VetGen - Veterinary Genetic Services

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VWD

Von Willebrand's disease has been identified in a wide range of canine breeds, and is the most common of the inherited bleeding disorders. As with humans, there are three classifications of this disease, Types I, II, and III. These are based on the concentration and nature of plasma vWF. Type I vWD is characterized by abnormally low concentrations of structurally normal vWF, and tends to be a milder and more variable form. Type II vWD is characterized by structurally abnormal vWF, which impedes function and results in severe bleeding in affected animals. Type III vWD is found in animals that have essentially no plasma vWF. The disease has been reported in many breeds of dog, and is generally diagnosed by an ELISA test for plasma vWF following a bleeding event.

Neonatal Ataxia (NA)

Vetgen’s test is based on the work presented by O’Brien et al at the 2010 Advances in Canine Genomics and Inherited Disease. The test is for a mutation in the GRM1 gene which was shown to be causative for this Coton de Tulear specific form of neonatal ataxia. The disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner.

Canine Multifocal Retinopathy (CMR2)

The tests for CMR1 and CMR2 offered by Vetgen are based on the work presented by Zangerl et al. at the fifth international symposium on "Advances in Canine Genomics and Inherited Disease." The research identified recessive mutations in the BEST1 gene that lead to CMR in puppies which inherit a mutant copy of the gene from each parent. Affected animals generally show their first symptoms in their first year.

While both mutations are in the same gene, they are breed specific and testing for only one is required. Coton de Tulear need only test for CMR2 which tests for a mutation only seen in that breed to date. All other breeds that are offered should test for CMR1.