Dear Looking: When you take your dog to the veterinarian for his annual physical, an overall eye exam is conducted to look for things like conjunctivitis (pink eye), corneal scratches, eyelid abnormalities and other conditions that can be easily detected. However, there are some heritable (passed down from parents of the dog) eye diseases that can only be diagnosed by a canine ophthalmologist with special equipment.

One such eye disease, which went undiagnosed for many years, is progressive retinal atrophy, which eventually causes blindness. Your breed, the Boston Terrier, is susceptible to a congenital form of cataracts and having a complete eye exam by a specialist would not be a bad idea. To catch a disease like this early on, would aid in the quality of care you can give your canine friend as it progresses. But to know he doesn’t have any diseases is even more reason to test.

Canine Eye

Registration Foundation

Heritable eye diseases have long been a concern of the reputable purebred dog breeder. Eventually an organization was formed called, Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) and breeders and veterinarians started working together to form a national centralized registry of all dogs that had been tested for these diseases.

The board certified veterinarians who perform these tests are members of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO). These doctors work in conjunction with CERF to register all dogs certified free of disease and to submit data on dogs they have found with disease. Therefore, this database not only can help breeders make educated decisions about breeding stock but help veterinarians and researchers study these eye diseases through knowledge gained by identifying infected carriers as well.

With certain types of memberships in CERF, purebred dog owners can receive newsletters and research reports for specific breeds. CERF becomes not just a tool for breeders and breed clubs but for purebred pet owners who might be living with a dog with a heritable eye disease. CERF can provided valuable information about quality of life for such animals. CERF may be contacted at (765) 494-8179 or by writing to:

Purdue University, Canine Eye Registration Foundation, CERF/Lynn Hall, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2026.

Or visit them on the web at http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/prog/cerf.html

How to Get Tested

There are two ways to get your dog tested. First, you could find a board certified veterinarian ophthalmologists in your neighborhood (which might be a chore since there aren’t that many around) or you could go to a CERF Clinic sponsored by a local dog club. The clinics usually have reduced fees for testing. You might pay as much as $500 for a private vet visit versus $40 at the clinic. You must pre-register your dog through the breed club and pay in advance. All purebred dogs must have some form of permanent identification such as a tattoo, microchip or DNA-profile.

During the test, drops in your dog’s eyes will stain and dilate the pupils, after which the vet uses a powerful magnifying tool in a darkened room to scan the dog’s eyes for abnormalities. It usually doesn’t take very long and the hardest part about the test is getting the dog to keep his head still while the vet looks in his eyes. They make notes on a special CERF form that you fill out prior to the exam. One copy of the exam form goes to CERF and the owner of the dog gets the other copy. If the dog was found to have no disease during the exam, the owner can send in his copy with the suitable fee to CERF and become registered in the database. Once in the database, your dog mush be re-examined and re-certified every 12 months to keep current. 

You can visit http://www.vmdb.org/clinic.html at the CERF website to find a CERF Clinic or an ACVO diplomat near you. The Newtown Kennel Club is having a CERF Clinic on July 18 in Bethel. Visit their website at www.newtownkennelclub.org for upcoming information. By helping your dog in particular with a CERF test you can be sure he is free from eye disease and help others in his breed by adding his information to the overall database.

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Ask Lisa questions at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.