Hereditary Defects Advice - Collie Eye Anomoly (C.E.A.)

Collie Eye Anomaly has been given more cause for concern in recent times than any other problem. This can only be because people have knowingly bred from affected stock or known carriers. This is a practice which the B.C.C. of G.B. committee most strongly condemns. Although the incidence is still low at 1 or 2% eye testing is necessary to prevent an increase in incidences.

C.E.A. is produced by recessive genes. This means that to produce an affected offspring, BOTH parents MUST be carriers or of course affected. We endorse the recommendations made by the International Sheepdog Society, that neither parents nor affected offspring should be bred from. If we do not act strongly on this and are not scrupuously honest, we could ruin a breed in a few generations. Once established, it will be almost impossible to eradicate. If you really care for this breed, then join us in taking the following precautions.

Get all pups tested by a B.V.A. eye testing panel veterinary surgeon between six and seven weeks of age. This is vitally important, as some cases of C.E.A. can "go normal" and become difficult to detect after this age. It will also ensure that you never sell an affected puppy to an unsuspecting owner, thus causing a lot of future hearthache for both of you. Affected pups may not necessarily go blind and may, on the testing veternary surgeon's advice, be placed in pet homes. In this case though, the future owner should be made fully aware of all the facts and should be willing to have the animal neutered when old enough to ensure that there are no "accidents". A proportion of the purchase price should be refunded when you have a veterinary letter confirming that the animal has been neutered.
Do not breed from affected stock, or parents of affected stock.
Make the information public. The more people who are willing to stand up and be counted on this, the better for the breed. Also notify the Club Secretary.
There is a problem with the non affected offspring of a parent later found to be a carrier. The carrier should be immediately withdrawn from breeding, but its offspring from earlier litters cannot be condemned. If one parent is found to be a carrier and the other is not, 50% of the carrier's offspring will also be carriers, but 50% will not be affected in any way. It is therefore wrong to condemn ALL progeny of a "carrier" parent. However, great care should be exercised in breeding from such stock. They should certainly be eye tested every year and it is imperitive that all their progeny are eye tested at six weeks of age. In the case of male offspring from carrier parents, it would be a good idea to carry out test matings (under carefully controlled conditions), to ascertain whether the dog is a carrier or not. The same should be done with bitches, although we realise that the breeding prospects of a bitch are limited and one small litter might not provide conclusive results. They should preferably be between Border Collie and either Sheltie or Rough Collie. This should ensure that no one will be tempted to breed from the resulting offspring. WHERE TEST MATINGS ARE CARRIED OUT, THE PARTNER CHOSEN FOR THE TEST MUST BE AFFECTED WITH C.E.A. ITSELF. It is no good mating the animal under test to a known carrier as the results would be inconclusive. If the resulting pups are sold on after eye testing at six weeks, the new owners MUST be fully informed of all the relevant facts and reasons for the mating. It is important that they understand that their animal should never be bred from.

In a litter found to contain one or more affected puppies, both parents MUST be carriers. This means that 25% of the litter are likely to suffer from C.E.A., 50% will be carriers and 25% might be clear. In this case it would be better not to breeed from any of the pups from such a litter. Certainly it should not be contemplated without first carrying out a test mating.