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Sub Aortic Stenosis (SAS) is the most
common congenital heart defect in Rottweilers. SAS
involves the narrowing of the out-flow tract from the left ventricle
leading to the aorta. When there is a narrowing of the
tract, the heart must pump harder to get blood through the smaller
opening. As the SAS-affected dog matures, his/her heart develops a
thicker muscle to push harder, which leads to an irregular heart
beat, a lack of blood to the heart, congestive heart failure, or sudden
death. SAS is diagnosed in living dogs by a cardiologist performing a
dopplar echocardiograph exam of dogs with heart murmurs.
At
the present time there are no tests available to detect
SAS in dogs that are known as "silent affected". Silent affected are
dogs who pass the current cardiologist auscultation or Dopplar
echocardiogram test but who actually harbor the gene for SAS.
Complicating this even further is the fact that SAS is currently
thought to be caused EITHER by a dominant gene that has variable
penetrance (meaning that it can appear as a visible health issue in
some dogs but as an invisible threat [the above mentioned silent
affected] in other dogs) [reference the GRCA SAS year 1 study ] OR
worse yet
as a polygenetic recessive. My personal experiences involving my own
dogs and the pedigrees of affected dogs sent to me, lean me towards the
dominant with variable penetrance theory.
Dr Meurs has conducted studies for the Golden Retrievers,
Newfoundlands and Boxer breeds. She conducted a very limited
retrospective pedigree study for
Rottweilers through the RHF (Rottweiler Health Foundation) but this
study was hampered by a serious LACK of participants. Since I receive
calls and emails monthly from owners of afflicted dogs I KNOW this was
not caused by a lack of incidence of SAS in our breed. Instead the lack
of participation is directly linked to the number of breeders who
decline to participate!
Dr Meurs is NOW collecting blood samples from both affected
(as
diagnosed by Cardiologist echo) and cardiologist echo clear dogs (proof
of
clear being an OFA certificate showing the C-ECHO suffix) and she has
began a DNA evaluation of these samples
Preliminary findings are that the gene(s) is/are probably
similar or the same as that which afflicts Golden Retrievers and the
likely on just a single chromosome.
A DNA test for this is highly likely much sooner then expected!
They are currently STILL looking for DNA samples from
Rottweilers with
a diagnosis of Subvalvular aortic stenosis (diagnosed by Doppler
echocardiogram) or proven clear of Subvalvular aortic stenosis (as
cleared by a cardiologist echo ) to advance their study to
identify a gene for the disease.
For the technique to work well, they need DNA samples from 20-30
affected
dogs and 20-30 clear dogs
NOTE! NEW ADDRESS, EMAIL AND TELEPHONE #
NCSU - College of Veterinary Medicine
ATTN: Veterinary Cardiac Genetics Laboratory
Research Bldg. 460
1060 William Moore Drive
Raleigh, NC 27607
BE SURE to include a copy of the dog's pedigree, a copy of either the
dogs OFA cardiac certificate AND/OR the cardiologist echo
MANY THANKS to all for helping
Darla's death to help other Rottweilers in the future.
Darla's
Diet
Here is the special diet and supplements (developed through
conversations with many herbal, holistic and natural nutrition educated
people) we fed my Darla. She lived more than twice the length of time
the vets gave her when she was diagnosed at 7 1/2 weeks old with grade
III SAS by a board certified Cardiologist using dopplar echocardiogram.
Darla was supposed to be dead by 6
months of age, she lived to be 14 months old.
We are not veterinarians and we
strongly encourage you to work with a veterinarian who is open minded
to natural and holistic methods.
We do not make any representation that
following Darla's Diet will cure your dog- there is NO cure. What I do
not want to say, but I must, Is that SAS WILL eventually kill your dog.
Your dog may live weeks, months or even years post diagnosis- but the
sad reality is that SAS WILL end your dog's life one day.
We DO NOT promise that following
Darla's Diet WILL definitely extend your SAS dog's life. NO ONE, not
even veterinarian's , can make that guarantee.
What we do feel, is that by following
Darla's Diet:
You MAY extend your dogs life, You MAY enhance your dog's quality of
life, You MAY improve your dog's overall
health-aside from the SAS, You MAY slow the progression of SAS in
your dog.
This diet and supplement schedule DID
(in our opinion) extend Darla's life , and certainly improved it's
quality. Darla had a VERY fun and interesting life!
