New Announcement from the AHT concerning PRA in the Irish Setter

[Gillian Kennedy-Sloane]

Please see www.seisc.co.uk for the latest announcment from the AHT regarding PRA-rcd-4  on Tuesday July 19th 2011.

[lyn hathaway]

ossian i forgot to say my dear girl has been totally blind  since been 5 years of age and the lady who fetched this topic to forefront again last week when her dog was diagnosed at 4 years of age says the dog has little if no sight at all.

these are only young dogs so the dogs are not old before going blind as it seems they are in gordons

yes i know its been said many times before its painless and the dog adapts .this i know now is quite true but its devastating beyond words when you are told your puppy is going to be blind 

[lyn hathaway]

sue agree with what you say but what if it further  back from the parents.im first to admit i may be a little ignorant on the genetic side of things and with the breeding programmes.but in our case we were told "a million to one chance a gene has mutated "

layla as ive said previous was bred from  hereditry clear parents  of rcd1 and is herself clear of rcd1 .

what worries me is that they are some  young dogs in those that have been diagnosed and its just a case of how progressive is the progression going to be .in our case it was quick.

i dont want people to panic and im so grateful that people are been open about it .testing on all our dogs is the only way forward 

[Pat Aldridge]

That may be so, but it is more expensive for us - trust me, I've been down this road before...

[Deb Bouttell]

Sue's explanation of the genetics of LOPRA is accurate- this is a different disease to PRA rcd 1 (Freddie's clear of rcd 1) which is eradicated in our breed.

It means that people will have to proceed with caution  when breeding - but, with adequate testing there is no need to have AFFLICTED dogs.

Carriers lead a perfectly normal life and WILL NOT go blind (well not from rcd 4 anyway). We can completely eradicate this within a few generations- as we did with RCD 1 and indeed Clad.