EUREKA MOMENT

ON 26^TH NOVEMBER 2014 WE RECEIVED THE WONDERFUL NEWS FROM CATHRYN MELLERSH AT THE ANIMAL HEALTH TRUST THAT FINALLY AFTER 18 YEARS’  OF WORK AND RESEARCH THE DNA FOR POAG HAD BEEN FOUND AND A TEST WOULD BE AVAILABLE EARLY IN 2015.

I HAVE TO ADMIT TO SHEDDING A FEW TEARS OF JOY, THAT AFTER ALL THE WORK UNDERTAKEN BY THE BGV CLUB AND OF COURSE PROF PETER BEDFORD WE HAD FINALLY GOT WHAT WE WERE ALL HOPING FOR. PETER IS IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING A PAPER FOR THE VETERINARY PRESS AND WILL LET US HAVE A VERSION FOR OUR WEBSITE VERY SOON.

MOST OF YOU KNOW, 18 YEARS AGO I HAD A FRENCH PBGV “HARDI” WHO SADLY WENT BLIND AT 4 YEARS OF AGE AND PETER BEDFORD GAVE ME THE  AWFUL NEWS THAT WE HAD THIS PROBLEM IN THE BREED ALTHOUGH HARDI “COULD BE A ONE OFF” AND WE WERE NOT CERTAIN  OF THE MODE OF INHERITANCE.

FOR MY KENNEL IT WAS DEVASTATING NEWS, BUT I WAS DETERMINED WITH THE SUPERB HELP OF PETER TO TRY AND FIND OUT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT POAG.

HISTORICALLY MANY WILL KNOW OF THE EYE PRESSURE TESTS WE UNDERTOOK AT THE RVC ON SATURDAY MORNINGS, THE FUND RAISING FOR THE TONOGRAPH MACHINE FROM USA  THE ANNUAL EYE TESTING SESSIONS AND WILLINGNESS OF MANY BREEDERS TO ENSURE THEIR PUPPY BUYERS WERE AWARE OF THE NEED FOR THESE TESTS. AND FINALLY THE MANY SAMPLES SENT TO THE AHT OF AFFECTED  AND UNAFFECTED PBGVS TO AID THE RESEARCH.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART IN THIS LONG BUT ULTIMATELY SUCCESSFUL STORY AND ALSO ADD MY PERSONAL DISTRESS THAT SOME BREEDERS ARE STILL NOT INFORMING THEIR PUPPY BUYERS ABOUT POAG AND THERFORE DOGS SADLY GOING BLIND , WHOSE EYE SIGHT COULD HAVE BEEN PROLONGED FOR SEVERAL YEARS HAD IT BEEN DIAGNOSED EARLY ENOUGH.

HOPEFULLY IN THE FUTURE WITH THE DNA TESTS, THE KENNEL CLUB WILL STIPULATE THE NEED FOR TESTING OF THE PARENTS PRIOR TO REGISTERING PUPPIES AND AS WE SPREAD THE MESSAGE WORLD WIDE WE MAY EVENTUALLY ELMINATE THIS AWFUL DISEASE IN TIME.

Vivien Phillips