Vets and EIC Continuing Education

wdsk · Feb 2, 2009

Recently I've had casual conversations with two separate vets, and curiously wanting to know their opinion on EIC and how prevalent they thought it is in the LR population asked a few basic questions. What I was most surprised was that they were not that familiar with it, even to the point that one of them commented that my questions were interesting and that he wanted to research it more.

What has been the experience of others when inquiring or discussing EIC with your veterinarian?

I get the feeling that since the work done at U of MN and the identification of the mutated gene that causes it has been so recent that many vets have not yet had the opportunity to be exposed to the more recent or new research literature. In the long run I am sure that continuing education on EIC will expand and that more vets will become familiar with it.

At some point in time we all probably had to ask "what's EIC?", and of course the first place most of us looked was on the net. This certainly does not make any of us experts, but it does help us to be informed. The vets that I mentioned are top notch animal physicians, and in no way do I think that just because they did not have a detailed answer to any of my questions do I think any less of them.

Kris Hunt · Feb 2, 2009

It doesn't surprise me that you got that response. EIC is limited to only one breed and a specialized group at that. My vet didn't know what it was either, but he sure does now

Kris

RemsBPJasper · Feb 2, 2009

Mine didn't either but was very open to performing the test. Small town vet but close to Cornell University.

firehouselabs · Feb 2, 2009

Mine didn't know about EIC, but asked for the info on the studies/testing done. Of course after drawing blood and going over the paperwork on our 9 dogs, they know about it now! They had also never done any CNM swabs either. One vet deals mainly with horses and other farm animals and the other one was an emergency vet practioner right out of college for 4 yrs prior to coming to this office.

YardleyLabs · Feb 2, 2009

Same story here. I took the UMinn articles to my vets. They have also seen my affected dog during a collapse and drew the blood for the test. They had never heard of EIC or CNM until I provided the information.

firehouselabs · Feb 2, 2009

Surely you would think that they would send out info to all the vets whenever a new test comes out. Lord knows I get TONS of stuff for dental related stuff, and there are more dental hygienists then there are vets! Of course, it could just end up in "file 13" like most of my stuff! But I do read the research stuff, just not the "new and improved" product junk.

Mike Peters-labguy23 · Feb 2, 2009

Both the Vets I use knew all about it. Granted one of the went to the U of MN and both are involved in HT/FT labs. I am very thankfull that I have Vets that are just as interested in Labs as I am.

Fowl Play WA · Feb 2, 2009

I haven't asked my vet, but as he has FT labs, I'm going to venture a guess that he's aware.

HeavenSent · Feb 2, 2009

My vet had "heard something about it" but no concrete information. I gave her the site info so she could read up on it...just in case someone else asked her about it. Hopefully she did.

Mike W. · Feb 2, 2009

Mine hadn't heard about the test but was very eager for me to send them the link. They apparently called to UMinn and are all set to be able to provide it.

labdoc · Feb 2, 2009

What is EIC??? Seriously, I expect that you would find this as the norm. I have yet to see any veterinary journals with articles on EIC with one exception.

A canine DNM1 mutation is highly associated with the syndrome of exercise-induced collapse
Nat Genet. October 2008;40(10):1235-9.
Edward E Patterson1, Katie M Minor , Anna V Tchernatynskaia , Susan M Taylor, G Diane Shelton, Kari J Ekenstedt, James R Mickelson
1 Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA. patte037@umn.edu

Abstract
Labrador retrievers are the most common dog breed in the world, with over 200,000 new kennel club registrations per year. The syndrome of exercise-induced collapse (EIC) in this breed is manifested by muscle weakness, incoordination and life-threatening collapse after intense exercise. Using a genome-wide microsatellite marker scan for linkage in pedigrees, we mapped the EIC locus to canine chromosome 9. We then used SNP association and haplotype analysis to fine map the locus, and identified a mutation in the dynamin 1 gene (DNM1) that causes an R256L substitution in a highly conserved region of the protein. This first documented mammalian DNM1 mutation is present at a high frequency in the breed and is a compelling candidate causal mutation for EIC, as the dynamin 1 protein has an essential role in neurotransmission and synaptic vesicle endocytosis.

