Health
Most of the time, Tibetan Terriers are very healthy dogs, maybe it´s the result of the climatic extremes of Tibet. But there is not breed which is 100% free of health problems and the Tibetan Terrier is no exception to this.
When you think to buy a Tibetan Terrier puppy, you should ask the breeder some questions about the health concerns and hereditary diseases in their lines. A honest breeder will give you all information about the line and you might think twice when a breeder tells you there are no problems.
Today most of the breeders try to reduce the possibility of hereditary diseases by testing their dogs before breeding.
The health problems in Tibetan Terriers are:
Progressive Retinal Atrophy:
Progressive retinal atrophy, short PRA, is a long recognized, hereditary blinding disorder. PRA is a disease of the retina. The retina is inside the back of the eye and it contains cells that absorb the light focused on them by the eyes lens. It converts the light into nerve signals. This signals are passed by the optic nerve to the brain where they are perceived as vision.
The early symtoms of affected dogs are nightblindness, lacking the ability to adjust their vision to dim light, later their daytime vision also fails. The disease can appear as early as 8 months or as late as 8 years.
Diagnosis of PRA is normally made by opthalmoscopic examination by a board certified Ophthalmologist.
When your dog found to be clear from PRA does not mean it is free from PRA. The examination should be done at least every year. And when you think about breeding then your dog/bitch has to be tested for PRA not longer than a year before breeding.
The examination can not identify carriers. PRA is an autosomal recessive disorder. Both parents of an affected dog must be either affected too or carriers. The recessive gene can hide for generations until you breed two carriers and PRA shows up. All offsprings from an affected dog will be at least carriers.
Careful breeders get their dogs regularly checked. They do not breed known carriers and try to avoid any known carriers in their pedigrees for at least three or four generations.
The lens of the eye is the clear structure which focuses the image onto the retina and is located behind the iris, the central portion being exposed by the pupillary opening. Normally the lens is held in positition by small fibers called zonules. The zonules are attached to the equatorial perimeter of the lens and to the ciliary body to keep it in position. If the zonules break the lens can either become loosened or completely detached. When the lens is no more attached and falls forward into the anterior chamber, it is called an anterior luxation. Also it is possible for the lens to luxate posteriorly into the vitreous body. Usually it causes glaucomo or pressure in the eye which may result in blindness. Maybe surgical removal of the lens is necessary. Lens Luxation can appear between three and eight years. Often there are no early warning signs. It will be detected during an eye exam by an opthalmologist.
The examination can not identify carriers. LL is an autosomal recessive disorder. Both parents of an affected dog must be either affected too or carriers. The recessive gene can hide for generations until you breed two carriers and LL shows up. All offsprings from an affected dog will be at least carriers.
Careful breeders get their dogs regularly checked. They do not breed known carriers and try to avoid any known carriers in their pedigrees for at least three or four generations.
Normally the lens is a clear or transparent unique living ocular tissue. The lens focuses light on the light-sensiteve nervous tissue which is located in the back of the eye, known as retina. A catarac is a cloudy change of the lens that scatters the light. The result is varying degrees of blindness. Primary Cataracts (juvenile catarac) appear at an early age and can be inherited. Secondary Cataracts often develop together with other eye diseases, like PRA or LL. Also Cataracts can be the result from injuries to the eye, inflammation within the eye and internal diseases that have an effect on the eye.
Hip Dysplasia means poor development of the formation of the hip joint. It is characterized by a shallow acetabulum ("socket") and changes in the shape of the femoral head ("ball"). Hip dysplasia is an inherited defect with a polygenic mode of inheritance. The formation of the hip joints can also be modified by environmental factors, like over nutrition, excessive growth and traumas during the growth period of the skeleton. The hip joint conformation can range from good to bad with all shades in between.Signs of the disease can vary widely from slight irregularities of gait to crippling lameness. The dysplastic dog will usually develop arthritis later in life. Hip dysplasia is diagnosed by X-ray from 13 month of age. Official X-rays are sent to the Prof. Dr. K. Hartung, Freie Universität Berlin (evaluates the X-rays for the KTR) to evaluate. The dysplastic dog should not be used for breeding, but may have a long and happy live. Still when the dog is diagnosed dysplastic a treatment plan is necessary, like moderate and regular exercise, control of weight and maybe anti-inflammatory drugs. When the medical treatment is insufficient then a surgical repair of the hip is possible.
Congenital deafness in dogs is primarily of the hereditary sensorineural form associated with white pigmentation genes, although acquired forms of deafness are possible. Deaf dogs should not be bred. By the time a puppy is four to six weeks old you maybe can tell, on the reaction from a puppy of loud noises, whether or not a puppy is completely deaf. It is very hard to diagnose deafness when a dog is born having one ear with normal hearing and one deaf ear because these dogs can hear. With a brainstem auditory evoked response (BEAR) test deafness can be diagnosed in dogs after five weeks of age.