Breeds That Are Least Prone To Health Problems

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

I'm sorry Max, I didn't mean to snap at you :)

[~Anne~]

Does anyone know what the (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.81-2.86) means?

[minimax]

Does anyone know what the (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.81-2.86) means?

Ask Aidan, he's a maths genius and can probably decipher it. I tune out when I see numbers, they may as well be Arabic to my brain.

Edited October 17, 2013 by minimax

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Maeby, I'm sorry to upset you. I'm not sayng you're wrong or your specialists are. As you know, I also own several pugs, one that is also battling tumours and with a tumour also on his spleen, and I am seeking more information just to satisfy my own peace of mind. If they are risk, then I'd to know.

When it comes to your pug, haven't they all been low grade tumours or am I thinking of someone else? If they are low grade, he has a great life expectancy and your specialists I am sure have reassured you of this. I understand that it is a very worriesome time for you and you would be best trying to focus on the positives when you can.

I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were still battling tumours, or that your Pug has a tumour in his spleen. That must be very scary*. For some reason I thought your Pug was alright now. I must have confused you with someone else.

My Pug has a diagnosis of Multiple Mast Cell Tumours, which means that all his tumours are highly likely to be low grade, but recurring... But I'm not sure what to believe because these are the same five oncologists who told me that Pugs are prone to MCT's. I sought out the world's leading oncologists to get the best advice for my Pug, and that is what they told me. That is my way of dealing with his cancer, I need to feel like I'm in control or it will overpower me and I will become depressed. And I can't afford to get depressed because my Pug needs me.

*That is an understatement but you know what I mean :)

Edited October 17, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[raineth]

I'm not so good at explaining it I think. But it is an estimate of what the actual figure would be in the population, As the sample will always be different to the population. They are saying that there is only a 0.05% chance that they have it wrong.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Maeby I can completely understand where you are coming from, having gone through a very similar experience.

Thank you :)

[Purdie]

http://www.caninecancer.com/Mast.html

I agree with steve;If you want a Pug then look at the health of the pups parents and grand parents and diet and don't let the dog get overweight*.Same with any dog *

My in laws had Australian Terriers for years with no major health issues one lived to 18 years.Also have a look at the Affenpinscher.

I Love those black Pugs...:) Sorry you are going through this distress....

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

http://www.caninecancer.com/Mast.html

I agree with steve;If you want a Pug then look at the health of the pups parents and grand parents and diet and don't let the dog get overweight*.Same with any dog *

My in laws had Australian Terriers for years with no major health issues one lived to 18 years.Also have a look at the Affenpinscher.

I Love those black Pugs...:) Sorry you are going through this distress....

Okay, thanks :)

[~Anne~]

Maeybe, is a dog ever clear of MCTs ? As you know, they can keep popping up. Boof's first was about 4 years ago, however the majority have been diagnosed over the last 12 months.

He has had 6 tumours so far. The last was in April. He has a possible tumour (or 2) on his spleen which is evident in ultrasounds. Follow up ultrasounds have shown it has remained at a similar size. We've taken a wait and see approach and to monitor by ultrasounds rather than cut him open and do pathology on the lesions.

[LisaCC]

Does anyone know what the (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.81-2.86) means?

I failed statistics so I may be missing something, but my understanding is

OR is the Odds ratio, so basically how strongly 'A' is associated with 'B'. So at 2.28 is little over double the average chance that having/being "A" will result in having/being "B"

95% CI is Confidence interval performed at 95% which indicates the reliability of an estimate.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Maeybe, is a dog ever clear of MCTs ? As you know, they can keep popping up. Boof's first was about 4 years ago, however the majority have been diagnosed over the last 12 months.

He has had 6 tumours so far. The last was in April. He has a possible tumour (or 2) on his spleen which is evident in ultrasounds. Follow up ultrasounds have shown it has remained at a similar size. We've taken a wait and see approach and to monitor by ultrasounds rather than cut him open and do pathology on the lesions.

The oncologists told me that MCT's are so unpredictable that they could go away and not come back.

What kind of medicine are you giving him?

[~Anne~]

Boofy is not being medicated. My decision, in consultation with my vet and an oncologist, was to monitor only. The oncologist believed that as the MCTs were all only grade 1 or 2 that we would be medicating potentially for nothing. They are not immediately life threatening or even a determination of definite early death. We cannot determine what the lesions on the spleen are without further risky surgery.

Boof will be 11 next month. He's undergone more than 5 surgeries since December last year, several tests and several ultrasounds. I'd prefer to monitor him only at this stage rather than put him through further risky procedures. The average lifespan of a pug is only 13 years. I'm not sure we would gain too many more years putting him through potentially unnecessary procedures.

If his situation changes, as a team we will reconsider our options.

MCTs are not always dire. All aspects of each individual dog needs to be taken into consideration. Life expectancy of dogs with low grade tumours is quite good.

Edited October 17, 2013 by ~Anne~

[Steve]

O.K. I know this thread was about potential breeds with less risk of cancer but I get the feeling its about wanting to something that may make a difference and take a bit of control.

Fact is that if you know you have to watch for them and catch them when they first show you can have them removed quickly and have less chance of them developing into an issue.You have a diagnosis - thisis a postive thing and means that you really do have some ways of taking or at least feeling you are taking a bit of control

The problem is about the breakdown in cell health and immunity generally in your dog. So traditionally vets and specialists will treat it with surgery,chemo,radiation etc and not much else because they treat the symptom - not the problem. Once you identify the problem as being an immune system related issue then you can go full speed ahead with improving the health of the immune system and hopefully decreasing the chances that it will recur or at least recur less frequently and less aggressively

This is too long and you will need to answer some questions for me to deal with here but if I were you and this were my dog Id go mad on what needs to be done to improve the health of his immune system.That wont do any harm and it will make you feel you have some control over how it all progresses.

