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Top breeds, big health problems
Before buying your favorite breed, you should know what you might be in for in terms of hereditary diseases and significant medical disorders common to the pedigree.
To get some sense of which breeds are most prone to which diseases, we dug into more than 1.8 million diagnoses of dogs and cats from 1973 to early 2003 maintained by Purdue University's Veterinary Medical Database (VMD). These cases come from animal clinics and hospitals run by 26 veterinary medical schools throughout the U.S. and are a mix of primary wellness and ill visits by local pet owners and secondary regional referrals for specialist diagnosis and treatment. (Though the VMD provided the data and reviewed our analysis, its policy is to offer no opinion on the findings or the topic of investigation.)
We searched the VMD for the top 20 diagnoses for each of 200 dog and 50 cat breeds. From that list, we culled heredity diseases and significant common disorders that showed up in at least 1 in 40 of each breed's total cases.
Our results show the incidence of these problems only in the sample of 1.4 million dogs and 443,000 cats studied--among the most common pure breeds plus mixed breeds--and these data can't be extrapolated to the nation's entire population of 143 million cats and dogs. Problems are listed beginning with the most common.
DOGS
Mixed breeds. Common: ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL, or torn knee ligament) and skin problems.
1. Labrador retriever. Hereditary: hip dysplasia. Common: ruptured ACL, osteoarthritis, skin problems.
2. Golden retriever. Hereditary: hip dysplasia. Common: skin problems, ruptured ACL, otitis externa (infection of the outer ear).
3. German shepherd. Hereditary: hip dysplasia, perianal fistula. Common: skin problems, osteoarthritis, ruptured ACL.
4. American cocker spaniel. Hereditary: cataracts, glaucoma, dry eye, ingrown eyelashes. Common: otitis externa, skin problems, endocardiosis, ruptured ACL.
5. Poodle, standard (S), miniature (M), toy (T). Hereditary: cataracts, collapsed trachea (M,T), endocardiosis, Cushing's disease (M), displaced knee cap.
6. Rottweiler. Hereditary: ruptured ACL, hip dysplasia. Common: osteoarthritis.
7. Dachshund (D), Wirehaired (W), Longhaired (L). Hereditary: herniated disc related to intervertebral disc disease, degenerative intervertebral disc, endocardiosis (W), Cushing's disease (W). Common: compression of spinal cord (D,L).
8. Schnauzer, standard (S), miniature (M), giant (G). Hereditary: bladder stones (M,S), diabetes mellitus (M,S), endocardiosis (M,S), pancreatitis (M,S), Cushing's disease (M,S), cataracts (M,S), hip dysplasia (G). Common: ruptured ACL (G), osteoarthritis (G), kidney failure (M,S).
9. Shetland sheepdog. Common: skin problems, kidney failure.
10. Doberman pinscher. Hereditary: Dilated cardiomyopathy, hypothyroidism, Wobbler's syndrome, von Willebrand's disease.
CATS
Far fewer genetic problems turned up in the mixed pedigree and top cat pure breeds, which we've limited to five, because the sample size for the more exotic lines was too small. The genome of even purebred felines is not as pure as it is in dogs. Among common problems, all the breeds studied suffered from kidney failure, with the Siamese and Abyssinians showing the highest incidence. Beyond that, our sample tended to be prone to the following problems.
Mixed breeds. Hereditary: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Common: hyperthyroidism.
1. American shorthair. Common: hyperthyroidism.
2. Siamese. Common: hyperthyroidism, anorexia.
3. Persian. Hereditary: eye disorders, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
4. Himalayan. Hereditary: eye disorders. Common: urinary bladder stones.
5. Maine coon. Hereditary: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Common: hyperthyroidism.
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