**AORTIC STENOSIS AND MITRAL VALVE DYSPLASIA **
These can be hereditary diseases of the heart which affect Miniature Bull Terriers. The mode of inheritance is currently a rather grey area, but it is known that Minis and Bull Terriers suffer from this condition, which can vary from a mild Grade I heart murmur through to a severe Grade VI. The milder end of the scale is best heard by a cardiologist as sometimes they are hard to hear and one day may not be present, but another day may be. The cost of a heart auscultation by a cardiologist (listening with a stethoscope) varies, but is about £40.
Following the recent heart testing session carried out by Dr Sonya Fonfara, Cardiologist at the Veterinary Hospital at Liverpool Veterinary University, The SMBTC have the following recommendations for it’s members regarding heart testing.
We would appreciate your help in compiling statistics for heart disease in Minis and ask that any animals tested either by auscultation or Ultrasound scan and particularly those which have flow velocity measurements, submit their result on the blue copy of the cardiology certificate (with name and dog name details removed if you wish). The blue copy can be submitted anonymously if you wish as this is simply to aid getting an accurate picture of the extent of heart disease in the UK population.
SMBTC STRONGLY RECOMMENDs
1) Basic heart auscultation (listening with a stethoscope) – This should only be carried out by a Cardiologist. *No Mini with a heart murmur of more than a Grade I should be bred from.*
2) Ultrasound scan – To be carried out by a cardiologist, preferably on the panel of the Cardio-Vascular Society.
3) Ultrasound scan with flow velocities – To be carried out by a cardiologist, preferably on the panel of the Cardio-Vascular Society.
***Cardiologist’s view : Usually 1.8 m/s is the cut-off value for normal aortic flow. Further scanning is needed to get more information on what is normal in this breed ***
**It is recommended that animals with measurements above 1.8 OR which have had their certificate marked equivocal only be considered for mating to animals with readings of 1.8 and below to attempt to reduce the incidence of heart disease in the MBT**. NB; see point 1 above.
The SMBTC will be hosting further reduced cost heart testing sessions with Dr Fonfara – keep an eye out for dates.
Fund raising for Bull Terrier Clinical studies via the Animal Health Trust & Terry Heath ~ Just Giving page
Larangeal Paralysis – can you help?
“In France, we have identified several cases (already 12) with 2 staffies and the rest in miniature bull terriers, of laryngeal anomalies ending up in laryngeal paralysis and death of dogs. These cases come from different blood lines and different countries.Dr Escriou, a neurologist at the Veterinary School of Lyon, which is already handling the study for the spinning and TOCD of the bull terrier, has launched a search on this new problem.
If you have experienced this problem and are willing to share the information please contact c.escriou@vet-lyon.fr and thepepsibull@neuf.fr
Many thanks for your help
Stephanie & La PepsiBull Family in France