[B]
Be carefull. 2 well used border collie stud dogs suffer with glaucoma. It´s autosomal recessive heritable disease and because of his many offspring, there could be affected border collies in breed.

Do you know more about it? Do you know any BC with this disease? I appears ussually until 3 years old.

We heard somtething about genetic tests. Do you know about them?

If I will have more informations, I will write it here.

Was talking about this with someone the other day.

Don't think there is a test yet but surely it would be picked up on an adult eye test :S

I think, that Alan Wilton (Australia) make some tests about it, we wrote him an e-mail and I will copy his answer here ;)

Thanks, keep us updated if a test becomes available will have any i plan to breed with tested.

There isnt much known about glaucoma in border collies, as it is a new condition affecting the breed!!

I know that a lot of work is being put into finding more out about this condition now by top specialists. These specialists are the only people who can so far carry out the tests for glaucoma.

At the moment there is very little known!!

One vet mentioned the possiblity of Sleet having this when she was 6 months old and all around her eye swelled up suddenly. It turned out she had 2 inches worth of grass in her tear duct!! nailbiting

We didn't find that out until a month later mind after lots of eye drops and constant clearing up of the gunk that her eye was producing then I saw it sticking out of the duct when I was putting drops in. When the vet pulled it with tweezers, it just kept on coming and coming.

I can't believe the people using dogs with glaucoma as stud dogs. They obviously don't care about the health of the breed and the pups they are producing at all.

I'm certainly no expert on any conditions in any breed however...

Maggie's BC Neo has grade 5 which is the worst grade. Maggie is obviously devestated.

My friend Deb, who is on here too, has a Neo son. Deb has had Magic tested at a specialist and he is clear. So there is a test that can be done.

However there is currently no DNA test so I guess no one knows for sure weather dogs are carrying the recessive gene.

I think there has been a lot of chat on borderbility about this and I think that breeders are now looking to get their dogs tested.

Mand

I have to have my two girls tested for this condition as I have a daughter and a grand daughter of Neo. Not completely sure yet as to where I have to go to get the tests carried out.

I am going through my girls breeder as she is in talks with other breeders to try and find out as much information as possible about this condition, to try and understand it.

I think it depends where you are but there is a specialist someone Bedford I believe that travels around.

My friend went to a place in Essex and I believe the animal health trust in Suffolk do the test as well.

I know Deb has a phone No. for the Essex place. Let me know if you would like it.

Mand

I think the specialist is Peter Bedford if I am right.

I live in Gloucestershire but would be willing to travel as my girls health is my priority and I need to know whether they are affected or not.

If you could get me that number it would be great, thank you! :)

Hi,

Well first of all I want to make it completely clear 'NO ONE SHOULD BE IN THE FIRING LINE' & no witchhunts & bad gossip should be thrown about by people about other people who have no idea what they're talking about bur2
Stud dogs like Neo were tested to the hilt with all that's available for our beloved breed & Maggie had no idea about this devastating news until very recently & straight away made an appointment to get Neo tested along with some of her other dogs (Thursday 15th January) & found out Neo was affected, *sad* as soon as she got home she put out the message with immediate effect that he was no longer going to be used as stud & the reason why, as any good decent breeder would & is doing everything possible by getting in touch with those involved in all this heartache ...

As some of you may know I myself have a Neo son 'Magic' who i'm very pleased to announce had a test yesterday (19th January) & has been diagnosed normal partyyyy but the turmoil I went through has no words to describe it & I had many sleepless nights *sheep123* I burst into tears when the specialist told me the fab news, as you're told the results as soon as the test is over!

Now on to a test that is available it's called a GONIOSCOPY that can only be done by an eye specialist, what they do is numb the dogs eyes with some drops that takes about 5 mins to take effect then place a very magnified contact lens onto the eye & turn lights off & look into the eyes with an instrument/torch & check the angles of the eye it takes roughly 10 mins or so & doesn't hurt the dog!
I did look at a very good website that explained all about it (in English lol) & I'll put the link on here when I find it...

I do also have a phone number for anyone who wants it for the place that I went to.....01708-384444 its in Romford Essex & the Vets name is Mr Martin Lawton.
Price was £42 a small price to pay!!!!!!!

Hope what I've said is some help & please think of those poor owners that don't have the good news I had with Magic...

Debbie Mangles

Thanks for posting that info Debbie.

