On this page I will put articles concerning the health and well-beeing of our beautiful breed. These are articles found in books and magazines. Some I have translated into Norwegian as to me it in very important that all information concerning this wonderful breed's health is known to everyone that loves this breed to keep it healthy. In my country we do not have the body of Accredited Breeder, so all testing is up to each and every breeder. And yes, testing costs money, yes it might leave the breeder with less money it the wallet, BUT the breeder will earn respect and confidence that the outmost is done to sell as healthy puppies as possible. It is also a security to the breeders as they will know WHAT they're breeder from, and not turning their blind eye to things pretending nothing's wrong when in reality NOT knowing. Having said this, I will emphasis that this is my personal point og views. We have as breeders all the tools available to reduce what might happen to the breeding stock, it's all up to us to use them.

The articles presented here at first are articles written by Mrs. Par Hutchinson, Karibuni Collies and presented in The International Collie Handbooks of 2004. 2007, 2009. Pat is health co-ordinator in EACA. I have not written all of the articles, but the essentials. Thank you Pat for these wake-up calls.

 IVERMECTIN REVISITED

(Multi-Drug-Sensitivity in Collies and related breeds) by Pat Hutchinson.

Recent research in America and Europe has revealed that in addition to Collies several other breeds, believed to share the Collie lineage, are susceptible to the dangerous side effects of a variety of therapeutic drugs, including Ivermectin.

A team of American Veterinary genetics, headed by Dr. Katrina Mealy and Dr. Mark Neff  has been researching canine multi-drug resistance since late 1990's. Towards the end of 2003 Val Geddes and I were approached by Mark asked to collect DNA samples from UK Collies and related breeds.

The reseach findings make interesting reading, especially in relation to the origins of the affected breeds. Mark has kindly allowed us to condense and simplify the findings, and extracts from research paper are used where relavant.

Terminology:

Chromosomes: Witin the nucleus or 'power house' of all body cells are fine, random twisted threads of DNA known as chromosomes. There are 39 pairs of similarly constructed chromosomes in all cells except the sex cells (eggs and sperm), where the 39th pair are the sex chromosomes X and Y.

Genes: On closer examination the chromosomes are subdivided into segments known as genes that are units of heredity.Each gene is responsible for a specific characteristic or trait eg. eye, colour, hair type etc.

Locus: This is the position of a specific gene on a chromosome. For example, the gene for eye colour occupies the same locus on each of a pair of chromosomes, and each of a pair of genes is known as an allele.

Gene Mutations: Rare ocurrences and are usually not always deleterious. Closely related dogs have increased chances of receiving the same copy of both mutant and normal genes, which explains the prevalence of breed-related genetic disorders. As close inbreeding and line breeding are necessary to fix desirable traits, a higher percentage of defictive offsprings may also be produced.

Blood-Brain-Barrier (BBB): Over one hundred years ago biologists discovered that if a blue dye was injected into an animal's blood stream the tissues of the whole body, except the brain and spinal cord, turned blue. They discovered the the BBB is not a single structure or membrane, but is created by the way in which the cranial blood vessels are organised in the brain. The BBB acts as a natural defence mechanism for the brain and central nerve system, protecting them from toxic substances in the blood stream, which supplying them with the required nutrients for correct functioning. The BBB limits the rate at which therapeutic drugs permeate into the brain but if the BBB is malformed, due to a genetic disorder, drugs such as Ivermectin are unable to be pumped back out of the brain. They filter into the central nervous system causing toxic reactions, paralysis and even death.

(Extract from the article in Int. Collie Handbook 2004)