Congratulations! You've gotten your first breeding prospect or maybe you found this page and want to just start Health Testing in the Breed after learning about its importance (or even just have a pet American bully). What are the "next steps" or things you should know about our breed's predisposition to diseases.
Well, in short, we don't know exactly what we are prone to yet due to the lack of health testing records in the breed since its development in the early 90's. However, based on the foundation dog breeds used to create us (we think), we Have a good idea of where to start. So lets dive in! To have a "Fully Health Tested" dog (before breeding plans are even thought of) or just for complete medical records on your dog you brought home. These are the Tests one should have completed:
Genetic Panel Testing (see below for more info)
Ears (BAER)
Eyes (CAER)
Cardiac (Auscultation and Echocardiogram)
Thyroid (via blood draw)
Kidney Database (via: urine Sample)
Hypoplastic Trachea (X-ray)
Patella Luxation (via physical exam)
Dentition (via physical exam)
Joints (x-ray) - Spine - Shoulders - Elbows - Hips ***PennHip x-rays can be performed as early as 16 weeks old and is viewing for the hips distractibility under Pressure (this procedure does require full sedation); while OFA hip x-rays are viewing for any anatomic abnormalities and the hips natural laxity (sedation is NOT required, but can certainly be utilized)
Why test for these you ask?
Genetic Health testing:
It is important to note, There are NUMEROUS genetic disorders still untested for, so we recommend genetic testing through either of these companies to find out if your dog is Clear or is a "carrier" (could pass onto offspring) or "affected" (WILL pass on to offspring) any genetic disorders.
⁃ You can purchase the super simple at home cheek swab kit from Embark or Paw Print ((We personally like Embark the best, they're cheaper and offer more "bang for your buck" - they also offer litter packages at $99/ea with a minimum of 4 kits purchased))
⁃ Here is a list of genetic disorders that are tested for in the Am. Bully breed based off common genetic disorders in the foundation breeds used to create the Am. Bully:
• American Bulldog:
⁃ degenerative myelopathy
⁃ multifocal retinopathy 1/ CMR1
⁃ neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 10 (a.k.a Batten Disease)
⁃ ichthyosis (available through PennGen)
• Olde English Bulldogge:
⁃ degenerative myelopathy
• Bulldog:
⁃ degenerative myelopathy
⁃ hyperuricosuria/ Urolithiasis, HUU
⁃ multifocal retinopathy 1/ CMR1
• APBTs:
⁃ degenerative myelopathy
⁃ hyperuricosuria/ Urolithiasis, HIUU
⁃ neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 4A: This genetic disorder leads to nervous system degeneration, causing the dog to lose coordination/function of its' limbs, head, and eventually the entire body, leading to death (about 40% are carriers for this genetic disorder).
⁃ progressive retinal atrophy, cone-rod dystrophy 1 and 2/ a.k.a PRA-CRD2
- Chondrodystrophy (CDDY and IVDD Risks)
2. Ears (BAER):
⁃ All standards state that deafness is a DQ.
⁃ English Bulldogs and Am. Staff's are associated with congenital deafness.
⁃ The Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test is the only accepted method of diagnosis. Bone stimulation transducer may be used in addition when conduction deafness is suspected.
**** OFA requires this test be performed by board certified veterinary neurologists, but will accept test results from experienced veterinarians, neuroscience professionals, and audiologists.
This test can be done once the puppy is days old, or older and one test suffices for the lifetime of the animal.
3. Eyes (CAER):
Official eye examinations (CERF) can be done at any age (eyes must be open of course) by an OFA certified ophthalmologist
This exam is recommended to be completed annually to "stay certified"
4 Cardiac : (Must be performed by a Cardiologist)
Types of Cardiac Exams:
⁃ Auscultation (listening with a stethoscope)
⁃ Echocardiogram
Auscultation:
Should be performed in a quiet, distraction-free environment with the animal standing and restrained (avoid the use of sedative drugs). Panting must be controlled to minimalize noise and stress to the dog. Allow the dog time to rest and acclimate to the environment, if necessary.
