can anyone tell me what the essential health tests are for RR please?

Hi Sam

Hip scoring is essential, some people are elbow scoring, but not many.  In the States they seem to thyroid test as well and the odd couple have been eye tested, but to the best of my knowledge, the RR doesn't suffer from any inherited eye conditions.

The main breed "problem" is the dermoid sinus and any litter must be checked by experienced breeders.  I actually had a bitch come to one of my dogs that had a sinus - and she'd already had a litter!  Luckily I noticed it before allowing my dog to mate her.  Now I check if they haven't come from someone I know.
HTH
Carina (Tukela RRs)

Whats dermoid sinus, just curious, what do you look for how can you tell.

Louise

Hi Louise

The dermoid sinus is a tube, which usually runs from the surface of the skin down towards the spine.  It can be thin as a thread or much bigger. They are present at birth, if the dog has one.  For more information (and some rather graphic photographs - be warned), you can go to: 

www.dermoids.org

ALL litters of RR should be checked by at least 2 experienced people.  The best people are experienced breeders.  Unfortunately I have found sinuses on pups that had been checked by the owner's vet and passed as clear. 

HTH
Carina

carina out of interest....if you find them then what next? Do you cull or is there a treatment. is it hereditary so if both parents were free it would be assumed all the pups would be? Just curious!

A client brought a young lab for a consultation, and it turned out to have what seemed to be a sinus - the exit was on the top of his head near his ear, but it tracked down his neck to his spine. The vet removed it (it kept getting infected) and as far as I know the dog recovered well. I'd never heard of it before.

Hi Sam

It is hereditary - but the mode of inheritance seems to be fairly complicated, investigations are being funded by the clubs and a test may soon be available to check for carriers.  You can get a sinus from clear parents (no-one in their right mind would deliberately breed from a dog with a sinus!)

If a dermoid sinus is detected at birth, then the kindest thing to do would be to put the pup to sleep.  If it's findable on such a small creature, it will develop to be huge.  People used to put all pups to sleep when they found a sinus, but now veterinary medicine is much more sophisticated.  I have found 2 over the years on pups that I've bred.  Both were 5 weeks when I found them and they were both situated at the base of the tail and ran at an angle ie not just straight upwards towards the skin and were therefore much harder to detect.  I could see they were there as the skin wasn't as flexible as it should have been in that area, but even knowing there were there, they were difficult to detect.  My vet couldn't find the second one for ages, even when I told him where it was. 

The first pup, born in 1996 was, of course, the one I wanted to keep.  I was devastated to find it.  I talked to my vet about it and she was very taken with my dogs and was thinking of getting a new addition.  She took her and operated on her at 9 months.  The agreement was that if it went into the spine, then the kindest thing would be to put her to sleep while on the table.  Luckily it wasn't too deep so she was operated on and lived til she was 12.  The second one was born in 2002.  I actually had people almost fighting to have her as she was so gorgeous.  I gave her to my best friend.  We couldn't actually find the exit hole, so it was what is known as a blind sinus.  We decided not to operate and just to wait and see what happens.   So far, nothing has happened at all so we are leaving it alone.  If it had got infected, which is what usually happens with a "normal" sinus, then we would have to have it removed.  What happens is that there is usually hair inside the tube of skin that makes up the sinus, and when the dog moults, the hair in that moults too and it all gets clogged up and infected.  This can be very painful for the dog, and potentially life threatening if it goes down into the spine.

(Sorry this is all over the place - I'm not well and feel lousy - I'm sure someone's put cotton wool in my brain!)

ugh, that sounds really horrid! hope they work out a test for it soon!

Me too!

RRs aren't the only dogs to suffer from it - as shown by JG's post.  Apparently it also occurs in thoroughbred horses.

Ive had a look at the link very interesting they get full of stuff like a plughole nowonder they get infected, learnt another thing about doggies. Good info

Louise

What is the 'tube' thing though?  Is is something that has not formed properly or an extra growth type thing....

They do look nasty and uncomfortable though.

The sinus is formed by things not forming properly, it's supposed to be related to spinabifida (sp?)  A lot of people have started giving their bitches folic acid as that seems to reduce the incidence of sinus.

Thanks - I think too much about stuff sometimes LOL

No worries