OESCA Health Survey Report
http://www.oeshealth.org/files/OESHealt ... rt2009.pdf With many thanks to all of you who made this possible by your participation. 
Kristine |
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Absolutely wonderfull and thank you to all those that spent I imagine many hours/days/weeks/months heck a hell of a lot of time. collecting and collating all the data. Well done to the OESCA for this survey on the breed.  |
| that is great. thanks to all who put it together |
| Kristine, thanks for posting the link. Was there anything that was suprising or were the results pretty much as expected? |
| I'm surprised that when asked : What do you feel are the most important health issues in the Old English Sheepdog? (pick 1-3 issues), two people felt strongly about anal glands-- so much so that it beat diabetes! |
| Interesting for a quick view. |
| Great survey! Glad to see the number that participated. Hopefully it will be a stepping stone for the future of our breed. |
ButtersStotch wrote: I'm surprised that when asked : What do you feel are the most important health issues in the Old English Sheepdog? (pick 1-3 issues), two people felt strongly about anal glands-- so much so that it beat diabetes!
I suppose it depends on who participated & what problems they experienced. For example, having had 9 dogs that lived with me over my lifetime, I have never had any with anal gland problems (thank heavens) nor diabetes. So I wouldn't have listed those as "important" in my eyes. Yet I did list the health problems I had experienced (some which were directly tied to thier demise) with my dogs over the years. |
| Thank you to everyone who particiapted in this and to those who worked on this. The information is very interesting. |
| Very interesting!!
Thanks for posting!! |
| I was surprised to read such a low number of people doing Titers tests for vaccinations, and that not many people are getting MDR1 tests done. I was also surprised to read that the non-North American OES had almost 50% of their dogs have "no major health issues" while the North American OES was only close to 40%. |
| Thank you for posting Kristine. Interesting info- |
| Thanks Kristine...
You all are awesome!! 
I SWEAR Monty is going in this week to submit a sample... I don't think Lulu is a good candidate with her icky mass... (vet wouldn't remove it due to location I wasn't thinking of that on her) I need to get busy we have plenty of "seniors" to submit... How do you do it??? Meaning YOU!!! You are a busy gal! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: I was surprised to read such a low number of people doing Titers tests for vaccinations, and that not many people are getting MDR1 tests done. I was also surprised to read that the non-North American OES had almost 50% of their dogs have "no major health issues" while the North American OES was only close to 40%.
Some interesting points, Alison. 1) I would look at frequency of vaccinations rather than titers. I've completely changed my protocol (as an example) in a way that really was't well represented as one of the options in the survey (as in I vaccinate very little), but I've only titered one dog because it was required ("proof of") So while it is interesting that few are utilizing titers (and we probably could have asked for more information re the titers), the bigger issue from a health point of view is: how frequently are we vaccinating for the various diseases and how is that changing over time (we'll need more series data - i.e. future surveys, to answer the latter) 2) MDR1 just isn't on the radar. It is thought to have a low frequency in the breed. One could argue that is hard to say given the (apparently) relatively few OES tested: Washington State didn't even have an estimate on their site till fairly recently, which probably means they have at least now tested a large enough population of OES to make that kind of estimate. The Wisconsin club put on an MDR1 clinic last year. The year before a rescue dog with mange (needed to be treated with high doses of Ivermectin, two other OES from her part of the world were dumped at a shelter with mange, treated, one died, which is why her foster thought to have her tested) came back MDR1 Mutant/Normal. That caused someone from Wash State to call my vet, all excited (researchers are like that  ) - they had three OES from different parts of the US tested and come back with at least one copy of the mutation in a just a few months. Out of curiousity my vet tested a group of OES locally and one came back M/N (a European import) and one M/M (predominantly American show lines)
Because I had bred to the import who came back M/N - I happened to have had the bitch I bred him to tested previously (she was N/N) - we had to have all of the puppies tested (if you breed a N/N to a N/N you cannot produce anything but normals, so if you know the parents status there is no reason to test any of the puppies in this scenario). There were 8 dogs in the litter and the interesting thing is that they followed the statistical predictions perfectly: 2 came back M/N and the other six are normal. Anyway, bottom line: unless your dog has an odd reaction to a drug or you by chance know the status of a dog you bred or bred to, or you're just one of those people (like you) who feels better knowing, there really isn't much incentive for most people to test. Suspect that is the main reason the test has been utilized so little for our breed. It's nice to know, but in the grand scheme of things a lot less likely to negatively impact a dog than many of the other things we screen for. I don't think you'll see the Health & Research Committee recommend that MDR1 routinely be part of the pre-breeding health screening process any time soon. There has been some talk about releasing MDR1 results (voluntarily) to the OESCA open health registry. Actually, that was my idea. I need to follow up on that. 3) One of the things you have to keep in mind is population samples. Because there were relatively few dogs represented from outside of North America, you can't really compare the two groups. I believe that was noted in a couple of places in the report itself. So while it could be true that there's a ten percent difference in "no major health issues" North America vrs Rest of the World, without comprable samples you just can't say. That's not to say that participation from OES owners/breeders from outside of North America was not important: to the contrary, they added valuable data to the aggregate of our understanding of the health status of the breed. It's just that with the numbers at hand it's hard to draw solid conclusions about health differences among sub-populations by geography. I suspect one of the things the HRC will be looking at before the next survey rolls around is to strengthen ties with OES clubs around the world to see how we can improve collaboration on health issues including collecting data. I know, I know: ask a few simple questions  Sorry.