***************************************
SUPPLEMENTS
8 weeks old to 4 months old:
AM
10 mg Co Q10 (according to a recent article I read ,IF you
use dry capsule Co Q 10 use a bit more. It is supposedly not as usable
as the liquid caps.)
1 teaspoon Flax seed oil (must be refrigerated)
125 mg L Carnitine (we used 1/2 of a 250 mg capsule)
500 mg vit C
200 IU Vit E
2 capsules of Hawthorn or 1 dropperful if we could get liquid
1 Cranberry capsule
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Noon:
10 mg CoQ10
1/2 of a human multi (no colors added)
2 capsules Hawthorn
PM:
10 mg Co Q10
1 salmon oil gel cap
125 mg L Carnitine (we used 1/2 of a 250 mg capsule)
500 mg vit C
200 IU Vit E
2 capsules of Hawthorn or 1 dropperful if we could get liquid
1 Cranberry capsule
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
***************************************
At 6 months old the above was increased slowly over time (between 4
months & 6 months) to the below
(only CHANGES are listed, if an item is not listed
then it stayed the
SAME as above)
Co Q 10- AM & PM 20 mg ; Noon 10 mg
Vit C- 1,000mg AM, 500 mg Noon & PM
Vit E - 400 IU AM & PM
Hawthorn 3 capsules AM, 2 Noon & PM
L carnitine- 250 mg AM, 125 mg PM
NEW item- Ginko Biloba- 1 tablet PM
***************************************
At 10 months old the above was increased slowly (between 8 & 10
months)to her adult amounts
(again the only ones shown are those that changed from
the original)
Co Q 10- 30 mg AM, PM and Noon
Vit C- 1,000 mg AM & PM. 500 mg Noon
Hawthorn- 3 capsules AM, PM & Noon
L Carnitine- 250 mg AM & PM
Ginko Biloba- 1 AM & PM
*************************************** DIET
We added pieces of beef or buffalo
heart (about 1" square) OR 1 whole
chicken heart, to her AM & PM meals when we could get it
I also fed her about a mostly raw diet and I think that made almost as
big a difference as the supplements did. If we ran out of meat OR
supplements you could really see a difference in her energy level and
behavior.
We make our own raw diet and I will tell you how below, BUT you can buy
a premade raw diet like Oma's Pride, Halshan's, Purely Primitive,
Victory, Primal, or Bravo, etc.
The important thing is few or no grains and fruits and mostly red
meat with some veggies
For one dog the prepackage, premade raw diets are the easiest. They are
a bit pricey but it takes quite a bit of work to make your own.
You'll have to decide for yourself which will work best for you.
To hand make your own version of Darla's Diet, you will need either a
good juicer or a good food processor.
These are
to grind the veggies. If you use a juicer you mix the juice and pulp
back together after grinding.
Below is the Darla's Diet recipe.
(Sometimes I fed Darla this
solely and sometimes I fed her 50/50 raw and high quality puppy kibble.
(Healthwise is the brand we
used. During rapid growth spurts is usually when
I fed her any kibble, just to keep up with her caloric demands easier)
I make this in a large container and mix it really well. Then I scoop
it out into semi packed 1 cup portions and make patties out of it and
freeze 4 patties together in ziplock quart size freezer bags. As you
will see it makes
quite a bit.
Usually dogs eat approximately 1/2 to 1 cup of THIS raw ground diet for
every 1/2 cup of dry they were eating. BUT you have to watch your
individual dog's weight because, some don't need anywhere near this
much!! Raw is much, much more digestible than kibble, so some dogs
utilize it MUCH better :)
As an example my old dog with bladder cancer, ate just 2 cups of raw a
day when she used to eat 3-4 cups of dry! So she actually ate less cups
but the same weight of food (2 cups of raw = about 1 lb, 4 cups of dry
Healthwise kibble= about 1 lb)
I mix together:
5-7 lbs of 75% lean ground beef
1-2 lbs of ground turkey or chicken
1 can of Jack mackerel (rinsed well and mashed-the bones are
fine for pups over 12 weeks old)
1 can pink salmon (rinsed well and mashed-the bones are fine
for pups over 12 weeks old)
1 clove garlic (run through the juicer/processor with the
below veggies)
1 can pumpkin-optional
1 egg including crushed shell
Plus an assortment of any of the below veggies (ground to a pulp
or they won't digest at all) to equal 4-5 lbs- I used whichever I could
find, not all at once- just make sure you have green and either carrot
, an orange fleshed squash or sweet potato mixed the majority of the
time
(greens + a carotene producing veggie)
sweet potatoes or yams
carrots either orange and purple
green beans
chinese cabbage
napa cabbage
celery
beet greens
dandelion greens (not too many)
swiss chard
kale
parsley
squash (summer, zucchini, acorn etc..)
