New Tests and a Collie Health Panel are now available
In collaboration with the Collie Health Foundation, we are happy to announce our new Collie Health Panel that bundles together 6 health tests that are relevant for Collie Health, three of which are brand new tests at the VGL.
The new tests are:
1) Collie eye anomaly (CEA): a complex heritable disorder of the eye that affects multiple dog breeds, especially herding breeds with Collie ancestry. The disorder causes an abnormal development of the inner structures of the eye, including the vascular and retinal layers. While some dogs may have no obvious clinical signs and present with normal vision all their lives, most affected dogs have at least an underdeveloped vascular layer of the eye, which is commonly referred to as choroidal hypoplasia. Affected dogs may also present with small eyeballs (microphthalmia), mineralization of the cornea, bleeding inside the eye, detachment of the retina, impaired vision or even blindness due to coloboma of the optic nerve.
2) Cyclic neutropenia (CN): also known as Gray Collie Syndrome, CN is a heritable disorder that affects Collies and affected puppies often have hypopigmented (dilute) coats. The condition results in episodes of abnormally low numbers of neutrophils, a specific type of white blood cell that is responsible for fighting bacterial infections.
3) Susceptibility to Dermatomyositis (DMS): DMS is an immune-mediated disorder that affects the blood vessels of the skin and muscle. The disorder is considered complex, being caused by genetic and environmental factors. Affected dogs typically display hair loss and crusty/scaly skin lesions on the face, ears, tip of the tail and/or bony prominences of the legs and feet. Lesions may appear in adulthood or as early as 12 weeks of age. Muscle involvement can happen in more severe cases. Mildly affected dogs may display some muscle loss on the face whereas severely affected dogs can have difficulty eating, drinking, and swallowing, and may display abnormal gait.
In addition to these, the panel also tests for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), Multidrug Sensitivity (MDR1) and Rod-cone dysplasia type 2 (rcd2)
