JCM Study Updates
August 2009
The American Manchester Terrier Club's Health Committee successfully launched their Necropsy Fund at the 2009 U.S. National Specialty in Oklahoma. This fund, to be held in trust, is intended to assist with full or partial payment of the necropsy of suspected cases of juvenile cardiomyopathy. Folks interested in making a donation should contact the AMTC's Health Committee Chair, Kimberle Schiff at kimberle@oakwoodkennel.org More details to follow on how these funds can be accessed. HUGE thanks to the AMTC for their work on this project!
As indicated in the March 2009 update, work has been moving forward on the investigation of cardiac screening to determine whether there is any way to detect carriers for this condition. From May to July, six Toy Manchester Terriers were examined with a full range of cardiac tests. Dogs tested included one who we have confirmed has produced cardiomyopathy, a littermate to an affected puppy and four additional dogs with varying degrees of relation. A complete overview of this testing will be published in the Fall 2009 issues of both the CMTC and AMTC newsletters. Many thanks go out to all those who worked to make this testing possible.
As a result of this testing a cardiovascular screening protocol has been established for the purposes of the study. This protocol is quite extensive but it is important that Toy Manchesters tested be screened using all of the tests and that these tests be performed by a board certified cardiologist. Though it is tempting to cut corners and perform only a few of the tests, doing so would negate the value of the tests from a scientific point of view and, more importantly, would risk us missing something. We saw this during the study when an anomaly showed up on one test but not one two similar tests. Had we skipped that test we would have easily missed spotting it. There is no question that this testing is expensive nor is there an expectation that breeders will test large numbers of dogs, but keep in mind that even one additional test expands our knowledge that much more.
As mentioned in the last update, the incidence and characteristics of heart problems in Standard Manchesters is of interest to Dr. Cote and Dr. Martinson for reference purposes only. If you have information on deceased Standard Manchesters or test results for clearances completed, please contact Amanda Kelly or Dr. Martinson at smartinson@upei.ca It should be noted, that the study team is interested in possible links to the condition that they are presently studying. There are no plans at this time to initiate a separate study into unassociated heart problems in Standard Manchesters, however knowledge of cardiac issues in Standard Manchesters is important to establishing a baseline of information on heart function across the breed as a whole.