At What Age Do You Make Your First Assessment?

[Seraphina]

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yes, we all should be breeding with our bitches later rather than sooner from proven healthy stock. We  should also test regularaly for these hidden time bombs.
Molly

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I agree, we should be testing, but unless we bring such problems into open we do not know what to test for.

Screening for cardiomyopathy in dogs is done by measurement of plasma and some peptides concentrations, which suggests to me it will only pick up dogs once they develop the problem. Am I right?

 

[lurkylurchers]

Many Whippets were diagnosed with heart murmur when actually there is nothing wrong with them.  Their heart beat is different and many vets do not know that.  The best thing is to find a vet specializing in sighthounds.  That is very important to have a vet who does know lots about sighthounds, especially if your dog would ever need to have anesthetic, as they need different one.  Many sighthounds have died during operation because the vet overdose them with anesthetic. 
When you say your dog is bit short of breath, do you mean after he has run for while. or when he is walking on the leash?  Maybe if he put bit of weight on and it is hot weather?  When did you notice he is short of breath, was it only recently?

Whatever the vets you see tell you, always get a second opinion.

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[lurkylurchers]

Hi there. I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Yes the dog is KC reg but i don't have his pedigree. I do know some of his relatives but that is all. he does seem breathless after exercise but is not overweight . I will talk to the vet about sight hound stuff and see if they are experienced with these particular breeds. I do appreciate everyone taking time to offer advice and help at this stressfull time.

 

[Sarsanet]

Hi there. I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Yes the dog is KC reg but i don't have his pedigree. I do know some of his relatives but that is all. he does seem breathless after exercise but is not overweight . I will talk to the vet about sight hound stuff and see if they are experienced with these particular breeds. I do appreciate everyone taking time to offer advice and help at this stressfull time.

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Everyone, I'd like to thank you all, very much, for your kind words here, by private pms & telephone calls. Those of you in Oz who know Pagan & me know how happy I was to get her & how I was looking forward to breeding my very first litter even though I've been showing for over 40 years. Pagan is in season now & should have ben mated last Saturday so that was a sad day for me but I've shaken myself out of the blues & now it's onward & upward with Jonjo's daughter, Ch. Rushdale Blue Belle. Many, many thanks, once again to Kim Box for giving her to me.

Pagan, herself, is full of life & full of beans. She will still be shown because she's heading nicely towards her title & loves to go out for the day whether to the beach or to the show ground.

Last week her breeder took Pagan's mother to the vet & had her heart checked. Now this vet is the man who was about to neuter her half brother when he dropped dead in the surgery at 2 years of age. So he has more than just a passing interest in all this. He was shown Pagan's ECG report & admitted openly that HE WOULD NOT HAVE PICKED UP THE DEFECT WITH JUST A STETHASCOPE. He then checked the mother's heart & said she was fine. Is she really fine? God only knows. If even a few normal, run-of-the-mill GP type vet can't pick it up, then what hope have we got? He said the mother was, physically, perfectly fit to breed with again. In 2 litters she's had one dead & one with cardiomyopathy in the first litter & one about to die & one with auto-immune arthritis in the second litter. Her breeders are kind, honest, decent people who are completely shattered by all this &, most definately, will not be breeding her again.

I'm telling you all this for your own sakes & for the good of the breed as a whole. Not long ago there was a lengthy topic on how we should all have the courage to share these problems with each other & not hide them away so I'm striking the first blow for a more open society within ourselves. Let me hasten to add I'm not pointing the finger or blaming, in any way, any person, breeder or bloodline but facts are facts & I encourage you all to study them & consider the implications when planning your future litters. I also beg you not to shoot the messenger!

I wish you all the very best of luck with it.

Gail.

 

[doris]

I wish you all the very best of luck with it.

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Best of luck to you both too :luck: :huggles:

 

[Sarsanet]

Hi there. I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Yes the dog is KC reg but i don't have his pedigree. I do know some of his relatives but that is all. he does seem breathless after exercise but is not overweight . I will talk to the vet about sight hound stuff and see if they are experienced with these particular breeds. I do appreciate everyone taking time to offer advice and help at this stressfull time.

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Everyone, I'd like to thank you all, very much, for your kind words here, by private pms & telephone calls. Those of you in Oz who know Pagan & me know how happy I was to get her & how I was looking forward to breeding my very first litter even though I've been showing for over 40 years. Pagan is in season now & should have ben mated last Saturday so that was a sad day for me but I've shaken myself out of the blues & now it's onward & upward with Jonjo's daughter, Ch. Rushdale Blue Belle. Many, many thanks, once again to Kim Box for giving her to me.

Pagan, herself, is full of life & full of beans. She will still be shown because she's heading nicely towards her title & loves to go out for the day whether to the beach or to the show ground.

Last week her breeder took Pagan's mother to the vet & had her heart checked. Now this vet is the man who was about to neuter her half brother when he dropped dead in the surgery at 2 years of age. So he has more than just a passing interest in all this. He was shown Pagan's ECG report & admitted openly that HE WOULD NOT HAVE PICKED UP THE DEFECT WITH JUST A STETHASCOPE. He then checked the mother's heart & said she was fine. Is she really fine? God only knows. If even a few normal, run-of-the-mill GP type vet can't pick it up, then what hope have we got? He said the mother was, physically, perfectly fit to breed with again. In 2 litters she's had one dead & one with cardiomyopathy in the first litter & one about to die & one with auto-immune arthritis in the second litter. Her breeders are kind, honest, decent people who are completely shattered by all this &, most definately, will not be breeding her again.

I'm telling you all this for your own sakes & for the good of the breed as a whole. Not long ago there was a lengthy topic on how we should all have the courage to share these problems with each other & not hide them away so I'm striking the first blow for a more open society within ourselves. Let me hasten to add I'm not pointing the finger or blaming, in any way, any person, breeder or bloodline but facts are facts & I encourage you all to study them & consider the implications when planning your future litters. I also beg you not to shoot the messenger!

I wish you all the very best of luck with it.

Gail.

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I've made an error above so I must make an apology & a couple of changes. Pagan's mother's vet did not say she was perfectly fit to breed with again. I misunderstood, apparently what he said was that on that particular day her heart sounded okay to him but he advised further tests should be done to be really sure.

I'm sorry, I got it wrong & hope I've put the record straight.

Gail

 

[Seraphina]

tadmitted openly that HE WOULD NOT HAVE PICKED UP THE DEFECT WITH JUST A STETHASCOPE.
Gail

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It is rarely possible to detect these sort of heart problems with stethoscope. If it was, we would not have a problem. We would all just get our vets to check every time they saw our dogs. My vet listens to my dogs heart anyway.

It is precisely because lot more complicated testing is needed that it is not easy to diagnose. But i have read recently that there are now some genetic markers known to be associated with Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy. But have not come across any info if the DNA tests are available here in OZ.

 

[dragonfly]

Gail,  I am so sorry to hear the sad news about Pagen and her brother. You were so looking forward to breeding her to. May your days with her be full and enjoyable. Love her while you can.
I hope that you will finally get your well planned litter from Kim's bitch. And yes, we all should be breeding with our bitches later rather than sooner from proven healthy stock. We  should also test regularaly for these hidden time bombs.

Good luck for the future.

Molly

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Much more testing of breeding stock is done in the USA. There are tests for PRA, deafness & heart defects.

Maybe we should all start testing in addition to studying the pedigrees of dogs with known conditions. In that way we can make our breeding decisions more wisely.

Cathie

 

[Seraphina]

This is an interesting article

DCM