As you feed this to your dog add one 400 mg Calcium Citrate
tablet per every one cup/1 patty of the raw mix, plus 1 spoonful whole
milk yogurt.
DO NOT mix these in with the food ahead of time
Add the other supplements listed in the beginning of this page as you
prepare each meal.
As you can see it's a good bit of work to do it right
If you choose to feed a prepared raw diet (like Halshan's, Aunt
Jeni's, Oma's Pride, Bravo, Purely Primitive, etc), instead of making
your own, check the labels. If the mix contains ground bone then do not
add Calcium Citrate to it.
If you have any questions at all or just need some hand holding let me
know!!
IF your SAS dog is a Rottweiler, PLEASE, submit his/her blood,
pedigree, cardiologist info etc to Dr Meurs who is collecting samples
to run the DNA and try to find a marker for this
horror. Submission form is above
Doppler echo
by a board certified cardiologist is the GOLD STANDARD and
best screening tool we CURRENTLY have
NOTE:
there are currently two sets of velocity (LVOT) guidelines.
The
stricter version is directly below and IS the one I believe in and
provides the best level of breeding confidence AT THIS TIME (until a
DNA test is developed).
The other
is the newer
ACVIM/ARCH version which is less
strict and which I and the
cardiologists I have used over the years, believe allows FAR too many
high velocity dogs to be
bred. That newer/less strict version is listed after the below
better/stricter version.
For
dogs without KNOWN
SAS in their background and
whose parents (and better yet
siblings too) are cardiologist cleared; then a cardiologist
(or 2nd best- a
specialist) auscultation is generally considered "acceptable".
HOWEVER,
a cardiologist performed echo will allow you to evaluate velocities
(LVOT) and risks better and dogs "should" only be used for breeding if
LVOT is 1.7 m/s and below giving you the "best confidence level"
possible and dogs 1.71-1.89 m/s giving you an "element of risk"
Category
2 (FOUR different
sub categories: read close)
***************************************
Dogs who are either Imports
themselves
(and thus have no cardiac
testing background since the vast majority of overseas breeders do no cardiac screening),
OR
are the offspring of an Import (even if the import is
cardiac
cleared)
OR
are the offspring of non imports that are not screened OR the
offspring of dogs who have any type of Practitioner cardiac clearance
OR
whom have a relative with either
a
velocity 1.9 m/s and above OR a relative is affected with SAS, OR a
relative that died of SAS
Those dogs that
fall into this category should have a Doppler echo done
by a cardiologist (or second best- specialist) and should ONLY be added
to a breeding program if their velocity (LVOT) is 1.7 m/s or below AtNO POINT is a Practitioner
certification EVER acceptable. (IF
looking at an OFA cardiac certificate the last letters tell you who did
themC-ECHO= cardiologist
echo,S-ECHO= specialist
echo, C= cardiologist
auscultation, S= specialist
auscultation,P-ECHO=
practitioner echo,P=
practitioner auscultation) MY current practice is
to bring BOTH the OFA and ARCH cardiac forms with me to the cardiac
exam and submit to BOTH organizations.
The OFA
form will allow your evaulation to be seen in a searchable database
along with all your dog's other health tests and the ARCH form will provide you with more detailed
information and will also add statistical data to a semi searchable
database of ONLY cardiologist performed cardiac evaluations (you get a
certificate from both groups). See Annie's
page for links to both certifications
I
base all of my above recommendations on conversations with Researchers
from
2000 - 2006, extensive reading of the current and past research, and
conversations with the cardiologists I have personally used over the
past years
since 1995.
Here are the "Less strict"
ACVIM/ARCH Standards (current 2011)
In dogs without structural changes and with no murmur (except innocent
functional murmurs)
LVOT Velocities of less than 1.9 m/s - deemed clear
LVOT Velocities of 1.9 - 2.4 m/s - deemed equivocal; breeder assumes a
risk level
LVOT velocities above 2.4 m/s - breeding not recommended
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Diane Richardson
Unity, NH 03743
603-542-7344
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