I can see Maggie has done the right thing i'm sure theres some people out there who would of kept it quiet. Someone whos truly thinking of the breed :)

Must be a hard time to find out he has this problem and a lot of heartache for her and owners of his offspring.

Great news that a test is available! Not a bad price at all to pay for the health of your dogs.

Thank you for your help. I know how devasted Maggie is and i feel real bad for her. I have also been told that when i go to shows i will problably hear alot of people bad mouthing. Maggie and my girls breeder are good friends so I am being updated through her and her stud dog is a son of Neo and therefore has to have him tested.

I have a daughter and grand daughter of Neo and therefore i feel it is necessary to have my girls tested so that i know where i stand with them as well as being able to understand the condition more.

Thank you for your help I will make an appointment to get mine tested.

i have a neo granddaughter who who i had tested on friday and she is uneffected
her mother was also test uneffected litter brother also tested uneffedted and according to the eye vet there is no concrete evidence that it is hereitery
and there is no test yet to for carriers

I don't know much about glaucoma, other than that my grandmother had it, and because of this the opticians have always kept a close eye (excuse the pun) on my father's eyes and also my own. However, they can't see it until the early stages of the actual condition, so although ok now, it's unknown whether it will develop later.

Isn't it the same in dogs?

What I'm saying is that if dogs are tested clear now, does that mean that those dogs will never be affected, or that they are ok at the moment?

Basically until a DNA test is developed there is no way of identifying the genetic back ground to this. However it seems from the technique used Gonioscopy does not have to be done at regular intervals as the first test will identify the likelyhood of the animal being at risk see below

"Gonioscopy is a technique used to evaluate the iridocorneal angle, which will determine the etiology of a glaucoma or predisposition for glaucoma. Both eyes should always be done The test takes about 15 minutes and involves placing a dome-shaped contact lens (goniolens) on the cornea. This lens permits the ophthalmologist to directly view the drainage angle and determine if the dog has goniodysgenesis, a narrow angle, etc. Either will signal a predisposition for glaucoma. Medical therapy may then be initiated to prevent or reduce risk of future problems, and you may want to re-evaluate your breeding plans for that dog if the angle is not normal.

.......The gonioscopy does NOT have to be repeated yearly like the CERF "

Above taken from http://www.blinddogs.com/articles/glaucoma.htm


Just some info on Narrow Angled Glaucoma in the link below

http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/dcs/sac/mededu/glaucoma.htm

Dr Wilton is currently collecting data and samples on this so lets hope it has a positive outcome that a test can be found

Thanks for that. The test looks pretty involved. It's interesting - maybe human opticians also look for this when they're doing an internal examination.

I have a Neo daughter, she has an appoitment booked for 26th Feb for the test with professor Bedford in St Albans, and i will be living on my nerves until then! This is very sad for all concerned. I met another Neo daughter yesterday who has been tested as pre disposed to the condition which makes me even more worried for my own girl. From the reading i have done it seems that being pre disposed to the condition doesn't mean they will actually develop it but still it would be like living on a time bomb watching everyday in case the 1st signs appear. I also understand that the lab in Australia that develop the DNA testing for this kind of thing are wanting as many people as possible with dogs from the affected lines to send off blood samples so that they can push forward with developing a DNA test to identify carriers.

As have mentioned before I have both a Neo daughter and a grandaughter, I had them tested for Glaucoma on the 4th Feb and I am pleased to say that they are both clear from the condition, though before I had them tested I was living on my nerves.

I think Maggie has been fantastic in being completely honest and open about this and I wish more breeders would do the same with other conditions such as epilepsy.

The only thing is, is that if a son/daughter is tested clear, can they still be a carrier like with CEA? I dont really have any idea on it, just think its very sad that the BC has another condition :o(

Yer i was wondering that as well, if it can be carried like cea etc and if 2 carriers are bred then a affected puppy can be born?

I have been told that no close relatives of an affected dog should be bred from even if they test clear this also the guidance from breeds where the condition is more prevelant, until a DNA test is avaliable there is no way of knowing if they would be carriers. My dog will be having a blood sample taken in a couple of weeks time which will be sent off to help with the research programe, hopefully they will be able to detect the responsible gene and come up with a DNA test in the not too distant future.

Thanks :) Thought that would be what should happen, hope they get the DNA test sorted soon!

A sad and worrying time for all of you affected, but I have to join and applaud the breeder's actions.

My dog had her eye test last week and was clear, phew!

thats great mine tesred clear too have sent my dogs blood for research