Breed Improvement Suggestions for the UK GSD Breed Council - Page 37

Maybe if all breeders would be 100% honest 100% of the time a database would be very valuable.Why not disclose all information?Why hide the truth?That surely cannot be good for the breed,i just cannot see any good reason to not be honest, if we all love this breed sooo much the truth can only be beneficial. liz 

DP, they weren't anonymous, I gave Jack's full pedigree along with all the health details.  I was not aware that some were anonymous... are you sure?

MISSBEEB.,so did i and have no problem with doing so. liz

Liz, since you're on here and have been around for a while... have you (or anyone else) heard of, Hypertrophic cardio myopathine (I think) HCM?

I lost my lovely bitch to this in 2004 at 10 years, her daughter, who belonged to a friend, died of the same complaint just before her 10th birthday, so I guess it's definately "in the genes".  I still have her son, he's 11.5 and pretty healthy!  (internet info says it's more common in males)  My Vet said this was not uncommon in Shepherds but I'd never heard of it before.  I emailed Malcolm Willis but got no reply, my guess is he never got the email and I didn't pursue it further.

missbeeb: look here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000192.htm

and this: http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/cardiovascular%20diseases/cardiomyopathy.htm

Although there is far more information in the HUMAN form of this disease 'my previous post - link'

Thanks DP, had you heard of it before?  There was no sign of it in either bitch before, both were apparently very healthy.  I got Missbeeb (yep, that was her) to my vet but she actually suffocated on the op table before me!

Sorry All, I know it doesn't belong on this thread but... DP, info from my Vet was, that the heart became flattened and shaped like a lemon.  Neither Missbeeb nor Betty (her daughter) suffered any of the symptoms outlined in "your" link DP, I hope it's not as common as my Vet seemed to think.  Thanks for your help and interest, much appreciated!

Missbeeb 1st of all no need again to apologise,2nd did you mean Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. If so,i was always led to believe that this condition was quite rare in dogs.I have not heard much about it in a long time,but i believe it is caused by the thickening of the heart muscle which reduces the size of the chambers,and in turn the flow of blood. As i said i haven't heard much about it in recent years,but will check it out with my info. You have rekindled my interest in heart disease now,LOL. liz

missbeeb: This webpage & links therein should be particularly helpful. It cites GSD and respiration problems, and other aspects of the disease.  http://www.provet.co.uk/health/diseases/cardiac-hcm.htm