Cheer up all is not lost - there is still hope and you don't have to feel you are on your own in this - email [email protected]

Julie

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

This is my Pug when he was 12 months old. This photo cracks me up.

eta

His eyes look a bit funny here because he was recovering from eye surgery and his right eye was still slightly swollen, making it look smaller than his left. At the time I yelled at the surgeon, thinking it was going to be permanent, saying that I didn't want a circus freak for a dog, with one eye bigger than the other LOL.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

O.K. I know this thread was about potential breeds with less risk of cancer but I get the feeling its about wanting to something that may make a difference and take a bit of control.

Fact is that if you know you have to watch for them and catch them when they first show you can have them removed quickly and have less chance of them developing into an issue.You have a diagnosis - thisis a postive thing and means that you really do have some ways of taking or at least feeling you are taking a bit of control

The problem is about the breakdown in cell health and immunity generally in your dog. So traditionally vets and specialists will treat it with surgery,chemo,radiation etc and not much else because they treat the symptom - not the problem. Once you identify the problem as being an immune system related issue then you can go full speed ahead with improving the health of the immune system and hopefully decreasing the chances that it will recur or at least recur less frequently and less aggressively

This is too long and you will need to answer some questions for me to deal with here but if I were you and this were my dog Id go mad on what needs to be done to improve the health of his immune system.That wont do any harm and it will make you feel you have some control over how it all progresses.

Cheer up all is not lost - there is still hope and you don't have to feel you are on your own in this - email [email protected]

Julie

That is exactly how my naturopath and I have been dealing with it. I'm lucky to have one of Australia's leading naturopaths who has designed a health plan for him. She is a good friend of over 20 years. I'm confident that I'm doing the very best that I can for him in that regard.

He had been tumour free for six months and this recent tumour (I only found it yesterday or the day before) absolutely gutted me.

eta

Thank you for your help and support :)

Edited October 18, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[DerRottweiler]

Certain breeds are more susceptible to certain diseases, that's a given.

For example, Rottweilers often get cancer, if you look at the Rottweiler thread, most on DOL have been lost to cancer (my dog included).

Unfortunately that's just part and parcel with dog ownership for some breeds.

With cancer in particular, I find it worrying that the disease shows up in dogs usually when they are middle aged or senior dogs. But we breed them when they are quite young, so there is almost no way to control or limit lines that do have cancer.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Certain breeds are more susceptible to certain diseases, that's a given.

For example, Rottweilers often get cancer, if you look at the Rottweiler thread, most on DOL have been lost to cancer (my dog included).

Unfortunately that's just part and parcel with dog ownership for some breeds.

With cancer in particular, I find it worrying that the disease shows up in dogs usually when they are middle aged or senior dogs. But we breed them when they are quite young, so there is almost no way to control or limit lines that do have cancer.

I agree totally.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[Cordyceps]

I would choose a dog breed that has

1. A normal conformation. Ie not brachycephalic or chondrodysplastic and not a giant breed

2. A large effective population and a low Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI). Inbreeding has adverse consequences in terms of loss of genetic variability and high prevalence of recessive genetic disorders.

This paper discusses Breed-Predispositions to Cancer in Pedigree Dogs and may interest you. It even lists breeds associations to canine mast cell tumours (in America). Pugs are among the over presented breeds including Boxers, Shar peis and Labradors.

If you're not a scientific paper reading type, read this magazine article which discusses cancer in dogs and ranks breeds in terms of susceptibility to cancer http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704342604575222062208235690

Here is another paper that has a list of breed related disorders which may help you make an informed decision. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023309003645

Given this information I would consider breeds that have an open (or only recently closed) breed registry, a large number of unrelated breeding animals, or landrace breeds. I'd look at working herding breeds (kelpies, koolies, working BCs etc), tenterfield terriers or mini foxies, racing greyhounds. Maybe even consider a mixed breed dog (more likely to need cranial cruciate ligament repair, but less likely to get dilated cardiomyopathy, elbow dysplasia, cataracts, and hypothyroidism)

Good Luck!

[Rozzie]

I have a 21 year old and a 12 year old Mini Foxies. The old bloke is a bit deaf but they play like puppies and no health dramas. Top little dogs.

[koalathebear]

I think that the subject of this post is a completely legitimate question to ask and even though people are saying that lines are more important than breeds, I do think it is the case that there are breeds that seem to be more prone to health issues than others. It doesn't mean that all dogs of that breed are sick.

Bernese Mountain Dogs don't have the greatest longevity and many die of cancer, there are many Boxers who get cancer, Dalmatians can be prone to hyperuricemia, certain breeds are more prone to HD, skin problems, breathing problems than other breeds etc etc Yes, it depends on the lines to a certain extent but statistically there are breeds out there that seem to have more issues.

Kelpies can definitely get cancer, Cerebellar ataxia, HD, epilepsy etc but I still think it's less common. Kelpies don't have the best longevity - the little dogs seem to have that, but a healthy Kelpie has a good chance at a pretty good life span. Same with Koolies. I do think your chances of a healthy dog will be increased if you go with an ethical breeder of working dogs ...