i willo get my dogs tested.. so sorry for your ordeal. thank you for sharing it
Quote:
Originally Posted by PCMom  Pepper had an illness called Cerebellar Abiotrophy. It is a neurological illness that attacks the entire nervous system. At the end he couldn't stand, walk, eat, drink, play or pee without me to hold him up. On the day I put him to sleep the vet told me they believe now that this illness is caused by inbreeding. There is no cure for it and it was hell watching him struggle every single day for hours at a time just to get across the room. He also vomited everyday and coughed badly everytime he drank water. He was a very happy little boy who kept going even while he struggled. When it first started the spells would last only a few minutes...we saw it the first night we brought him home...at the end he was like that about 85% of the time. We were told that both parents carried the gene and most likely one of them had an active case of it. As I said, it was caused by bad breeding. There is a chance that if both parents didn't have it Pepper would not have had an active case of it BUT (this is very important) they STILL would have passed on the gene to each and everyone of their offspring. So if someone bred the offspring to another pup that had the gene it would happen again. That is why I said talk to other breeders! They can tell you what to test for and how to keep your dogs safe. I would never be a breeder because for me the risk is just too great of cause another pup to suffer the way my Pepper did. |