Eye disease is very common in Golden Retrievers, with most affected by hereditary cataracts at a young age which can cause vision loss. Several types of eye defects exist, such as retinal dysplasia, that prevent breeding. Golden Retrievers should be checked annually for eye disease by a veterinary ophthalmologist using proper equipment. Heart disease is also common, with SAS being the most widespread form. Golden Retrievers should be examined by a veterinary cardiologist for heart disease like murmurs before breeding, as breeding dogs with heart disease can lead to serious or fatal results.

2. Eye And Heart Disease

3. EyediseaseisverycommonwithGoldenRetrievers.MostGolden’swill
generallyhave hereditary cataracts, which is a common eye problem. At
an early age, withaffectedGolden’s,onetypeofhereditarycataractwill
appear.Eventhoughitmaynotcauseinterferencewiththevisionofthe
GoldenRetriever,somedogswillprogressintototalandquitepossiblysevere
lossofvision.

4. Sometimes,GoldenRetrieverscangetaffectedbynonhereditarycataracts,
althoughan examination by a board certified veterinarian can determine
just how bad thecataractsreallyare.Ifcataractsareindeedsuspectedwitha
GoldenRetriever,thenbreedingwon’tberecommended.BreedingaGolden
whohasthisconditioncanleadtoseriousproblems,suchaspassingitonto
thepups.

5. Severalfamilies oftheGoldenRetrieverbreedhavebeenknowntocarrygenes
forCPRA(CentralProgressiveRetinalAtrophy),whichaffectstheretina,andcan
resultin permanent blindness for Golden’s at a young age. There are
other types of eyedefectsaswell,suchasretinaldysplasia,whichpreventsa
Goldenfrombreeding.

6. Trouble with both the eyelid and eyelashes are also a possibility with
GoldenRetrievers,withsomebeingtheresultofhereditaryfactors.Theeyelids
rotatinginorout,ortheeyelashesrubbing onorintheeyearebothcommon
problemswiththebreed.Eventhoughsurgerycanhelptofixthesetypesof
problems,dogsthatareexperiencingthistypeofproblemshouldn’tbe
allowedtobreednorcompeteinshowsunderanytypeofAKCrules.

7. YoushouldalwayshaveyourGoldenRetrievercheckedannuallyforeye
disease,asitcandevelopduringanyage.WhenyoutakeyourGoldentohave
himexaminedforeyedisease,youshouldhaveaveterinaryophthalmologist
dotheexam.Hehasallofthenecessaryequipment,andthepropertraining
neededtomakesurethatyourdoggetsthebestexaminationpossible.

8. Heartdisease
SAS(SubvalvularAorticStenosis)isthemostcommonandwidespreadformof
heartdisease within the entire Golden Retriever species. Before you
breed your GoldenRetriever, you should always have him examined for
heart disease by a certifiedveterinarycardiologist.Ifthecardiologistdetects
aheartmurmur,hewillrecommendadditionaltestsforyourdog.

9. Intheeventthattheresultsprovenegative,itdoesn’tnecessarilyruleheart
diseaseout,assomemilderformsmaystillbepresent,althoughundetectable.
IfaGoldenRetrieverisdiagnosedtohaveanytypeofheartdisease,heshould
notbreed.BreedingGoldenRetrieverswhohaveheartdiseasecanleadto
seriousandsometimesfatalresults.Tobeonthesafeside,youshouldalways
haveyourGoldentestedforhisdiseasebeforeyouplanonbreeding.

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