S.H.C.G.B. Eye Scheme

The club holds several eye clinics throughout the year in different parts of the country. The dogs are tested for the four eye diseases that can affect the Siberian Husky.

Primary Glaucoma
This is by far the worse eye problem a dog can get. In a normal eye the fluid that fills the front of the eyeball and nourishes the lens and cornea is constantly produced by the Ciliary Body. This fluid is called Aqueous. The Ciliary Body also drains Aqueous and maintains a constant pressure in the eyeball. In an animal with Glaucoma there is insufficient drainage of Aqueous, which leads to a build up of pressure. This is very painful and leads to blindness due to the pressure on the optic nerve. It is essential that a dog found to be predisposed or affected by this disease should NOT be bred from.

Hereditary Catatacts
A cataract is when the lens becomes partly or completely opaque and causes a loss of vision. The size of the cataract predicts the amount of vision lost. Some cataracts are formed as the result of a trauma or certain diseases, but hereditary cataracts are caused by a genetic predisposition to opaque areas occurring in the lens. Careful breeding can prevent this problem and dogs affected by this should NOT be bred from.

Corneal Dystrophy
This is a condition in which fat appears as an opaque patch in the corneal tissue, this can affect the sight but generally does not cause any problems.

Persistant Pupillary Membrane
When the puppy is developing in the womb a protective membrane covers the pupil of the eye; this membrane begins to dissolve after birth and is normally fully dissolved by four weeks of age. P.P.M. is a condition where strands of this membrane remain. The condition is unlikely to cause any obvious visual defect.

The test for Glaucoma is called a Gonioscopy and this test only needs to be carried out once in the dogs life. H.C. and C.D. should be tested for annually as these can develop at any age.

Dog’s eyes can be tested for the first time at approximately six months of age onwards.

The clinic dates and venues are published in the club magazine and on the website with a contact number. If you decide to have your dog tested ring the contact number. You will be given an appointment time. This can only be approximate because no one can tell how long each test will take as every dog is different. You will be asked for the registered name of the dog and whether it has been seen before. On arrival at the clinic if your dog is being seen for the first time which includes the gonioscopy you will be taken in to the Opthamologist (the opthamologist currently testing for the club is Tony Wall) in a darkened room where he will look into the eyes to check the drainage angle. He will then put a drop of Mydriatic fluid into each eye to dilate the pupils. You will then be asked to bring the dog back to the room approximately twenty minutes later where he will check for the other diseases. If the dog has been tested before only the second part of the test will be carried out. At no point during the test will the dog be in any pain or discomfort. Some dogs are a little nervous but the tests only take a few minutes.

If there is not a clinic in your area or you can not make the dates available then you can have your dog tested under the B.V.A./ K.C. scheme. Your own vet can advise you where your nearest opthamologist is. If your dog needs a gonioscopy you have to specifically ask for it because it is not performed as a matter of course.

I am often asked why we should bother to have our dogs tested. There is a simple reply to this. The Siberian Husky is a breed, which has relatively few cases of hereditary diseases. This is undoubtedly because we test for them. Because we have the results of the tests breeders can follow a carefully planned breeding regime using clear stock. Without testing we would not know which dogs could be at risk of passing the problems on this would be devastating to the breed.

Hopefully what we are all attempting to do is keep the Siberian Husky as perfect and healthy as possible.

Tracey Storey - Breed historian
Tel. No. 01353 675 434
E-mail shoozpup@qonos.co.uk

Last Edited:18 Mar 2007