Familial Nephropathy (FN)
Familial Nephropathy (FN), a fatal kidney disease in young Cockers, was unfortunately quite prevalent in the breed in the 1980's until research instigated by The Cocker Spaniel Club (UK) established that this was a hereditary condition with a simple recessive mode of inheritance (as with PRA).
A Control Scheme was set up by The Cocker Club (UK) in the mid 1980's under which, all dogs & bitches known to have produced confirmed cases of FN were withdrawn from breeding and details of these carrier animals were published & made available to members & other breeders so that sensible decisions could be made in the selection of breeding stock. The success of this Control Scheme can be demonstrated by the fact that in recent years, only a small number of confirmed cases have been reported.
Research was carried out in the US to develop a gene test which identifies carriers of this disease.
More info on this research can be found on the English Cocker Spaniel Club of America's website at https://englishcocker.org/.
Dogs which have been DNA tested as Carriers of this disease should only be mated to dogs which have been tested as Clear/Normal to avoid producing affected puppies.
In Australia our breeders are very lucky to be able to benefit from the genetic tests via several companies worldwide including www.orivet.com.au
Contact Details
The Secretary, Cocker Spaniel Club of Qld IncBrisbane, QLD, Australia
Email : [email protected]