AB HEALTH ISSUES
(information on this page provided by Bluebloods ab's)
NCL
Canine Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL)
Information on NCL can be found
on the website link below,
with specifics on the American Bulldog.
A test is now available to identify if a dog carries
a clear/carrier/affected NCL gene
by submitting a blood test for sampling....
This is a great breakthrough as testing
and breeding responsibly will help
ensure no AB's will ever be affected by the disease
from this particular mutated gene in the future....
http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.com
Below is a link to
NCL GENETICS AND BREEDING RISKS
A test to identify the NCL gene is now also
available at a lab in Europe.
Click on the link below to open a PDF file
which we have previously been
emailing to people upon request.
It contains information and submission form
with a translation copy also.
For testing at the Lab at the
University of Hanover, Germany.
NCL Information & Submission form for German Lab
Click HERE
As the American Bulldog is seen as a rare breed in the UK,
not all vets are aware of the health issues in this breed,
If your vet requires further information on NCL re the American Bulldog then forward them the links above and those below...
Further Reading:
Below are links to abstracts from the latest published articles
which your vet may have access to acquire the full versions:
NCL Published Article 1
NCL Published Article 2
To aid in the understanding of
molecular genetics the following link to a
'beginners guide to the molecular genetics of the dog' article
and a glossary of brief explanations of some terms
that dog breeders and fanciers may encounter
is a good place to start....
A Beginner's Guide to the Molecular Genetics of the Dog
Written by Dr Jeff Sampson BSc. D.Phil. & Diana Nicolson BSc.(Hons)
HIP & Elbow Dysplasia
The following is a brief explanation of the dysplastic joint
taken from the OFA Website
Hip Dysplasia is a terrible genetic disease
because of the various degrees of arthritis
(also called degenerative joint disease, arthrosis, osteoarthrosis)
it can eventually produce, leading to pain and debilitation.
No one can predict when or even if a dysplastic dog
will start showing clinical signs of lameness due to pain.
There are multiple environmental factors
such as caloric intake, level of exercise, and weather
that can affect the severity of clinical signs
and phenotypic expression (radiographic changes).
There is no rhyme or reason to the severity of
radiographic changes correlated with the clinical findings.
There are a number of dysplastic dogs with
severe arthritis that run, jump, and play as if nothing
is wrong and some dogs with barely any
arthritic radiographic changes that are severely lame.
All ethical breeders will test for Hip dysplasia
by submitting Xrays to the following
organisations for certification.
Click on the links below to read more information
on this issue and these organisations
systems and criteria for testing and explanation of results
and breeding recommendations .....
OFA - Orthopedic Foundation for Animals
Pennhip - Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program.
BVA - British Veterinary Association
or equivalent in a particular country
After much consideration we have chosen to
use both hip score systems
( O.F.A.) and the B.V.A.
the main reason behind this decision is because we feel
that only a small amount of American Bulldogs
have been hip scored in the UK under the B.V.A.
and to use the American systems would give us
a much more accurate guide
as to whether our dogs hips were good enough
to be used in our breeding program.
The OFA also have an online database whereby any
dogs name / reg no ~ by breed can be in-putted
into their search engine to enable interested parties to
check the validity of the dog in questions score.
We believe that this is an open approach to
what is an important issue in this breed and we hope
will help to eliminate falsified hip-scores.
We advise anybody wishing to purchase an AB puppy
to request to see the original Hip-score paperwork
from the breeder of the Sire & Dam of the puppy
to ensure they are buying a puppy
from at least breedable hip-scored parents.
