Some of the most emotionally challenging canine cases seen in the veterinary hospital are those involving serious illnesses of newborns or young puppies. Owners’ joyous expectations of a long, healthy relationship with their new puppy makes a disease which decreases that puppy’s quality of life or results in early euthanasia, all the more heartbreaking. Though infectious diseases like parvovirus are often of particular concern in young pups, some puppies ending up on the exam room table show signs of one of a wide array of inherited diseases caused by a known genetic mutation. Unfortunately, limitations in available therapies for many inherited diseases often lead to frustrating and emotional outcomes for all the parties involved; veterinarians and veterinary staff included. Thereby, making prevention of inherited disease through the use genetic testing, an essential part of healthy dog breeding.
Historically, methods to prevent inherited diseases have been limited to selective breeding practices. However, an inability to identify asymptomatic carriers of recessively inherited diseases or dogs in the preclinical phase of late-onset inherited diseases, have traditionally made great reductions in disease incidence difficult to obtain through selective breeding alone. Genetic testing is now playing an important role in identifying these dogs such that ...