Health Concerns
As with many highly developed dog breeds, Rottweilers suffer from a number of health issues. The more common Rottweiler health issues include: Addison’s Disease, Aortic Stenosis, Atlantoaxial Subluxation, Cataracts, Coloboma, Congenital Deafness, Corneal Ulcers, Cranial Cruciate Ligament Ruptures, Diabetes Mellitus, Distichiasis, Elbow Dysplasia, Entropion, Familial Renal Disease, Follicular Dysplasia, Gastric Dilatation Volvulus (GDV – Bloat), Hip Dysplasia, Histiocytoma, Hypopigmentary Disorders, Hypothyroidism, Medial Canthal Pocket Syndrome, Meningitis, Muscular Dystrophy, Muzzle Folliculitis & Furunculosis, Osetosarcoma, Osteochondrosis, Panosteitis, Parvovirus Enteritis, Persistent Pupillary Membrane, Polyneuropathy, Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), Retinal Detachment, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Digits, von Willebrand’s Disease.
You’d be surprised at the number of Rottweiler health issues you could actually diagnose and treat yourself, at a fraction of the cost of taking your Rottweiler to the vet. Written by vet John Bleby, The Dog’s Health from A-Z: A Canine Veterinary Dictionary, descibes how many canine illnesses can be self-diagnosed and treated, or avoided altogether, with a little knowledge and understanding. While this book cannot take the place of your vet, it certainly demonstrates that there is much that you can do to prevent many problems happening in the first place. We are more than happy to recommend this excellent book which is certain to pay for itself in the fullness of time!
Aortic Stenosis
This is due to a partial obstruction to the flow of blood as it leaves the left ventricle, on the left side of the heart, through the main blood vessel that carries blood to the rest of the body. Due to the obstruction the heart must work harder to pump adequate blood. Clinical signs depend on the degree of the narrowing. Some puppies have what are called “innocent” murmers which disappear with time. Auscultation (stethoscope) ECG, and more extensive investigations such as Doppler echocardiography and chest x-rays are used to test for this condition. These should be carried out by qualified SAC veterinary surgeons. In its mildest form there are no problems for the dog, but the condition may be passed on to offspring. The general recommendation is that no affected dogs or bitches are used for breeding!
Hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is the most common inherited orthopaedic disease in large and giant breed dogs, and occurs in many medium-sized breeds as well. It is a progressive disease. The mode of inheritance is caused by many different genes, (referred to as polygenic). Scientists do not yet know which genes are involved, or how many genes are involved. Factors that can make the disease worse include excess weight, a fast growth rate and high-calorie or supplemented diets.
The hip joint is a “ball and socket” joint; the “ball” (the top part of the thigh bone or femur) fits into a “socket”(acetabulum) formed by the pelvis. If there is a loose fit between these bones and the ligaments which help to hold them together are loose, the ball may slide part way out of the socket (subluxate).
The degree to which hips are dysplastic does not always correlate with the amount of pain. Some dogs with very bad hips radiographically are less painful than others whose x-rays show only minor changes.
Tilting of the x-ray to the side or forwards towards the camera will adversely affect the score to some degree. There may be uneven scoring in terms of right and left side, and an extra 3 or 4 points depending on the degree of tilt. The effect will be mainly on the first three sections. Tilting is unlikely to influence the last six sections to any degree.
It is felt that excessive exercise in early puppyhood is unwise. If one has bred for bad hips then a failure to exercise will not necessary prevent HD occurring. Hip dysplasia will only be reduced if breeders deliberately select firstly from the best hip-score animals (without ignoring other features) and follow this up by using the best progeny tested sires.
In all breeds some 80% or more of dogs differ by 4 points or less between hips and thus HD is largely a bilateral state. However some dogs score unevenly. At times this is a positional feature but in some it is not. Dogs can score unevenly because of trauma or due to transitional segments on the spine, but a proportion of dogs are uneven and will breed this feature on.
The x-ray is scored out of 6 on 8 sections on each hip and 1 section out of 5. Worst score is 106 – the highest for rottweilers to date is 99. The Mean score for the breed at present is 13.
Some dogs which are ‘clinically sound’ or ‘move normally’, when x-rayed can have major changes, and likewise a dog with unsound movement can have minor changes.
The only way to determine problems like this with the hip is via X-ray.
Elbow dysplasia
The term elbow dysplasia refers to several conditions that affect the elbow joint; osteocondrosis of the medial humeral condyle, fragmented medial coronoid process, ununited anconeal process and incongruent elbow. More than one of these conditions may be present, and this disease often affects both front legs.
This is a also polygenic condition, although it is not currently known how many or which genes are responsible. Environmental factors such as over-feeding – which causes fast weight gain and growth – can also affect the development of this condition in dogs that are genetically predisposed to it.
The KC/BVA ED Scheme involves x-rays on each elbow, and scoring 0, 1, 2 and the worst 3. The score is the highest one, not a combination of both scores as in hips. It is recommended that those who score 2 and over are not used for breeding. Another source advises dogs who produce the condition should not be used again.
More information on the above conditions can be seen here: www.upei.ca/cidd.
We would thoroughly recommend you take out insurance cover for your Rottweiler. For the cheapest Rottweiler insurance, please visit Compare Dog Insurance.
