Darla Fund


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The Darla Fund was started in memory of our beloved Rottweiler Darla
(VP rated Frontier Justagenius Darla). Darla died as a direct result of the Sub Aortic Stenosis she was born with.   (For Darla’s diet information click HERE or scroll down

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 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 study ] OR worse yet as a polygenetic recessive. My personal experiences 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 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 collecting blood samples from both affected and cardiologist clear dogs (proof of clear being an OFA certificate showing the C suffix) and she is storing these samples until she has enough to conduct a NEW study using the most modern methods available in search of a DNA marker for this horrid disease. See below for the submission form

Rottweiler Familial Subaortic Stenosis Study

We are currently 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) to advance our study to identify a gene for the disease.

• For the technique to work well, we need DNA samples from 20-30 affected dogs and 20-30 clear dogs

•Please return the form on page 2 with your sample and mail to:

VCGL – WSU

Post Office Box 605
Pullman, WA 99163-0605

Sample collection

Please ask your veterinarian or a veterinary technician to pull a blood sample into an EDTA tube. Most veterinary hospitals have these readily available.

1. Blood drawn into a Standard EDTA Tube does not need to be refrigerated.

2. Blood draw volume should be 1 to 2 ml, if possible.

3. Please label tube well, with dog’s call name and family last name and send the samples to our lab via the address above.

Blood drawn does not need to be mailed back with ice packs or be shipped overnight. However, if possible please try to send the sample within a few days by standard mail. Until the blood can be mailed, it is a good idea to refrigerate it (i.e., if the blood was drawn late Saturday and cannot be mailed until Monday, it’s a good idea to refrigerate it between Saturday and Monday).

BE SURE to include a copy of the dog’s pedigree, a copy of either the dogs OFA cardiac certificate OR the cardiologist echo

 Questions? Contact Info: Email: meurs@vetmed.wsu.edu Phone: 509.335.6038


Thank you very much for your submitting a sample, we greatly appreciate it!

Rottweiler Familial Subaortic Stenosis Study


Dog Name:

Gender:

Birthdate:

Owner Name:


 Complete Address:

Phone Number:

E-mail:

All information will remain confidential!


Any other questions may be directed to Diane Richardson

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

Noon:

PM:


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)


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)


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, Aunt Jeni's, or Bravo.
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:

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)

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 until she has enough to run the DNA and try to find a marker for this horror. Submission form is below

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Diane Richardson
P.O. Box 554
Claremont, NH 03743
603-542-2828


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Last updated 3/28/2008
© Copyright 2008 Diane Richardson, All Rights Reserved