Episodic falling syndrome and seizures

[Ruth]

It is unforgiveable to not carry out this test. I don't know how these folks sleep at night.

[Margaret C]

'With DNA tests I hope no other cavalier has to suffer from this.' If people bother to do them. In the UK the tests for Episodic Falling and for Dry Eye/Curly Coat cost around £48 each (the equivalent of 2 entries at a championship show) and are often on offer at a cut price. Yet a friend searching for a health-checked stud dog for her bitch found that even breeders who heart tested and MRI scanned didn't bother to DNA test. Why ever not??

That is interesting as quite a few puppy buyers have reported back to me that breeders that claim they health test will often show the DNA test certificates and a heart form ( the cheap & easy tests ) but they will not have any proof of MRI scanning or eye tests.

[sins]

Quite a few breeding cavaliers are now "hereditary clear" by virtue of their parents being tested clear. They will not have certs from the AHT.
When it comes to buying a pet puppy,it's sufficient that one parent is tested clear for Dry eye/curly coat or Episodic falling as the puppy cannot be affected and we need to remember that a carrier is a healthy dog.It's also perfectly acceptable to have one parent as a carrier and the other parent clear.
Sins.

[Karlin]

Good point -- forgot that this would be the case with offspring of clear matings. And yes it is important for people to understand that a carrier is different from an affected dog. Good advice. I suppose the approach then is to make sure a buyer is able to verify that at least one parent was clear either from the DNA test itself or has parents whose status is known.

[Kate H]

But you still need to test at some stage - whether it's the parents or grandparents of a puppy, and you must mate carrier to clear. And if people aren't testing, they're still stumbling around in the dark. Some breeders seem to take the attitude of 'If a dog hasn't got symptoms it can't have the disease.' And that doesn't work either with EFS or Dry Eye - or with a progressive disease like CM/SM.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[sins]

Breeders are testing for Episodic falling and Dry Eye/Curly Coat.
The Kennel Club has revamped it's website and carries a list of tested cavaliers in the UK alone.
There's approx. 1,000 dogs on there.
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/heal...arles-spaniel/
There's just about every known recognisable affix represented in that list.
If you take into account that there were only 5,970 cavalier puppies registered last year in the UK, then it becomes clear just how extensively tested the breed is for DE/CC and EF. If anyone feels that people aren't testing for those conditions then just direct them to the KC lists.
Sins

[Kate H]

If anyone feels that people aren't testing for those conditions... My comments were based on the experience of a friend in East Anglia who was looking for a B/T stud dog, preferably on the east side of England, for her bitch who is a Dry Eye/Curly Coat carrier. After a lot of looking, she couldn't find one who had had all the health tests done, and it was often the DNA tests that were missing. Eventually she had to use a fully tested Blenheim. Perhaps the problem is not so much whether people are doing the DNA tests, but finding dogs who have had ALL the tests done. It's great if lots of people are doing the DNA tests, and saving Cavaliers from two nasty conditions - but are they also doing the SM, heart and eye tests? If not, the good take-up of the DNA tests could just be a cheap way of being able to say 'We health test' without having to do the big (and expensive) ones. Still, there is good take-up, so that's a step in the right direction whatever the motives of some. The Cavaliers who are saved from two painful diseases won't be bothered by motives!

Kate, Oliver and Aled