Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How patellar luxation is inherited in Chihuahuas and Bichon Frises
By Nilsson, K et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2018·Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Heritability of patellar luxation in the Chihuahua and Bichon Frise breeds of dogs and effectiveness of a Swedish screening programme.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that patellar luxation, which is when a dog's kneecap slips out of place, is common in Chihuahuas and Bichon Frises. About 23% of Chihuahuas and 12% of Bichon Frises were affected by this condition. The research showed that there is a genetic link to this issue, meaning it can run in families. The screening programs in Sweden have helped improve the situation slightly over the years, especially for Chihuahuas. If you have one of these breeds, it's a good idea to discuss patellar luxation with your vet, especially if your dog shows signs of limping or difficulty walking.
People also search for: Chihuahua kneecap slipping · Bichon Frise patellar luxation symptoms · dog limping treatment · Chihuahua joint problems · dog knee pain screening
Abstract
Patellar luxation is one of the more common orthopaedic diseases of dogs and is relatively frequent in some toy breeds, including the Chihuahua and Bichon Frise. Using data provided by the Swedish Kennel Club, genetic parameters, including heritability, were estimated for patellar luxation in the Chihuahua from 1999 to 2014 and in the Bichon Frise from 1997 to 2014. The effects of the current screening programmes for patellar luxation in these breeds were evaluated. Patellar luxation was defined as a binary trait, treating dogs as affected or unaffected. The edited data included 7024 records for the Chihuahua and 1071 records for the Bichon Frise. Patellar luxation was analysed using mixed linear and threshold animal models, including fixed effects of sex, birth month, birth year, age at veterinary examination, random effects of the examining veterinary surgeon, genetic effect of the individual and residual. The prevalence of patellar luxation was 23% in the Chihuahua and 12% in the Bichon Frise. Using threshold analysis, estimated heritabilities were 0.25 for the Chihuahua and 0.21 for the Bichon Frise on the observable scale, and 0.46 for the Chihuahua on the underlying scale. It was concluded that there is genetic variation in patellar luxation and that there has been a slight genetic improvement over the study period in the Chihuahua. Further genetic progress would be facilitated by selection using estimated breeding values based on veterinary screening records.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29680386/