Post date: May 14, 2012 8:2:7 PM
The first report on our Dachs-Life 2012 Health Survey is now available here and as a pdf download, here.
Dachs-Life 2012 has been really well-supported by UK Dachshund owners and the Breed Council’s Health and Welfare Sub-committee would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has participated. The survey has confirmed many of our current priorities are valid and has identified some new areas where we will need to carry out further work.
Although we cannot report an average age of death from a large sample of Dachshunds in this survey, the Median age of death here was 11.8 years (compared with 12.8 in the KC 2004 survey - 245 deaths). The current age profile of dogs in the Dachs-Life Survey was very similar to that in the 2004 survey, so it would be reasonable to assume that the breed’s median age of death is still around the 12 year mark. We should encourage more people to report the death of their Dachshund on our on-line Health Reporting site so that we can build more data on age and cause of death.
There are a number of age related conditions highlighted in the survey (dental disease, deafness, cataracts, arthritis) which should not concern us particularly as they are part of the natural ageing process and are to be expected.
Back Disease is the number one issue we need to address and our research programme with the Animal Health Trust is a key part of that.
The prevalence of back problems in dogs over the age of 5, particularly in the Smooth, Mini Smooth and Mini Wire varieties is a particular concern.
The fact that the other three varieties have lower rates of back disease is encouraging and may help provide a DNA differentiator which will be of use to us.
Heart Disease in Standard Wires is an issue that is significantly more prevalent than in the other varieties. It may be sensible to reinstate the WHDC Cardiac Screening programme.
Epilepsy in Mini Longs is significantly more prevalent than in any of the other varieties. This has been mentioned anecdotally, but we now have quantified evidence of a problem that needs to be investigated further.
The previous worries about Epilepsy in Wires appears no longer to be a concern.
Lafora Disease in Mini Wires is already being addressed by the WHDC Screening Programme and will continue to be a priority until we can be confident that Affected puppies are no longer being bred.
All the Miniature varieties suffer from eye diseases to a greater extent than the Standards. Clinical eye testing (preferably annually) should become the norm for all six varieties.
A research programme into Distichiasis in Mini Longs is currently being planned.
Compared with many other breeds, cancer is not a major issue in Dachshunds. Mammary Tumours are the only form of cancer highlighted in our survey and it may be useful to investigate this further to identify age of onset and the impact of spaying.
It was interesting to note a small number of cases of Patellar Luxation in the Miniature Smooth and Miniature Long varieties which may also be worth investigating further with a research screening exercise using the established Putnam 1968 method (which does not require anaesthesia).
Further reports will be produced with additional levels of analysis and a summary of the survey responses on Behaviour and Temperament.