Magyar Ebtenyésztők Országos Egyesülete (MEOE) – Hungarian Kennel Club
Recommendations for breeders to suppress epilepsy occurring in the Mudi breed
These recommendations are
given because of the growing number of epilepsy cases in the Mudi breed which have occurred recently.
These recommendations were written by the Presidential Board, the Breeding Committee of the Magyar Mudi Klub and this work is also supported by the Controlling Committee of the MMK.
These
It is not mandatory to follow these recommendations, although it would be reasonable and necessary to adhere to them for the sake of the future of the Mudi breed. It is important to know
recommendations are intended as an aid for Mudi breeders to work against continued epilepsy reoccurrence. They are based on current knowledge about this disease. We have also tried to answer the most frequently asked questions regarding dogs currently being bred and those that will soon be bred. These recommendations are supported by the latest research results regarding epilepsy in dogs. It is important to keep in mind that following these recommendations does not guarantee the complete disappearance of new epileptic Mudis from occurring. The main goal, in an ideal case, would be the suppression of the growth of the number of epileptic Mudis in the entire population. that these recommendations are in harmony with the Hungarian law that protects animal welfare and which regulates the breeding of animals with, or which carry hereditary or possibly hereditary diseases. Furthermore, these recommendations also follow the principles of the Breeding Rules of the Hungarian Kennel Club (MEOE), which are currently valid for the Mudi breed as well.
It is important to know that the final solution against epilepsy would be a reliable DNA test, or at least the knowledge about the exact inheritance of this disease. Currently we still lack these possibilities, therefore the only potential solution is to keep ourselves to the most likely theories which
are based on scientific data. We will keep our conclusions as factual as possible and will not go into unsupported extrapolations of the empirical data. These recommendations may be changed in the future, particularly if a suitable DNA test will be available for epilepsy gene(s) detection in the Mudi breed.
From the aspect of breeding, it is necessary to define what an epileptic Mudi is. By the MMK’s standpoint, only if a Mudi was diagnosed as epileptic by a qualified veterinarian, can the dog
It cannot be emphasized strongly enough how important is the accurate, valid diagnosis of the disease for these recommendations to work towards reduction of occurrence
be regarded as epileptic. For publishing such a result, the MMK needs the written and signed permission of the particular dog’s owner, with the exception when the owner publishes this fact her/himself. (However, it is not the MMK’s task or authority to define epilepsy from the veterinarian’s point of view.) .
What do we know about the inheritance of the epilepsy?
Un
fortunately not all the information can be used about the epilepsy cases which the MMK currently knows about. This is because either the dogs in question were not properly diagnosed, or they were put to sleep without any veterinarian diagnosis. A few cases happened so long ago that we are no longer able to verify them. This means that the MMK can base its recommendations upon only a fraction of the information it possesses.
There
By further examination of the epileptic Mudis’ family tree, we can draw two further conclusions:
is no definite proof in any of the validated epilepsy cases that the symptoms would be caused by other than genetic factors, additionally the vast majority of the epileptic Mudis are closely related to each other. This is one of the clearest reasons for our conclusion that these cases of epilepsy were caused by genetic factors.
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The epilepsy cases are separated by healthy (asymptomatic) dogs in the generations. This suggests a recessive inheritance of the gene(s).
- There are re
Summarizing the above mentioned facts, we can conclude that the Mudi breed is
It is important to know that if new scientific results will be published about epilepsy in dogs, the picture can change. We also cannot exclude the possibility for acquired (non
latively few epileptic Mudis diagnosed from the litters where the disease arises. This suggests a multi-gene trait, with three or even more genes possibly responsible for epilepsy. threatened by inherited, recessive, multi-gene based epilepsy. -genetic) epilepsy in some of the cases, which makes that particular dog independent of the other genetically connected cases.
The following statements are based on the hypothesis of the multi
-gene, recessive inheritance of epilepsy in the Mudi breed.
Regarding the inheritance of the disease
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This is very important, because it is not true that only one parent is responsible for the epilepsy in a Mudi. For the phenotypic occurrence (symptomatic epilepsy) both parents have to be at least carriers of the disease. In the generation of the grandparents, at least one grandparent on both sides of the pedigree (maternal and paternal) has to be
Both parents of an epileptic Mudi are carriers of the epilepsy genes. a carrier. This is why we consider all grandparents of an epileptic Mudi as suspected carriers (this is not equal with being a sure carrier!). The exact status of a suspected carrier can be clarified later if new cases of epilepsy are found among the relatives of the affected dogs.
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As both parents of an epileptic Mudi are carriers, their offspring will be likely carriers as well. (The
There is a high risk that the littermates (including other litters from the same parents) of an epileptic Mudi are carriers. ir chance for being a carrier is much higher than in dogs that do not have an epileptic littermate or other closely related epileptic Mudi.)
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This is also true in such cases when the epileptic Mudi was bred to a non
Based on the above mentioned simple statements, the following recommendation
It is not recommended to breed further or start to breed with:
All offspring of an epileptic Mudi will be at least a carrier of the epilepsy genes. -carrier partner. Of course if the epileptic Mudi was bred to another carrier dog, the chance for new epileptic puppies to be born will be much higher. (However, if an epileptic Mudi will not produce another epileptic offspring, this does not mean that its partner was not a carrier.) s can be concluded:
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An epileptic dog
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The parents of an epileptic dog
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The littermates of the epileptic dog
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The offspring of an epileptic dog
Of course these measures of avoidance will not make all the carriers disappear from breeding, because the epileptic Mudi has other farther relatives, who can also be a carrier for the epilepsy genes. However, estimating the
chances of being a carrier is much more complicated and it can be done only with considerable uncertainty in the case of farther relatives. As a general rule, it should be kept in mind that the more (asymptomatic) generations/dogs are between a particular dog and a known epileptic or sure carrier Mudi, the less is the chance for the particular dog to be a carrier itself. It is always recommended to ask the advice/opinion of the MMK’s Breeding Committee in the case of a planned litter, before the breeding was made.
The following recommendations are
It is wise to incorporate such a statement to the contract between the breeder and the new puppy owner, which requests the owner to report any disease that occurs in the dog during its lifetime
given to aid the more effective flow of information and the more complete understanding of epilepsy. .
It is also requested that breeders should inform the MMK about epileptic Mudis from their breeding. This helps to form a valid, reliable database for tracking the inheritance of this disease.
We recommend that breeders ask a risk
Upon request of the breeder, the MMK will mark those kennels on its website that adhere to these recommendations.
Budapest, February 18, 2011
Magyar Mudi Klub
-assessment from the MMK’s Breeding Committee when they plan a new litter.
Magyar Mudi Klub