The clinician should able to identify the cardiac valve areas for auscultation and should gradually move the stethoscope across all valve areas, as well as the subaortic area, the ascending aorta, the pulmonary artery, and the left craniodorsal cardiac base, the left precordium, and the right precordium
Echocardiogram:
This is the use of sound waves in order to produce images of the heart to look at its’ overall functionality
⁃ Echocardiogram must be completed with an auscultation exam as well ( a normal practice for OFA exams)
⁃ Examiner must be able to perform a two-dimensional, pulsed-wave Doppler, and a continuous wave Doppler examination of the heart (the availability of color Doppler is valuable but not essential for most examinations)
⁃ Echocardiographic examinations should be performed and interpreted by individuals with advanced training in cardiac diagnosis (other veterinarians may be able to perform these examinations, provided they have the appropriate equipment and training in echocardiography
The Advanced Cardiac Database examinations results in a two-tiered clearance:
⁃ Congenital cardiac disease
⁃ A breed registry number will be issued for any dog found to be normal for cardiac disease (congenital disease and/or adult-onset disease) at 12 months of age or older
⁃ Congenital clearances are considered permanent
⁃ Adult-onset cardiac disease
⁃ Adult-onset clearances are valid for one year from the date of the exam. In order for an adult-onset clearance to remain current, exams must be repeated periodically
⁃ Puppies and/or growing dogs can have what is called an "innocent murmur", that will eventually go away once the dog is done growing. Innocent murmurs are also referred to as "functional murmurs" - these murmurs can be caused by: anemia, infection, hypoproteinemia, pregnancy, obesity, and emaciation
There are also heart murmurs that are considered congenital - these murmurs are caused by malformations of the heart and/or great vessels that is present at birth and may develop more fully during perinatal and growth periods
Adult-onset/developmental cardiac diseases develop later in the dog’s life and includes: hypertrophic, arrhythmogenic, and dilatative cardiomyopathies
Many congenital and adult-onset/developmental cardiac diseases are thought to have a genetic component to them, but the exact modes of inheritance have not been fully determined for all cardiovascular malformations
Please Note: OFA recommends that females are NOT tested One (1) month before, the month of (during), or 1one (1) month after a heat cycle
5. Hypo/hyper thyroid:
Autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in dogs. This can develop at any point and time in a dogs life, OFA recommends testing dogs periodically throughout life to ensure that they have not developed this condition. This is a common condition associated with Am. Staff's and APBT's.
⁃ Can be officially tested at 12 months
OFA recommends periodically testing throughout the dogs’ lifetime to ensure that an autoimmune disorder has not developed with age
Please Note: OFA recommends that females are NOT tested One (1) month before, the month of (during), or 1one (1) month after a heat cycle
6. Hypoplastic trachea:
This is a genetic disorder that is very common in many breeds that are associated with brachycephalic, such as Bulldogs. This is simply considered a malformation of the trachea cartilage rings that make up the dogs airway (the trachea has a decreased luminal diameter resulting in breathing difficulties).
The radiographic evaluation is performed on a lateral view of the cervical and thoracic trachea obtained with the patient awake and at peak inspiration. The evaluation consists of a subjective evaluation of tracheal size and uniformity by a board certified veterinary radiologist, and an objective evaluation based on the ratio (TLR) of the tracheal lumen diameter at the thoracic inlet to the width of the proximal third rib.
⁃ Official testing can be done once the dog is 12 months or older
7. Joints:
Testing the joints is especially important in the Am. Bully breed because these dogs are expected to be thick, with a lot of girth and overall muscle mass, but they should still be fully functional.
The standard states that the shoulder and upper arm should be JOINED at a 35-45 degree angle (this is an extremely unrealistic ask) and that the shoulders are to be heavy and large, set wide apart. Heavy and large shoulders are highly inefficient for a dog and having the shoulders set wide apart increases the likelihood of them to deteriorate or "breakdown".
Bulldogs are ranked as the #1 breed by the OFA with the worst hips. Am. Staff's and APBT's are also listed on the list of most common breeds associated with joint issues
OFA requires getting joints tested once the dog is fully matured (2 years or older), however, preliminary testing can be done on dogs younger (as young as 4 months for joints)
OFA is looking at the overall conformation of the joints (how they are structured/formed)
Official testing for shoulders and patellas can be done as young as 12 months
Hips and elbows can be done anytime after 4 months of age, but official scores will not be given until the dog is 2 years or older
Please Note: OFA recommends that females are NOT tested One (1) month before, the month of (during), or 1one (1) month after a heat cycle
Pennhip (hips):
The Pennhip range for Am. Bullies is 0.44-0.84 with a breed average of 0.56 (anything over 0.60 has a high probability of developing osteoarthritis)
Each Hip is tested for laxity and scored individually
A clinical study was done of hip laxity comparisons between the standard OFA view and the distraction view (Pennhip view) - the study revealed that the distraction view diagnosed 2.5x MORE joint laxity in hips than the standard OFA view did
⁃ Can be done as early as 16 weeks of age
There are many OFA clinic locations to have testing completed at, this is my personal favorite site to find clinics (cheaper testing locations)
"Dog/Canine Health Test Clinic Schedule" https://cavalierhealth.org/health_clinics.htm
NOTE: make sure when you contact any clinic about availability you ask if that particular Clinic is ALL BREED FRIENDLY
((OFA is an AKC affiliate SOME locations are not Bully breed friendly, and some other locations also do not have equipment setups for dogs over x amount of pounds--- save yourself the disappointment and frustration - personal experience here-))
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