Special Message to OESCA from Dr. Bell
May 2008

I have been asked about the advisability of differentiating clinically diagnosed versus necropsy diagnosed Old English Sheepdogs with CA on the OESCA Open CA Registry.  It has been my recommendation to parent clubs not to differentiate between objectively diagnosed dogs in open registries.  In the past, this recommendation has been accepted by many parent clubs in their open registries, including the Scottish Terrier Club of America, Gordon Setter Club of America, and Ibizan Hound Club of the US.

As clinicians, Dr. de Lahunta, and I are confident of the clinical diagnostic protocol.  There has never been a case of a dog labeled BY US with cerebellar abiotrophy that has not been confirmed with a pathological diagnosis when the dog has gone to necropsy.  This includes Old English Sheepdogs, Gordon Setters, and Scottish Terriers diagnosed with CA.  Dr. Olby has also reviewed the submitted videos of clinically diagnosed CA dogs, and concurs with their diagnoses.  We stand on the validity of the clinical diagnoses, and welcome the efforts of anyone who questions a diagnosis with further diagnostic testing (MRI, etc.).

There are other Old English Sheepdogs that are claimed to have CA.  However, we are not willing to make a clinical diagnosis and add them to the list without their fulfilling the clinical diagnostic protocol.  As always, I am available to those owners and breeders to establish a valid clinical diagnosis for their dogs.

What is the purpose of differentiating between dogs with clinical diagnoses and pathological diagnoses?  This plays into the hands of the naysayers that some dogs are called affected, but are not really affected.  Breeders need to deal with the reality of the dogs that have been determined to be affected with CA.  It is not fair to an owner or a breeder to be pressured to put their beloved family member down to gain a pathological diagnosis for the purpose of the registry, when the track record of the validity of the clinical diagnosis is sound.

Again, I am available to anyone to consult on possible cases of cerebellar abiotrophy in dogs that they own or have bred.

Sincerely,

Jerold S Bell, DVM
Clinical Associate Professor of Genetics
Department of Clinical Sciences
Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
jerold.bell@tufts.edu
(860) 749-8348           Fax (860) 749-4760