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HEALTH AND HEREDITY.
It's important that you have a basic understanding of the hereditary and breed-predisposed diseases of English Springer Spaniels. All living things carry defective genes and all breeds of dogs can carry imperfect traits. (Interestingly but not surprisingly, a number of the diseases that affect dogs -orthopaedic disorders, cancer, eye problems, temperament etc. - affect humankind.)
Whilst most Springers lead happy, healthy lives and retain their vigour into old age, genetic-based disorders are not uncommon.
More than 350 inherited diseases have been described in dogs and many have been shown to be breed specific. Sounds a lot doesn’t it? However, one should contrast this with the fact that there are over 3,000 inherited diseases known in humans! Whilst a number of canine diseases are known to be caused by a single gene mutation equally, a number cannot be explained on the basis of a single gene mutation. These diseases are thus described as polygenic. Hip dysplasia is a polygenic disease. .
What follows is a summary of major hereditary disorders.
Retinal dysplasia is a developmental malformation of the retina. Affected pups are born with the disorder. Most cases are mild and there's no loss of vision. Abnormalities are diagnosed by a specialist ophthalmologist before the pup goes to its new home. Retinal dysplasia should not affect a dog's ability to function as a pet, but obviously should not be bred from.
Eyelid defects can occur. Entropion is quite common and can best be described as an inward folding of the lower eyelid that results in chronic irritation of the eye's surface. It is usually observed within the first year of life. Entropion is surgically treated.
Progressive Retinal Atrophy
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Normal Canine Fundus
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Mid stage affected fundus
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Late stage affected fundus
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is a degeneration of the layers of the retina that is responsible for vision.
The disease is progressive resulting in blindness. The onset in Springers is variable but usually occurs between 2 and 6 years of age. There is no pain or discomfort for the dog, but unfortunately there is no treatment.
Aggressive or Timid Temperament. Temperament and behaviour problems occur in all dogs and behaviour is influenced by many factors including training, family interactions and general health. A puppy should be curious and playful, without resisting being held. He should not be aggressive or overly timid. Make every effort to ensure that the pup comes from sound stock. As your pup matures, nurture him with proper training.
Epilepsy. An animal may experience a seizure from a recognisable or unrecognisable cause, but only if it suffers repeated seizures can we call it epilepsy. If a cause cannot be found for repeated seizures, then it is labelled idiopathic epilepsy. A number of breeds are affected with epilepsy but nobody knows for sure what the incidence is. Certainly it is one of the most common neurological diseases in dogs. Intensive research is currently being undertaken by scientists to uncover the genes responsible (and each breed will be different) and the first gene to be found for a rare form of the disease has been found. Please visit this link CANINE EPILEPSY to learn more. It's a welcome beginning.
Skin Disorders. These can include scaliness, greasiness, itching and hair loss. They can be genetically based but you should also be aware that dogs could be allergic to outside stimuli including food and commonly, fleas, where the saliva of just one flea can cause problems.
Ear Infections are common and need to be treated with that most uncommon of traits - common sense. I'd recommend the weekly cleaning of ears and the addition of a drying agent to your bathing regimen.
Phosphofructokinase Deficiency (PFK) is an inherited disease that affects both field trial (more commonly) and show lines of ESSs, particularly in America. PFK is an enzyme that is required for the metabolism of glucose into useable energy. Without this enzyme, some cells – such as muscle cells and red blood cells – cannot produce adequate energy for their needs. Therefore, affected dogs can display the following intermittent clinical signs: weakness, lethargy, exercise intolerance, anaemia, jaundice and dark-coloured urine. It is the latter that is the hallmark of this disorder and it usually appears after strenuous exercise and after excessive barking, panting and heat exposure.
Fucocidosis is a disease that occurs when a dog has a mutation in a gene that codes for the enzyme alpha-fucosidase. The enzyme breaks down complex molecules so that they can be recycled and/or removed from a cell. The genetic mutation causes a deficiency of alpha-fucosidase; consequently complex molecules accumulate inside the cell causing the cell to malfunction.
Clinical signs of this disorder include behavioural changes and signs of motor dysfunction that may start at 1-2 years of age. Affected dogs exhibit bizarre behaviour patterns, may be aggressive or depressed and appear to forget previously learned behaviours. Unlike PFK, Fucocidosis progresses rapidly. This disorder has been identified in (mainly) UK and (some) Australian dogs have been known to be carriers of the disorder, however, cases have been recorded in field bred dogs in the USA.
Hip Dysplasia. Or should I say the ubiquitous hip dysplasia! It's common amongst a number of breeds. It's a developmental abnormality of the hip joints caused by laxity within the joint. Changes in bone size, shape and structure occur as the hips attempt to compensate for abnormal stresses on the joints. Dogs with HD may (or may not) exhibit lameness at some stage during the lives. Whilst there is an undeniable genetic component to the disease, broad scientific opinion currently demonstrates that nutrition plays a vital role in the skeletal health of dogs; ie the roly poly puppy should be a thing of the past.
Young affected dogs may not require treatment. Older dogs may need medication (ie aspirin/daily) to reduce arthritic pain. Surgery is also a possibility.
Because of its polygenic nature, I would suggest you be alert for any breeder (of any breed, that is predisposed to hip dysplasia) who claims that they haven’t x-rayed/scored their breeding stock “because they came from clear parents”. This is rubbish (and I’m being kind). A dedicated breeder may have a line of dogs that have essentially “good” hips but produce offspring that have not. It is important, indeed, ethical for all dedicated breeders to x-ray and score the hips of their breeding stock. Indeed, in a perfect world, it would be ideal for breeders to test ALL dogs produced by them.
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