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08/30/05 |
   
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Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) is an eye disorder
wherein the dog that is affected will have the possibility of going blind
during it's lifetime. This can happen at anytime during a dogs life
from 4 years old and may never show itself in an affected dog.
There are two ways to check for PRA in ACD's one is to have a dog's eyes checked by a knowledgeable Vet looking specifically for PRA. This is not a full-proof test and there is at least one known dog that was diagnosis this way with PRA, but later testing gave serious doubt to the credibility of the vets' diagnosis. The second and most reliable test for PRA is a DNA blood test that will tell you if your dog is normal (does not carry the gene), a carrier (carries the gene, but will not develop PRA over it's lifetime), or an affected (means carries the disease and will develop blindness over it's lifetime). Remember that a PRA DNA test is only the beginning and dogs should still have yearly CERF tests to ensure eye health. What is PRA? This is a disease that slowly erodes the cone of vision for a dog. The age at which the dog is affected depends upon the breed . In the ACD is may begin at the age of 4 years old or can occur at any age after that. What occurs is that the dog will start to have some night blindness, then the peripheral vision will begin to be less and less, until finally blindness in both eyes. Some dogs proceed through this transition with ease and live long lives. Other dogs seem to have difficulties coping with the loss of sight and can become stressed. Especially with the side vision which means that people/animals coming from the side can cause them anxiety and they may begin nipping people due to this problem. This disease has more than one form, however, currently, the only form known in ACD's is prcd. This form of PRA's mode of inheritance is autosomal recessive and there is a DNA test developed and currently processed by Optigen in the U.S.A. This test involves sending the blood of your ACD to Optigen and through markers in the DNA it can be known if your dog is Normal (A) does not carry the gene, a Carrier (B) will not develop the disease but can pass it on to its offspring, or Affected (C) may develop the disease at some point during it's lifetime and will pass on the gene to it's offspring. See these articles for more in depth information.
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This site was last updated 12/08/04