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BREED HEALTH SURVEY - THANK YOU
Thank you for submitting your
information. Health survey results are below. If you have any questions, please e-mail
Casey
Carney with questions.
HEALTH SURVEY RESULTS
The BCSA’s Health Committee
is pleased to publish the results of our first breed health survey. Our
goals were to identify the top 10 health concerns in the Border Collie
population, in order to direct financial assets to support research and
education. Additionally, the results of this survey will be utilized on
our application letter requesting entry of the Border Collie in the Canine
Health Information Center (CHIC) database.
A total of 300 surveys were
received with information obtained on 860 dogs. Surveys were
received from 39 states plus Ontario.
Summary of
Demographics Data
|
Length of time in
the breed: |
|
1-5 yrs |
29% |
|
6-10 yrs |
34% |
|
11-15 yrs |
20% |
|
>15 yrs |
16% |
|
Unknown |
1% |
|
Reproductive
Status of Dogs: |
|
Spayed / neutered
|
62% |
|
Intact |
36% |
|
Unknown |
2 %
|
98 Dogs (4%) of those
included in the survey were identified as “Rescues” of unknown pedigree.
Survey Participants’
Top Health Concerns in the Border Collie
Participants were asked to
list three health issues that they considered the most important and/or
threatening in this breed. The top 10 concerns of survey participants are
summarized below.
RANK
|
CONCERN |
# OF RESPONSES |
|
1 |
Epilepsy
|
174 |
|
2 |
Hip Dysplasia |
161 |
|
3 |
Collie Eye Anomaly
(CEA) |
90 |
|
4 |
Cancer |
57 |
|
5 |
Temperament
|
44 |
|
6 |
Osteochondrosis
Dessicans (OCD) |
26 |
|
7 |
Deafness |
25 |
|
8 |
Trapped Neutrophil
Syndrome (TNS) |
20 |
|
9 |
Arthritis |
17 |
|
10 |
Cardiac Disease |
17 |
TEMPERAMENT -
ACTUAL DIAGNOSIS BY SYSTEM
Orthopedic
Diseases/Disorders
Orthopedic
diseases/disorders occurred in 116 dogs (13%). The following table
displays the occurrence of orthopedic problems.
Disease/Disorder
|
# of Dogs Affected |
% Overall
Occurrence |
|
Hip Dysplasia |
61 |
7.1% |
|
Arthritis |
22 |
2.6% |
|
Osteochondrosis
Dessicans (OCD) |
16 |
1.9% |
|
Spondylosis |
7 |
0.8% |
|
Cruciate Ligament
Injury |
4 |
0.5% |
|
Patellar Luxation |
4 |
0.5% |
|
Panosteitis |
1 |
0.1% |
|
Elbow Dysplasia |
1 |
0.1% |
Neurological Diseases/Disorders
Neurological diseases/disorders occurred in
36 dogs (4%). The following table displays the occurrence of neurological
problems.
Disease/Disorder
|
# of Dogs Affected |
% Overall
Occurrence |
|
Epilepsy |
29 |
3.3% |
|
Intervertebral
Disc Disease |
5 |
0.6% |
|
Lumbosacral
stenosis |
2 |
0.2% |
Endocrine Diseases/Disorders
Endocrine diseases/disorders occurred in 33
dogs (4 %). The following table displays the occurrence of endocrine
problems.
Disease/Disorder
|
# of Dogs Affected |
% Overall
Occurrence |
|
Hypothyroidism |
25 |
2.9% |
|
Pancreatitis |
4 |
0.5% |
|
Lupus |
3 |
0.3% |
|
Addison’s Disease |
1 |
0.1% |
The most common endocrine
disorder reported was hypothyroidism with 2.9% of dogs affected. The
Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) has evaluated the results of
thyroid tests from 91 border collies between January 1974 and December
2007. Of those border collies evaluated 4.4% were found to have autoimmune
thyroiditis, a heritable form of the disease. An additional 4.4% were
found to have equivocal results and OFA recommended retesting these dogs
in 3 to 6 months. None of the dogs evaluated by the OFA were found to have
idiopathically reduced thyroid function.
Cancers
Various types of cancers
occurred in 30 dogs (3%).
Type of Cancer
|
# of Dogs Affected |
% Overall
Occurrence |
|
Lymphoma |
8 |
0.9% |
|
Mast cell |
2 |
0.2% |
|
Squamous cell |
2 |
0.2% |
|
Miscellaneous |
4 |
0.5% |
|
Unspecified |
14 |
1.6% |
Other
Diseases/Disorders by System
Other diseases/disorders
were reported with lower frequency. The data is presented below,
categorized by system.
Of the 15 dogs with eye disease, only two
were affected with Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA).
TEMPERAMENT ISSUES
There were six temperament traits or
behaviors that were being evaluated per dog.
Of the 860 dogs, 339 had a least one
behavior (39%) and 36 had 3 or more behaviors (4%) The most common behavior was sound
sensitivity, which affected 240 dogs (28%). Of these 240 dogs, 153 (64%)
exhibited only this temperament issue. Out of the 860 dogs, 98 were identified as
“Rescues”.
| Exhibited one temperament issue |
56.57% |
| Exhibited three or more issues |
10.18%
|
Of the 860 dogs in this survey, there were
17 dogs with two or more temperament issues, older than 12 months that
were NOT spayed or neutered.
Summary
The following are the top health issues as identified in
this survey:
#1: Temperament
#2: Hip Dysplasia
#3: Epilepsy
#4: Hypothyroid
#5: Arthritis (age related)
#6: OCD of the Shoulder
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