Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)
Pra is an inherited eye disease which is found in lots of breeds of dogs. The type of Pra found in the cocker is General Progressive Retinal Atrophy (Gpra) which is also known as Prcd-Pra.
Dogs that have prcd-pra will at some point during their lives go blind.
The Optigen test is now available.It has been available since around 2005.It is a Dna test which can show whether a dog can pass on the disease to its offspring or not.
When loking for a puppy you must ask if at least one of the parents is genetically clear of this disease and if so ask to view the Optigen certificate.
Breeders who only kc/bva eye test and not Optigen test could be producing pups that will go blind. Now that the test is available there is no excuse for breeders who breed using untested dogs.
We are Kennel Club Accredited Breeders and since july 2010 rules state that KC Accredited Breeders must Dna Health Test BOTH parents. Therefore all pups born here at Julmared will now have both parents tested for prcd-pra and Fn.
There are 3 results from the test which are:
Normal/Clear -will never go blind
Carrier - will never go blind
Affected -will get the disease and go blind.
Significance for breeding:
CLEAR - Can be mated to any dog and will never produce affected pups.
CARRIER- can be bred to CLEAR dogs and will then never produce AFFECTED'S
AFFECTED- Should only be bred with CLEARS not to produce the disease.
Breeding Results
Clear x Clear Mating
Pups= All Clear
All pups produced will never develop the disease
Clear x Carrier Mating
Pups= 1/2 Clear, 1/2 Carrier
All pups produced will never develop the disease
Clear x Affected Mating
Pups= All Carriers
All pups produced will never develop the disease
Carrier x Carrier Mating
Pups= 1/4 Clear, 1/4 Carrier, 1/4 Affected
This mating should not occur because of the risk of producing Affected pups.
Carrier x Affected Mating
Pups= 1/2 Carrier, 1/2 Affected
This mating should not occur because of the risk of producing Affected pups.
Prcd-Pra can be totally avoided by breeders by testing all dogs involved in breeding BEFORE they breed.There is no excuse for not testing breeding dogs.
FN
Fn is aFatal Kidney Disease. It is juvenile onset and usually affected dogs die between 6 months and 2 years of age. The dogs suffer greatly with this disease. The Dna test for Fn is done by the french company Antagene and also by Optigen. The test for FN has been available since around 2006.
FN is inherited in a similar way to prcd-pra. There are also 3 known results:
Clear
Carrier
Affected
Therefore the info above on prcd-pra will also show you the way in which Fn is genetically passed on.
When buying a puppy make sure that the breeder has used at least one parent who has been genetically tested for FN.
Fn and Prcd-pra can be totally avoided with sensible and responsible breeding. There is no excuse for breeding without these tests.
Here at Julmared we will only breed when both parents have been genetically tested to enable us to always produce pups that will never develop prcd-pra and fn.
