Health Issues in the Cairn Terrier
The Cairn Terrier is among the truly healthy small dog breeds thanks to having preserved its original character and ancient appearance, so its average life expectancy is around 15 years. However, there are also diseases characteristic of the breed. Eye diseases in particular can cause problems, such as glaucoma and entropion, the inward turning of the eyelid. With both conditions, early diagnosis offers good chances of recovery. There are also genetically screenable diseases, such as Krabbe disease, Progressive Retinal Atrophy (lens clouding), Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency, Macrothrombocytopenia. Patellar luxation can be examined from 1 year of age at the earliest.
In cases of glaucoma, early recognition of the symptoms is of great importance, because if the increased intraocular pressure is not treated, the optic nerve and the retina are damaged, which can lead to the animal going blind in a relatively short period of time.
Entropion can be corrected surgically and usually does not recur.
Globoid cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe disease) is a lipid storage disorder associated with progressive degeneration of the white matter of the central nervous system. Due to the lack of the enzyme, these lipids accumulate in the central nervous system, especially in multinucleated giant cells (globoid cells). Globoid cell leukodystrophy appears in affected dogs at 1–3 months of age, initially with ataxia and paresis of the hind limbs.
The hereditary form of PRA – progressive retinal atrophy leads to degeneration of the retina and causes blindness. prcd-PRA initially causes loss of function of the rod cells, which results in night blindness. In later stages, the cone cells are also affected, leading to complete blindness in the dog. Clinical signs usually appear in early adolescence or early adulthood. However, the onset of the disease may vary between dog breeds.
Pyruvate kinase (PK) is an enzyme that plays a critical role in energy production in erythrocytes via the anaerobic glycolysis pathway. When there is a PK deficiency in erythrocytes, they are unable to maintain normal cellular metabolism and therefore die prematurely. This deficiency manifests as anemia of varying severity. The clinical signs of the disease reflect the animal’s anemia and include exercise intolerance, weakness, heart murmur and enlargement of the spleen.
Macrothrombocytopenia (MTC) is a hereditary (congenital) disorder of platelet (thrombocyte) formation, which play an important role in blood clotting. The sign of hereditary MTC is a reduced number of platelets (thrombocytopenia). In addition, many of the remaining platelets are enlarged. Affected dogs are NOTPREDISPOSEDto bleeding, but there is a risk of incorrect treatment, because the above symptoms can be confused with those of acquired thrombocytopenia, which can be triggered, for example, by infections, medications or immune reactions. Genetic testing is therefore an important method for differential diagnosis, since antibiotics or corticosteroids are not suitable for the treatment of hereditary macrothrombocytopenia.
Patellar luxation: also known as dislocation of the kneecap. This is a common problem in small-breed dogs. Patellar luxation occurs when the knee joint (often of the hind legs) slips in and out of place, causing pain. It can be painful, although many dogs live a relatively normal life with this condition into old age. After 1 year of age, an orthopedic specialist can screen for it by manual examination.
A common symptom is lifting the affected leg intermittently while walking or trotting.