Kristine |
bestdogsx4 wrote: Kristine, thanks for posting the link. Was there anything that was suprising or were the results pretty much as expected?
I think mostly as expected. I saw a couple of minor blips that made me go: oh! That's interesting! But nothing truly surprising on the major issues. SARDs (sudden acquired retinal degeneration), for instance, caught my eye. But, like Marilyn noted in terms of how people ranked health concerns, mainly because I had heard of an OES who was afflicted within the last couple of years and heard of a case of another OES bitch who suddenly lost her sight more recently which had just made me think of it, but I had never heard of the disease before. It is not well understood, but they don't believe there is compelling evidence that it is genetic. I don't think we specifically asked about it, in fact, rather people reported it as part of "Other". It's a rare disorder, affecting primarily bitches, and there seems to be a tenuous link to Cushings, but, nothing definite. We had I think it was 7 reported cases (all bitches) and I haven't done the math to see if that is higher than you would expect in a given population give the infrequency of the disease. I just found it interesting, not startling. I suspect most people will draw something from the survey in this way depending on their own experiences. For a better sense if anything was truly surprising I would (and in my case will  ) ask one or both of the two vets on the committee, Amy & Michelle (actually, I worked with Michelle on some interesting parts of it and she added a lot to my understanding of what I was looking at) The two of them would probably have a better perspective to answer that question more universally. Nothing earth shattering came up in discussion of the data as we worked on the report in any event.
Kristine |
Donner's Mom wrote: Thanks Kristine...
You all are awesome!! I SWEAR Monty is going in this week to submit a sample... When you can, hon. Double check with Linda R if you need clarification. And for the rest of you, what she's talking about is Monty helping with the new cancer study OESCA joined on behalf of the breed - they need blood etc from afflicted dogs, obviously, but also senior, cancerfree OES for comparison. Monty has generously agreed to help with the latter in Quin's memory. I have more sympathy for how confusing these things can be with the paperwork and all after I had blood drawn n Monday for HLA typing. My brother has leukemia and may need a bone marrow transplant and so my sister and I are being typed for compatibility. The paperwork and making sure the blood got shipped to the lab just as they requested it and AAAAARRRRGH! Made me really miss my vet (Amy - who works on the HRC so knows the projects inside and out so I don't even have to think about it when we need blood drawn on my dogs to bank for future research etc etc ect) In fact, I actually consulted her on how to go about it because the (human) lab that drew the blood for me here was confused (did I mention I adore my vet? )
When I told my brother, was he grateful? Oh, no. He now lives in fear that his best match may turn out to be a poodle or a GSD or...? Nor was he the least bit impressed when I told him that the OESCA HRC added our breed to an important genetic investigation of canine cancers (lymphoma, osteosarcoma and hemangiosarcoma - see http://www.oeshealth.org/files/Lymphoma ... NO3-09.pdf for more info) and that the study is supported by the NIH because they feel many of our canine research projects show promise for aiding those who are researching similar human cancers. An OES friend in the UK noted that he hopes I turn out to be my brother's best match under the probably mistaken assumption that my bizarre sense of humor rests in my bone marrow, I guess. Probably one more reason my straight-laced brother lives in fear of my participation. Heck, a poodle donor match may look good to him in comparison with that in mind.
Kristine |
| ^^^
As long as you don't tell him Sybil is a perfect match  |
kerry wrote: ^^^
As long as you don't tell him Sybil is a perfect match The really nice thing is that I'm pretty sure he has NO idea who Sybil is and I don't think he even knows what breed of dogs I have, so that wouldn't scare him the way it might some of US
He works for Microsoft and is a cat person. Enough said. I love him anyway
Kristine |
Is this the same "wild, bad" brother you have posted about previously?? If so boy doesnt a decade or two change things?  |
Mim wrote: Is this the same "wild, bad" brother you have posted about previously?? If so boy doesnt a decade or two change things?
No, kidding. One day I'm bouncing Mom's pewter vases off his head to snap him out of his little temper tantrums (warning: pewter is soft and will dent ), the next thing you know he has a wife, two kids, the youngest isn't even a year old, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he actually owns a suit. Even though, as I recall when Microsoft hired him, the big incentive was free soda for all of the employees. 
It HAS been a few years. I'm pretty sure it's long since dawned on him that other parts of the compensation package are much more important
Quite seriously, he has the best health insurance you can imagine thanks to MS, and for that we're all extremely grateful. It could be worse. Kristine |
| Ha, ha free soda! Now that's a real seller!!
Seriously, I'm glad your brother has great health insurance. Wishing him all the best I hope that he can get a match and treatment ASAP. I will keep you all in my thoughts. |
Thanks so much Kristine. Having worked in the research industry for 15 years, I can attest to the time and effort it takes to present a study like this. It's beautifully presented and statistically detailed. What a monumental undertaking, and what an enormous contribution to all of us who love this breed. You ROCK  |
| Thank you to all who put this study together. I found it very informative and interesting to see where my answers fell.
All good wishes for your brother.  |
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