In the recent months, and especially after Danika Bannasch et al.’s publishment in December in the journal Canine Medicine and Genetics, inbreeding in canine breeds has become lately the main topic in the animal health media. Inbreeding means having a high kinship between one and/or different specimens. You may be wondering the relationship between this study and the predisposition of some canine breeds to develop ocular pathologies, right? Keep reading to get to know how these two matters are related.

Unlike production animals, breed dogs are selected based on their pedigree and phenotypic characters or physical appearance. The pedigree or genealogical tree is insufficient as it does not include a significant number of individuals; while being selected according to the characters or the appearance traits, ends up having an impact on the animal’s functional and/or vital characteristics. The Bannash et al. study, using the Wisdom Health Genetics database, estimated an inbreeding average of 25% in 227 breeds. A high inbreeding is significant to develop certain diseases. In addition to the inbreeding problem, the pet’s life quality has improved, which implies that, as in humans, developing degenerative problems associated to age.

Some breeds-disease associations are well known, such as hip dysplasia in Golden Retrievers or heart failure in brachiocephalic. Even so, we always forget about those that concern the sight, which besides of being extremely annoying, they can end up having huge repercussions on the animal's health. That is why the last month we made several publications on our social media (LinkedIn and Instagram) presenting our ophthalmological line related to canines (and felines, less frequent) predisposed to develop ophthalmological pathologies. We have relied on the BVA (British Veterinary Association) and The Kennel Club study . Please find forward the links to get to know the predisposed breeds to each disease:

• Retinal diseases
• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Dry Eye Sindrome
• Blepharitis

Age related or genetically predisposed degenerations have a reduced treatment option. Supportive treatments that slow the onset and/or relieve symptoms are often the only solution. PREVENTION IS THE KEY.

Please find forward the following link if you want to check out the diseases, regardless the ophthalmic ones, that is predisposed to develop each dog breed.