Multiocular defect in Old English Sheepdogs

Multiolcular defect in Old English SheepdogsIn recent years multiple dogs of the Old English Sheepdog (OES) breed have been diagnosed with an ocular (eye) disease that can affect multiple parts of the eye and is therefore known as multiocular defect (MOD). Most affected dogs suffer from cataracts, but additional abnormalities can include any of the following:

  • microphakia (small lens),
  • lens coloboma (a hole in the lens),
  • macrophthalmos (enlarged globe),
  • retinal detachment,
  • vitreopathy and
  • retinal degeneration

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Give a Dog a Genome Update – June 2021

Give a Dog a Genome (GDG), launched in 2016, was an ambitious project aimed initially at sequencing the entire genomes of 50 dogs of 50 different breeds.  The genome bank was created by researchers working in the Kennel Club Genetics Centre (KCGC), to facilitate the identification of genetic variants that underpin painful, blinding and debilitating inherited canine disorders.  Give a Dog a Genome was jointly funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and individual breed communities.

When Give a Dog a Genome was launched the KCGC was based at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) but following the permanent closure of the AHT in July 2020, the KCGC has now relocated to the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Continue reading