Cerebellar Ataxia - Update 7/25/99

Letter From: Pat Wilkinson via Kathy Kerr, SCOA Health Committee Chairman

Kathy,

I rang Dr. Cattanach to ask whether he could recommend someone in the USA who is similarly qualified, who could act as advisor to the SCOA on the subject of CA genetics. I feel that you really need to get someone to speak to all members/owners of Spinoni over there to stress the seriousness of the situation and recommend appropriate action, etc.

He cannot recommend anyone but asked what the AKC are doing about it and also wanted to know where they are located. Maybe, if they are conveniently close, we could meet with them next year when we come over to your annual meeting. Dr. Cattanach also suggested that you might want to invite him over to do a presentation, discussion, seminar or whatever. You would have to pay his expenses but he is willing to oblige.

I'm disappointed to learn that people are breeding from dog/bitches which are closely related to proven carriers. This seems very risky to me as you are not able to endorse the registrations of puppies to stop them from being bred on, unlike breeders in the UK who have this facility. How are people going to stop the spread of carriers through subsequent generations? It's OK saying that one parent is from a clear line so no affected puppies will be produced. It's not the affected puppies that spread the disease. It's the unidentifiable carriers! If you have no control over the progeny of probable carriers then you have no control over the spread of the disease.

When I first sought advice from Dr. Cattanach about CA he said that if we acted straight away and took steps to prevent the spread of the carriers then we were in a winnable situation. However, if we chose to do nothing about it, then we would eventually be in a no win situation where the amount of carriers in the breed would make it impossible to find clear lines. Something to think about.

Pat Wilkinson 01522 547261

Added Page 7/27/99