Today we drove to Norwood, Ohio to visit Dr. Haeussler at the Animal Eye Institute. After receiving drops to dilate their eyes, Moses & Abria hopped up on Dr. Haeussler’s examination table, and he checked their eye health. The CERF (Canine Eye Research Foundation) exam looks at the lens, cornea, optic nerves, and other parts of the eye to ensure that everything looks normal and healthy and that no hereditary eye conditions are present. Happily, Moses & Abria received passing CERF scores!
In addition to receiving passing CERF scores to ensure current eye health, we also DNA test our parent dogs for prcd-PRA to make sure they won’t develop this disease later in future years. Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), an inherited disease, is a condition where the retina slowly dies eventually causing blindness. prcd-PRA (which stands for progressive rod-cone degeneration PRA) is the type of PRA sometimes carried by poodles. Consequently, Moses was tested to ensure that he is “clear.” This means he won’t develop prcd-PRA as he ages and it eliminates any possibility that he could be a silent carrier, passing the disease onto his puppies. Since Abria is a goldendoodle (making her half poodle), she also runs the risk of carrying prcd-PRA. Fortunately her dad was DNA tested for it and was clear, so we know she is too (this is known as clear by parentage). We are pleased to have parent dogs with healthy eyes so you can be confident that your goldendoodle puppy has healthy eyes as well.
Check out our blog post about DNA health testing for more information about the importance of testing parent dogs for prcd-PRA.