The Incidence of Typical Diseases of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Breed.

Summary The thesis is focused on the incidence of inherited diseases such as the patellar luxation (LP), episodic falling syndrome (EF), dry eye and curly coat syndrome (CC/DE) and eye defects in the population of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCHS) breed in the Czech Republic. It builds on the bachelor thesis focused on the incidence of degenerative heart disease called the myxomatous valve degeneration (MVD) in CKCHS. In 2003 the Czech Republic introduced a recovery breeding program following the example of some European countries, whose objective is the systematic monitoring of the CKCHS population restoring the health of the breed. The aim of the study was to evaluate the above-mentioned diseases in the CKCHS population of the Czech Republic and to find any potential correlation with sex, age and coat colour. LP is a polygenic and multifactorial disease. From a set of 360 individuals 16.7% males and 22.2% females were diagnosed positive for LP. The difference between the sexes and between age groups was not statistically significant. It was, however, found a weak correlation between diagnosed dislocation of the patella and coat colour. Most individuals diagnosed with LP were Black and Tan, while Tricolour was represented the least. Alleles for EF and CC/DE (EF/CC) are hereditary were not proven for any other breeds than CKCHS. Of the evaluated group of 337 individuals 25.9% males and 20.8% females were carriers of the EF/CC alleles. In the case of these diseases was also no statistically significant difference between males and females. Moderately strong correlation was found between EF/CC alleles presence and the coat colour. The majority of individuals positively diagnosed for EF/CC alleles were Black and Tan, and Ruby. Most individuals positive for the above mentioned alleles were aged up to three years, but statistically significant differences between age categories were not confirmed. Hereditary eye defects were from the whole set documented for only three individuals. Therefore, the correlation of the incidence of this disease with age, sex and coat colour was not statistically evaluated