Pug Health
The Pug is considered one of the higher risk breeds of dog. This is because the breed as a whole suffers with many health problems.
Anyone purchasing a Pug is wise to take up pet insurance. Then you will have assurances that you can afford any future health problem. It’s not just Pugs however, its all breeds of dog, because vets prices today are so high that most normal family incomes could not afford vet bills. The owner has a duty of care to their animal, so they can not avoid veterinary treatment if the dog needs it. I am often asked how much should my insurance cover be for? Years ago they used to say £4000 was all you needed, but today with the high costs that vets are demanding you need to have cover for at least £15,000.
What should you do if your Pug develops a confirmed hereditary illness in its lifetime?
Get your veterinary surgeon to write a letter to the breeder so they have an official letter. The reason is a lot of people write letters themselves and do not get the health issue correct, and many people exaggerate and in some cases lies about what really is the problem. With an official letter the breeder has something to refer to when dealing with future breeding. They can show their own vet the letter/specialist, and with consent from all parties the breeders vet can contact the owners vet for more information and together can work on how to avoid breeding the problem again.
It is important to health test the breeding dogs with the available health schemes. The main health priorities in the breed are:
PDE = Pug dog encephalitis
PDE can be tested by a DNA swab taken from the dog and submitted to a laboratory. The Pug Club laboratory of choice is UCA Davis in California. http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/PDE.php
But many people use the Laboklin Laboratories in the UK. http://www.laboklin.com
The results come back as follows.
n/n clear
n/pde carrier
Pde/pde affected.
The understanding of genetics is not quite as simple as we would like to assume. But in simple terms breeders should only mate dogs of n/n clear to n/n clear or n/n clear to n/pde carrier because in both of these circumstances the offspring will not be effected by pde. Only if you are breeding dogs should you dna test a puppy before purchase if the n/n clear was mated to the n/pde parent. Because the carrying gene can carry into the offspring. But as I said it would not be effected by pde. This is for breeding purpose so you know ahead of sale if the puppy should be tested. Pet owners do not need to test for pde, only if they have brought a puppy from untested parents. The whole idea of this health test is a tool for breeders to avoid inherited pde.
HV = Hemivertabra
Any breed which has a screw tail can potentially pass on HV. It is not yet fully understood if it is actually hereditary or not yet. But by a x-ray done on the spine before breeding, you can send to Dick Whites Referrals, and they will look at the x-ray and tell you if your dog is affected or clear. By breeding only through clear dogs it is thought to avoid HV. The problem is no one will know for sure for several generations if this has in fact been the case.
Luxaxtion Patellar
Small toy breeds can develop Patellar luxation. The patellar is the knee cap on the back legs of the dog. They can simply slip out from the socket. They are graded by each hip 0:0 or 1:1 which is desirable to mate dogs from these scores. You also have 2:2 and 3:3 and 4:4 which is not desirable to mate your dog. 4:4 would be the worst case scenario where the dogs knee caps slip out and do not go back in. Most of these cases would need veterinary intervention to fix the knee caps.
Their are of course many other health tests you can do with pugs but the ones above are the main ones.
Anyone purchasing a Pug is wise to take up pet insurance. Then you will have assurances that you can afford any future health problem. It’s not just Pugs however, its all breeds of dog, because vets prices today are so high that most normal family incomes could not afford vet bills. The owner has a duty of care to their animal, so they can not avoid veterinary treatment if the dog needs it. I am often asked how much should my insurance cover be for? Years ago they used to say £4000 was all you needed, but today with the high costs that vets are demanding you need to have cover for at least £15,000.
What should you do if your Pug develops a confirmed hereditary illness in its lifetime?
Get your veterinary surgeon to write a letter to the breeder so they have an official letter. The reason is a lot of people write letters themselves and do not get the health issue correct, and many people exaggerate and in some cases lies about what really is the problem. With an official letter the breeder has something to refer to when dealing with future breeding. They can show their own vet the letter/specialist, and with consent from all parties the breeders vet can contact the owners vet for more information and together can work on how to avoid breeding the problem again.
It is important to health test the breeding dogs with the available health schemes. The main health priorities in the breed are:
PDE = Pug dog encephalitis
PDE can be tested by a DNA swab taken from the dog and submitted to a laboratory. The Pug Club laboratory of choice is UCA Davis in California. http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/PDE.php
But many people use the Laboklin Laboratories in the UK. http://www.laboklin.com
The results come back as follows.
n/n clear
n/pde carrier
Pde/pde affected.
The understanding of genetics is not quite as simple as we would like to assume. But in simple terms breeders should only mate dogs of n/n clear to n/n clear or n/n clear to n/pde carrier because in both of these circumstances the offspring will not be effected by pde. Only if you are breeding dogs should you dna test a puppy before purchase if the n/n clear was mated to the n/pde parent. Because the carrying gene can carry into the offspring. But as I said it would not be effected by pde. This is for breeding purpose so you know ahead of sale if the puppy should be tested. Pet owners do not need to test for pde, only if they have brought a puppy from untested parents. The whole idea of this health test is a tool for breeders to avoid inherited pde.
HV = Hemivertabra
Any breed which has a screw tail can potentially pass on HV. It is not yet fully understood if it is actually hereditary or not yet. But by a x-ray done on the spine before breeding, you can send to Dick Whites Referrals, and they will look at the x-ray and tell you if your dog is affected or clear. By breeding only through clear dogs it is thought to avoid HV. The problem is no one will know for sure for several generations if this has in fact been the case.
Luxaxtion Patellar
Small toy breeds can develop Patellar luxation. The patellar is the knee cap on the back legs of the dog. They can simply slip out from the socket. They are graded by each hip 0:0 or 1:1 which is desirable to mate dogs from these scores. You also have 2:2 and 3:3 and 4:4 which is not desirable to mate your dog. 4:4 would be the worst case scenario where the dogs knee caps slip out and do not go back in. Most of these cases would need veterinary intervention to fix the knee caps.
Their are of course many other health tests you can do with pugs but the ones above are the main ones.