KimNIndy said:
i know that DE/CC is rare, but the fact that 2 of our board members have it shows that it's not as 'rare' as one might think.
k
The numbers for DE/CC are slowly rising
....and with both parents needing to carry the gene to produce affected off-spring, and with known and even well known gene carrying affected dogs/bitches still being bred from is it a wonder....
In a litter, single or multiple pups can be affected. In the following litter even with the same parents they can all be clear (but proberbly carriers) or even all affected. It'a a puzzle and a worry for the breed and so the much needed study of this condition at the A.H.T. was brought about.
My Cavalier Honey was involved in helping with this research, and was proberbly the oldest dog with DE/CC that they had seen. It does normally reduce the life span quite a bit, and ages young dogs fast.
Other breeds suffer with Dry Eye and other breeds can have Curly Coat but for some unknown reason the combination of both conditions exists ONLY in the CKCS.
Pups born with this condition certainly look very different from normal unaffected pups and most breeders kindly PTS these affected pups. They are born with a very wavy, almost curly coat and when the eyes open they look very different. The condition isn't "rare", it just isn't "seen" very often for the above reason.
Mildly affected cases seem sometimes to slip through. An unexperienced breeder might not notice or be aware of the condition at all, they might just assume that the puppy is "different" and run it on with the others.
If you ever talk with an older, much experienced, established breeder they will tell you the condition has been there for many years, many seem surprised that it now even has a name.
The name now given of Dry Eye/Curly Coat is possibly soon to change to "Rough coat Syndrome" which is a much better description of the coat alone.
To care for a Cavalier with this condition ie extremely demanding and carries with it alot of worry. It is constant care that needs to be given every hour of the day. Drops, baths, diet, sore eyes, blistered feet, dropping nails, ulcerated eyes.....the list goes on and on. As the dog grows older the problems increase and age brings new ones with them.
This is an auto immune disease and so naturally even with a tiny problem everything takes twice as long to heal and recover. There are not words to explain what it's like to watch your baby with this....you just do your best.
It wasn't the DE/CC that finally took my lovely Honey from me, she had Cushings as well. Running now two auto immune diseases along side each other was just about impossible for her.
Together we gave it a good fight, but it won us both in the end.
Alison.