Health & Welfare - Kennel Club Standards
The Cocker Spaniel is generally a healthy breed with no major problems.
However, every breed of dog is susceptible to certain health conditions or diseases. Just like humans, dogs can inherit health conditions from their parents.
Responsible breeders make an effort to lessen the likelihood of their puppies inheriting these issues by screening their breeding dogs for hereditary conditions and making informed matches when choosing a sire.
There are some inherited conditions that do affect the breed.
The most significant conditions are PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), and FN (Familial Nethropathy or shrunken kidney) which are both recessive (meaning both parents must carry the faulty gene to produce affected progeny).
Kennel Club health schemes, as listed below, have been set up to help breeders try to eradicate some of these problems.
PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) is an inherited eye disease found in many breeds of dogs with varying ages of onset.
There are various types of PRA but the one most commonly seen in Cockers is GPRA (General Progressive Retinal Atrophy) also known as prcd-PRA.
This results in night blindness gradually leading to total blindness.
In Cockers, PRA has a variable age of onset, from as early as 18 months to as late as 7 years. It is inherited as a simple Autosomal Recessive gene, meaning that a copy of the PRA gene must be inherited from both parents for the disease to occur.
With recessive conditions like PRA, there are 3 genetic categories, affected, normal and carriers.
Affected animals have two copies of the faulty PRA gene, one inherited from each parent.
Carrier animals have one faulty copy of the PRA gene but appear perfectly healthy and cannot be distinguished from normal dogs by eye screening.
Normal animals are entirely free of the faulty gene.
Dogs which have been prcd_PRA DNA tested as either Carriers or Affected should only be mated to dogs which have been DNA tested as Clear/Normal to avoid producing affected pups.
- Bella is prcd-PRA - CLEAR
FAMILIAL NEPHROPATHY
Familial Nephropathy is a hereditary kidney disease condition; it can affect English Cocker Spaniels at a young age between 6 months and 2 years. This disease can progress at differing rates and also have differing symptoms, but it is ultimately fatal.
- Bella is FN - CLEAR
ACRAL MUTILATION SYNDROME (AMS)
This condition is seen in puppies 3-12 months old, and results in insensitivity to pain in the feet/paws which can cause intense licking, and lead to biting and severe self mutilation of the paw.
The condition is inherited as a simple Autosomal Recessive gene, meaning that a copy of the AMS gene must be inherited from both parents for the disease to occur. With recessive conditions like AMS, there are 3 genetic categories, affected, normal and carriers.
As with any other recessive gene, Carriers must only be mated to dogs tested Normal (ie clear) to avoid producing affected progeny.
- Bella is a carrier of AMS - therefore she has only ever been mated with AMS-CLEAR dogs which means her pups will be unaffected by the disease
DEGENERATIVE MYELOPATHY (DM)
Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) is a condition of the spine that causes a gradual paralysis of the back end. Symptoms include weak, wobbly back legs, incontinence and paralysis.
DM usually starts at around 8-9 years old and gets gradually worse over several months. DM is not painful but reduces quality of life.
Sadly, there is no cure for DM. Treatment will focus on keeping your dog comfortable and happy for as long as possible.
- Bella is DM - Clear