Exercise-induced collapse EIC is a nervous system disorder that is inherited in Labrador retrievers, curly coated retrievers, Chesapeake Bay retrievers, German wirehaired pointers, cocker spaniels, Boykin spaniels, Bouvier des Flanders, Old English sheepdogs and Pembroke Welsh corgis. It is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, meaning that the causative mutation must be inherited from both parents in order to produce an affected puppy.
Carriers of EIC appear normal and have normal exercise tolerance, but they will pass the causative genetic mutation on to half of their puppies. Dogs affected by EIC are perfectly normal most of the time and it is impossible for an owner or a veterinarian to determine that there is anything wrong with them. They may, however, experience episodes of collapse when they participate in strenuous activities that they find exciting or stressful, especially in warm weather.
More importantly, testing can be used to determine whether a dog that will be used for breeding is:. Owners of potential breeding dogs should be encouraged to obtain OFA certification to document their test results and make them available to others who might be interested in breeding to their dogs. If a dog does not have their EIC result listed on OFA, you should ask the owner to provide you with a copy of the laboratory result they obtained.
Taylor and Shmon. They collaborated with a team of veterinarians and geneticists at the University of Minnesota Patterson, Mickelson, Minor. In , the genetic mutation causing EIC was identified and a test for the causative mutation was made available through the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota.
This is important information to have about a dog prior to breeding so that a breeder can avoid producing dogs affected by EIC. Not all dogs affected by EIC two copies of the mutation will have had episodes of collapse.
