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Conference abstract, 2015

Genetic analysis of patellar luxation in dogs

Nilsson, Katja; Zanders, Sofie; Malm, Sofia

Abstract

Patellar luxation (PL) is a condition where the knee cap is dislocated, mainly during locomotion. PL is one of the most common orthopaedic diseases found in dogs today. The condition is also frequently found in other species such as cattle and horses. PL is included in the central registration of disorders by the Swedish Kennel Club (SKK) since 2002. Several breeds in Sweden are part of a genetic health program where both parents of a litter must be examined for patellar luxation before a litter can be registered. These data have so far not been genetically analysed, and the aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for PL. Data was provided by the SKK for two breeds frequently affected by the condition: the Chihuahua and the Bichon Frise. PL was scored on a scale from 0 to 3, where 0 represents an unaffected dog and 3 a severely affected dog. Because the very severe cases were quite uncommon, scores of 2 and 3 were grouped together in the analyses. The edited data included 7,225 records for the Chihuahua and 1,136 records for the Bichon Frise. PL was analysed using a mixed linear animal model, including fixed effects of sex, birth month, birth year, age at examination and a random effects of examining veterinarian, genetic effect of the individual and residual. The prevalence of PL was 23% for the Chihuahua and 12% for the Bichon Frise. In the absolute majority of cases the patella luxated towards the inside of the leg (medial luxation) for both breeds. Female dogs were more frequently affected compared with male dogs. Heritabilities were estimated at 0.25 for the Chihuahua and at 0.21 for the Bichon Frise. We conclude that there is genetic variation in patellar luxation, and genetic progress should be possible to improve leg health status of the studied breeds.

Published in

Annual meeting of the European Association for Animal Production
2015, Volume: 21, pages: 216-216
Title: Book of Abstracts of the 66th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production
ISBN: 978-90-8686-269-6
Publisher: Wageningen Academic Publishers
DOI: 10.3920/978-90-8686-816-2

Conference

66th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science