Our Aim

CEA

When I first came into collies I had read every breed book I could find on the breed. I searched every avenue I could and I studied night and day. My aim was to find out everything about this beautiful and elegant breed that I could. I kept coming across the subject of CEA but I could find nothing in the books that truly explained the genetic condition. Now having friends who study genetics in the breed and also through my own long nights of research I have found out a lot more on the subject and also the answers to how we eradicate it from our breed. Not to be confusing the above with a dog who is blind this is by far the case. In fact most collies who do have CEA can live their lives without ever showing any symptoms of the disease. Even puppies that are tested at 8 weeks of age and are “go normal” are still affected to some degree. At the moment there are NO KNOWN true genetically clear collies of CEA in the UK. Dogs who are affected will carry two recessive genes and carriers will still have one. Only true genetically clear dogs dont carry the recessive gene at all. The dog is tested by placing drops into the eye of the puppy usually done around 6-8 weeks and the opthomologist will look into the back of the puppies eye. CEA will appear as a pale spot lateral to the optic disc. This is however a visual test and even when the puppy is passed as been a non carrier/clear that puppy is still not clear unless it has been DNA tested where a blood sample is collected by a vet and it is sent to the lab for screening. This is where we seperate the true clears from the mildly affected. Although there is a high percentage of these mildly affected dogs being cleared in the UK ( I have two of them) they still carry the genetics that lead to passing the gene on to offspring and before we know it, it has been passed on to their offspring and so on. The result of which we have a pool of dogs that get to the stage that they are badly affected by the disease. Although, as I have stated, most collies who do carry the gene or are diagnosed and graded , will live out most of their lives without any problems. But to the breeder, we must ensure that we do our best to help eradicate this into a pool of collies who are genetically clear of CEA. So how do we eradicate this I hear you ask.

The only way to truly eradicate this from the breed like any other genetic problem is to use dogs who are genetically clear. And again as I have said, there are no known collies in Britain who are genetically clear of the disease. To eradicate this and start clearing up the gene pool we must start to use genetically clear dogs in our breeding programmes. Such a procedure is very lengthy and costly also, and cannot be bred out in one litter or over night. It will take time and dedication from dedicated breeders to improve our gene pool. As you have probably noticed I have used the word Genetic or Genetically a lot of times in the above but these are the key words. If it hasnt been cleared genetically then it isnt clear.

MDR1 

For a number of years now we have known that collies are sensitive to certain drugs. This is where I go on to MDR1. The Multi Drug Resistance Gene. The gene is responsible for pumping drug and toxins out of the brain however dogs who carry the MDR1 gene cannot do this, therefore resulting in serious health problems that can include death if given the wrong drugs. If these toxins are not being flushed out of the system then of course it can cause severe problems for your dog. If you have a dog who has been tested and results as MDR1 +/+, then the dog is genetically clear of the mutation that causes the problems. If your dog results as MDR1 +/- , then the dog is a carrier and is still carrying a mutation gene. The dog only has one clear gene. If your dog results as MDR1 -/- then your dog is non genetically clear of the mutation and is at risk iF given the wrong drugs. We know through various testing that has been done in Laboratories that when a group of drugs that come under the Invermectin group are given to double mutant animals then the results can be fatal. The dog cannot pump the toxins out if its system so therefore it is left in the body and has already started to cause problems for your animal. The only way we can save our animals from ill health or even a fatality is to make sure that we are aware of the dogs MDR1 status. That way we can ensure what drugs we give our dogs are completely safe. For double clear dogs then there is no problem and if this dog were bred to another double clear then the resulting off spring would be clear by parentage. If a double clear was however put to a clear carrier the result could be some clear puppies or some carriers. A carrier does have one mutation gene and therefore passes this on as it breeds. If two such carriers are bred then the result can be in both double clears, clear carriers and also double mutants. As both parents will effectively be passing on two clear genes and an affected gene so therefore can produce all three. If two dogs that are double mutants are bred then the result will be double mutant puppies. The mutant gene is easy to keep out of our lines by using dogs and breeding from dogs who are double clears. However, we must still use clear carriers and double mutants to eradicate this from the gene pool. Provided that you know your dogs MDR1 status then you will know what drugs that you can give your dog and what drugs you cannot. And also for those who do breed, this is crucial information that they will seek to know for their breeding stock. The key here is not to be ignorant for that elegant and regal collie that you have always wanted as a child. If you do not know your dogs status then how will you know what to treat your dog with if it becomes ill. You could potentially save your dogs life by knowing the status and I would encourage all collie owners to have their dogs screened for MDR1. It is a simple DNA scrapping on the inside of the cheek. It does not harm your dog or put your dog under any stress what so ever but it does save any future heartache that you may encounter should your dog become ill and need medical intervention. It does not matter whether your dog is clear, carrier or double mutant – provided you know what your dog is then you will know exactly what medical substances your dog can or cannot get and in the case of your dog being affected then automatically your dog can be treated with an alternative brand that will be just as effective as any other drug that your dog would have got if it had been double clear. I myself believe I was subject to losing a dog at just 2 years of age because of this gene mutation. After developing Pyometra (an infection of the womb) she underwent emergency surgery to have her womb removed in order for her to lead a happy and healthy life. When we brought her home from the vet we thought that we had just saved our dog from death and would have many happy years ahead of us with her but sadly this wasn’t to be. A few months later D’arcy became very ill. We noticed at first that she was becoming very tired and was drinking a lot. She slowly went off her food eating only the minimal amount. After a visit to the vet and some more antibiotics we brought her home thinking that she would soon be on the mend. But we soon noticed that she wasn’t getting any better. There was nothing more that we could do for her. After another few weeks of nursing her she had rapidly deteriorated and she couldn’t lift her head or even stand. D’arcy passed away on the 9th of January 2007 at only 2 years old. We believe that alongside the aneasthesia and the strong doses of antibiotics, the toxins had invaded the liver and effectively poisoned her system causing blindness, brain damage and eventually death. This would indicate that she had been MDR1 -/-. If we had known about the severity and knew all about the gene mutation at the time then I am positive that our D’arcy would still be here with us now. Let this be a lesson learned for collie owners - although we can never know for sure if this is what killed her, we are 99% sure it was. When you put her symptoms alongside the facts of the gene mutation, then it points to her being killed by toxins that could not be pumped out of her system because she may have been  double mutant MDR1 status.

We will update this site with relative links that will give you an informative insight into MDR1 and the effects that it can have on your dog shortly.

With the above in mind we aim to breed happy and healthy Collie bearing in mind what the origin of the collie was.