Can anyone please tell me alittle bit about the eye testing.
I know that certain conditions appear in young pups and
when tested before breeding you can stop a hereditary
disease of the eye by not breeding and producing pups etc
with the problems.
However in some cases the condition does not appear until the dog
is 6-8 years of age??
An aquaintance I know had her bitches eyes tested when she was 2 and they
were clear and she bred her bitch. Then at 3 had the eyes tested and
had a litter and then after that had it spayed.  It was not until
the dog was 6 that she developed cateracts, and another condition of
the eye, which she was told was hereditary. I wish I could remember the
flippin name. But thats what she told me. Now I was thinking about that.
If you eye test and it comes back clear, why then can something appear
later on. Which could of been passed onto those pups, if hereditary??
Its just puzzled me.  Any ideas on that one ?? 
Anyway she said to this day now she never tests. I could not really give any
answers because I have never come across any eye problems myself. So
I dont know.
Nutkin

John is the one to answer your eye testing questions Nutkin.  Different conditions need different testing.
With my breed, Rough Collies (includes Border Collies, Shelties etc too) pups must be tested for Collie Eye Anomoly (CEA) before 12 weeks - 6-8 weeks is recommended.  A clear certificate given to an adult is a waste of paper!

Slight clarification - a clear certificate given to an adult for CEA does not tell the whole story.  As Val says, CEA should be tested for in very young puppies, as it is not progressive and can in fact improve and 'mask' the condition, which is why it's important to test young.

Annual testing for PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) is still recommended in our breed, isn't it Val?  (If not, why do I do it, am I going mad?!?!)

Marina

I don't know anyone who annually tests adults for PRA these days Marina, but then I don't know everyone or what others do!
As far as I'm concerned a clear CEA certificate given to an adult is completely worthless.  CEA doesn't progress so does not improve or deteriorate.  The Opthalmologist must give a clear certificate if they can't see the lesions.  They cannot see the lesions because the retina colours as it matures.  Peter Bedford used to say that it's like curtain!  So they are giving clear certificates to affected dogs!

Ah well, you know one now - ME :D

M.

Bless you!!

Hi Nutkin.
What breed are we talking about? Different conditions affect different breeds. One of the offenders which you are talking about, hereditory cataracts, come in two flavours, early forming (Normally present by 2 years old) and late forming (Which may not show until up to 8 years old). This last one is the real problem because the breeding life of the dog or bitch could well be over before the cataract makes it's self known! I feel so sorry for the poor breeder who has been so careful to test, only to find out later that they have been breeding from an infected animal. This is the reason why we stress that the test MUST be repeted every year.

If you tell me the breed I can tell you what affects them.

Best wishes, John

I have cocker spaniels and they are tested annually for PRA, but there is a test called Optigen which as far as I know is a one off DNA test which will prove if your dog is affected or a carrier of PRA and it only has to be done the once, very expensive though, which is a shame

Unfortunatly Sharon it is not as definative as they would have us believe. I know of several cases where they have got it very wrong!

Best wishes, John

Hello John and everyone.
Thanks for your replies. The lady I know walks her dogs in the forest and we sometimes bump into each other and make conversation.  Her bitch is a black cocker spaniel.
This interested me because one of my family has a cocker, so this interested me.  I keep trying to think of the name she said it was. So when I bump into her next I will ask her again.  I like to get as much knowledge on problems that dogs encounter.  My breed does not really  have eye conditions and we dont test. The conditions our breed has can be seen at puppies around 4-12 weeks.  Odd things can happen later on such as cherry eye etc. But eye conditions are not common. 
Nutkin

Hi Nutkin. Yes, you are lucky in that your breed is one of the best for eye defects. :)

Cockers on the other hand have quite a few problems. Central Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Generalised Progressive Retinal Atrophy and Primary Glaucoma. They are also under investigation for Persistent Pupillary Membrane and Multiocular defects. So saying, we don't get that many failures at our eye testing. Whether that's reflected around the country or just in the lines in this area I don't really know.

Best wishes, John