Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How patella luxation scores affect dog breeding choices
By van Grevenhof, E M et al.·Published in Journal of animal breeding and genetics = Zeitschrift fur Tierzuchtung und Zuchtungsbiologie·2016·Wageningen University, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Breeding implications resulting from classification of patellae luxation in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that dogs with loose kneecaps (patellar luxation) are more likely to pass on this issue to their puppies. This condition can lead to pain and may require surgery, so understanding its genetic background is important for breeders. The research looked at Flat-coated Retrievers and Kooiker dogs, showing that dogs with loose kneecaps had worse breeding values compared to those with normal kneecaps. As a result, it's recommended that breeders avoid using dogs with loose kneecaps for breeding to help reduce the occurrence of this problem in future generations.
People also search for: dog loose kneecap treatment · patellar luxation in Flat-coated Retrievers · breeding dogs with knee problems
Abstract
Patellar luxation (PL) is one of the major hereditary orthopaedic abnormalities observed in a variety of dog breeds. When the patellae move sideways out of the trochlear groove, this is called PL. The PL score varies between dogs from normal to very severe. Reducing the prevalence of PL by breeding could prevent surgery, thereby improve welfare. Orthopaedic specialists differentiate between normal and loose patellae, where the patellae can be moved to the edge of the trochlear groove, considering scoring loose patellae as normal in the future. Loose patellae are considered acceptable for breeding so far by the breeding organization. The aim of this study was to analyse the genetic background of PL to decide on the importance of loose patellae when breeding for healthy dogs. Data are available from two dog breeds, that is Flat-coated Retrievers (n = 3808) and Kooiker dogs (n = 794), with a total of 4602 dogs. Results show that loose patellae indicate that dogs are genetically more susceptible to develop PL because family members of the dogs with loose patellae showed more severe PL. In addition, the estimated breeding values for dogs with loose patellae indicate that breeding values of dogs with loose patellae were worse than breeding values obtained for dogs with a normal score. Given these results, it is advised to orthopaedic specialists to continue to score loose patellae as a separate class and to dog breeders to minimize the use of dogs in breeding with a genetically higher susceptibility for PL.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26403830/