding from the urinary tract, gums
or other mucous membranes and hemorrhaging under the skin are all common symptoms of von Willebrand's Disease. Female dogs with von
Willebrand's may experience excessive bleeding after (giving birth).

Testing for Von Willebrand's disease should be done while the dog is young. False negative test results can occur if the dog is older.

Avoid drugs that are known to inhibit platelet functions. Aspirin is a prime example of one of these drugs. Others include antihistamines, sulfa- or penicillin based antibiotics, Ibuprofen, the tranquilizer phenothiazine, heparin and theophylline.