Category: Kennel Club

Change in breeding advice for BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia scheme

The Kennel Club would like to make you aware of the change to breeding advice for the British Veterinary Association/Kennel Club Elbow Dysplasia scheme. Originally, it was recommended that breeders select dogs with an elbow grade of 0 or 1, as a grade 1 was considered relatively mild at the time. However, graded radiographs have shown that the majority of dogs with grade 1 elbows display obvious signs of unilateral and bilateral arthritis.

Therefore, the revised breeding advice from the BVA is as follows:
‘It is strongly recommended that breeders wishing to reduce the risk of elbow dysplasia should select their breeding stock (both dogs and bitches) only from animals with an overall grade of 0. Dogs with elbow grades of 2 or 3 have marked osteoarthritis likely to be due to ED, with or without a visible primary lesion. Dogs with elbow grades of 1 show mild or early osteoarthritis which is also likely to be due to ED.’

The elbow grades of Kennel Club registered dogs under the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia scheme can be seen via the Health Test Results Finder (an online Mate Select service). For additional scheme information, please visit the BVA website.

Newborn Puppy Mortality and Morbidity Survey

This email is to inform you, on behalf of Bloomfield’s Puppy and Kitten Clinic, part of The Goddard Veterinary Group, of a survey investigating neonatal puppy mortality and morbidity across breeds in the UK during 2012 and 2013.

You can complete the questionnaire online here

We would be very grateful if you could help disseminate information about this survey amongst your breed. The survey can be completed by UK breeders that have bred a litter in 2012 or 2013, whether Kennel Club registered or not, and all information given will be treated in complete confidence, with no names of dogs, or owners’ details ever being published.

It is important that questionnaires are collected from healthy litters as well as those with health conditions and complications, so that the number of affected litters and deaths of newborn puppies can be put into context.

The survey will provide meaningful data that can be used, if required, by researchers focusing on neonate puppy health issues. After the survey period has ended, the results will be analysed and published on the Puppy and Kitten Clinic website.

For further information and to complete the survey, please visit puppyandkittenclinic.com or email Samantha Bloomfield MRCVS at .

Bio-Aquisition Research Collaboration (BARC) – a new research exchange facility

The Kennel Club would like to inform you of an online research exchange facility, the Bio-Acquisition Research Collaboration (BARC), for vets and researchers that is available on the Vets & Researchers section of The Kennel Club website. This facility will be a central platform for researchers to request samples they need to undertake their current research, to ensure that clinicians, breeders and other researchers are aware of research being carried out, and to give them the opportunity to make any contributions, whether it is samples or significant data and information. The Kennel Club hopes that this facility will help bring researchers and clinicians together with regards to research, making it easier to form a collaboration of different ideas and information that may result in faster progression of research into disease prevention, management, and treatment.

All the requirements of samples will be provided by the researchers and displayed on the ‘BARC’ page on The Kennel Club website.

The Kennel Club reserves the right to not support or otherwise encourage research that may involve experimental procedures that inflict pain or suffering to animals.