Latest News
May 2013Please find below the information that you
can make available through the Cavalier Breed Clubs to facilitate the release
of DNA test results to the Kennel Club (KC) from our research into the
frequency of the episodic falling and dry eye and curly coat syndrome
mutations. As you are aware, the results from our research were reported to
individual owners in confidence to encourage widespread participation in the
study. We were very pleased with the response we had from Cavalier owners -
both via the Breed Clubs and from those contacted randomly with the help of the
KC. We tested 280 dogs in total - 154 were recruited with the kind assistance
of the Health Officials from the Clubs, and 126 were sampled in response to the
invitations sent out on our behalf by the KC. Now that DNA testing for these
two conditions has become an official KC scheme, we have received requests to
release results for individual dogs so that they will appear on the KC online
Health Test Results Finder, be included on KC registration documents, and be
recorded in the Breed Records Supplement. Owners wishing test results from our
research to be released to the KC are required to contact me directly to
provide consent. Reporting of these results should be entirely voluntary.
Requests can be made by emailing Lou Hayward at
lou.hayward@aht.org.uk and these
will be processed as quickly as possible if the subject line reads "Cavalier
DNA test results" and the body of the email contains the KC registered name of
the dog or dogs involved and a statement to the effect that the owner gives
their permission for DNA test results to be released to the KC. I can also be
reached by post at Lou Hayward (CPM), Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park,
Kentford, Newmarket CB8 7UU. Telephone requests will not be accepted for
security reasons. If the ownership of a Cavalier has changed since the study
was completed in April 2012, the new owner will be asked to send a copy of the
dog's current KC registration certificate by email or post. Once requests have
been received, batches of results will be forwarded to the KC regularly where
they will be uploaded to the Health Test Results Finder as quickly as possible.
Owners should expect the total processing time to take a fortnight, although it
may be less than this.
Louisa Hayward BSc RVN Graduate Research
Assistant, Canine Genetics Research Group Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park,
Kentford, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 7UU Switchboard: 01638 751000 Ext: 1284 Reg
Charity No 209642
May 2013 Episodic Falling and Curly Coat/Dry Eye -
The KC confirms that 1600 test results have been uploaded and are now available
to view via their online Health Test Finder.
April 2013 Episodic Falling and Curly Coat/Dry Eye
KC Press Release
New DNA Testing Schemes for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
16-Apr-13 Following consultation with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed
health coordinator, on behalf of the breed clubs, the Kennel Club has approved
new official DNA testing schemes for Curly Coat-Dry Eye and Episodic Falling in
the breed. These tests are offered by the Animal Health Trust (www.aht.org.uk)
and Laboklin (www.laboklin.co.uk) and further details can be obtained directly
from them.
Copies of all future test certificate results issued by the
laboratories will be sent directly to the Kennel Club, where the test result
will be added to the dog’s registration details, which will trigger the
publication of the test result in the next available Breed Records Supplement.
The result will appear on any new registration certificate issued for the dog
and on the registration certificates of any future progeny of the dog, and also
on the Health Test Results Finder on the Kennel Club website. If the owner
includes the original registration certificate for the dog (not a copy) then a
new registration certificate will be issued, with the DNA result on it, free of
charge. Please send any DNA test certificates to Health & Breeder Services,
The Kennel Club, 1 – 5 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, London W1J 8AB or scan
and email copies of the certificates to hbs@thekennelclub.org.uk.
The
Kennel Club continues to work alongside breed clubs and breed health
coordinators, in a collaborative effort to improve the health of pedigree dogs.
The Kennel Club is happy to accommodate a club's request to add a new DNA test
to its lists and would normally need a formal request from the breed's health
coordinator or a majority request from the breed clubs.
February 2013 - Research in Heart Disease Update on
the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Project by Professor Brendan Corcoran and Mr
Chi-Chien (Fox) Liu
The project is progressing well and what we have done is
summarised here as an up-date based around the original aims.
Aims
1. Is the pathology of MMVD in the CKCS different from
that in other breeds of dogs or is the disease the same irrespective of breed
type?
This part of the study has been completed and the results
submitted for publication to The Veterinary Journal, with suitable
acknowledgment of the support of the CKCS Club and those kind CKCS owners that
have allowed us to collect valves from their beloved pets. The study
demonstrated that the damage that occurs to the CKCS valve is the same as
occurs to non-CKCS dogs, and in that respect the CKCS is not unique when
describing the pathology of this disease.
2. Is MMVD in CKCSs triggered by damage to the endothelial
cells lining the valve surface?
This part of the study is on-going and
has included isolating and growing canine valve endothelial cells, generating
pure clones (each cell an exact copy of each other), monitoring response to
different agents, growing cells in a form of artificial valve and physically
injuring the cells. Further work is to be done with the plan to complete by end
of 2013.
3. Is there increased expression of genes normally
associated with development in disease valves?
This part of the project
is on-going. Material has been collected from enough valves to allow the gene
analysis to be undertaken. There were issues with the quality of genes
extracted and that has delayed processing. The gene data should be available in
the next few weeks and then will be analysed. On the basis of these results
some aspects of Aim 2 will be addressed further.
So far we have been happy with the progress of the project
and are confident it will provide new information about mitral valve disease in
the CKCS and other dogs.
Previous HLC News - here
|
|
Health Dates
Sun 26th May 2013 The CKCS AGM Prior to the AGM
there will be a presentation by Dr Paul Mandigers on CM/SM and he is inviting
questions to be submitted to him in advance by email at
paul.mandigers@planet.nl
Sun 9th June 2013 Heart and Eye testing organised
by the Humberside CKCS Club at their Championship show
Sun 20th October 2013 Health and Welfare day
organised by Southern CKCS Club
Guide to health testing
The Cavalier Health Liaison Committee have produced a
guide which will
be updated as and when new information is received and discussed by them.
Health testing recommendations appear from time to time often as a result of
research by experts in their field and members should keep themselves up to
date as to the latest information which is available on the various web sites
such as The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, The Kennel Club, AHT and
Cavalierhealth.co.uk.
These recommendations are voluntary and not compulsory
but can be used to help in the breeding of sound cavaliers. The
guide gives an
outline of the tests available but breeders should ensure that they obtain the
up to date details of any particular scheme they are considering.
September 2012 - The FCI promotes 'Cavaliers
For Life'. The latest FCI newsletter which is available in English has devoted
considerable space to the breeding programme launched in Belgium and now
supported by breeders in other European countries.
In mentioning Syringomyelia whilst the frequency of CM is
unfortunately high in the Cavalier breed, Paul Mandigers a Recognised
Specialist EBVS, of Utrecht University, The Netherlands reports that the
prevalence of clinical cases is around 8 to 10%.
The FCI's International Breeding Strategies state that as
a general rule, a breeding programme should not exclude more than 50% of the
breed; the breeding stock should be selected from the best half of the breed
population. So breeders should bear this in mind so as not to cause a great
loss of the gene pool which might be the case if other guidelines were
adopted.
Read the latest newsletter
here
How to help the International Breeding Programme
Breeders and owners can submit their Cavaliers health test
results to help expand the European EBV's. Please complete the
participation form (download) and send
it with photo copies of all your dogs results together with a copy of their
pedigree to the address shown on the form.
Where possible add the KC registration number beside each
dogs name on the pedigree as well as the KC number of the dog you are
submitting.
All health screening results are accepted, hearts, eyes,
mri, curly coat, episodic falling, even ones done several years ago before
there were recognised protocols for mri's or hearts.
|