.I believe it has been an unrecognized disease, syndrome, or whatever we are going to call it. Even with identification of the associated gene, the information in the veterinary community is scarce, primarily since no one knows the true cause, the pathogenesis, or any effective treatment. One can only publish a limited amount of material on the fact that some dogs collapse when brought to high levels by intense or repeated retrieves and that they will occasionally die. Really no one knows much more than that.

EdA · Feb 2, 2009

There is a vast amount of new information which we, as veterinarians, do not always have the time to absorb and most of us treat multiple species. Veterinarians often learn about new and breed specific disorders from breeder and client inquiries.

I have learned much about the medical and genetic proiblems of Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Great Danes, and Chinese Cresteds from breeder clients.

copterdoc · Feb 2, 2009

I would say that over 90% of Veterinarians haven't heard of EIC. Or, for that matter CNM, and even cold-water-tail syndrome.

The sad thing is, there are breeders that after being informed in detail about EIC, use the lack of information provided by Veterinarians as an excuse to not test their breeding stock.

They are afraid that the results will hit them in the wallet and they would rather bury their heads in the sand and say things like;
"The Vet's don't even know what EIC is yet.", or even,
"If they really have a reliable EIC test, why is there only one place in the world doing it?".

labdoc · Feb 2, 2009

EdA said:
There is a vast amount of new information which we, as veterinarians, do not always have the time to absorb and most of us treat multiple species. Veterinarians often learn about new and breed specific disorders from breeder and client inquiries.

I have learned much about the medical and genetic proiblems of Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Great Danes, and Chinese Cresteds from breeder clients.

Your new retriever breed?

ErinsEdge · Feb 2, 2009

I send interesting links to my general vet all the time. She appreciates it.

duk4me · Feb 2, 2009

EdA said:
There is a vast amount of new information which we, as veterinarians, do not always have the time to absorb and most of us treat multiple species. Veterinarians often learn about new and breed specific disorders from breeder and client inquiries.

I have learned much about the medical and genetic proiblems of Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Great Danes, and Chinese Cresteds from breeder clients.

I don't envy DVM's you are asked to know everything about every animal.

I appreciate it when I talk to my vet and a couple of weeks later he has cked out the Minn site on EIC and has an understanding of it. Especially when he has only two to three max Lab clients.

You guys and gals don't get the credit ya'll deserve.

Katie Minor · Feb 2, 2009

There are two new articles aimed at Veterinarians in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Assoc.

Go to :

http://www.jaaha.org/

and type in EIC in keywords.

These articles are only available with subscription, but you may have access through a University or library.

EdA · Feb 2, 2009

labdoc said:
Your new retriever breed?

Obviously you did not know that (in addition to being a Labrador Retriever specialist) I am also a Chinese Crested and Havanese specialist....;-)

wdsk · Feb 2, 2009

EdA said:
There is a vast amount of new information which we, as veterinarians, do not always have the time to absorb and most of us treat multiple species. Veterinarians often learn about new and breed specific disorders from breeder and client inquiries.

I have learned much about the medical and genetic proiblems of Newfoundlands, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Great Danes, and Chinese Cresteds from breeder clients.

Excellent point, and I think that everyone can understand that most DVM's will naturally migrate towards keeping current in the areas of vet. medicine that are related to their specialty or specific interest. Our jobs as dog owners is then to communicate well with our vets and seek specialty referral consults when and if needed.

Katie Minor said:
There are two new articles aimed at Veterinarians in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Assoc.

Go to :

http://www.jaaha.org/

and type in EIC in keywords.

These are articles are only available with subscription, but you may have access through a University or library.

Thanks for the reference! Now we can pass this along to our vets who should have easy access.

labdoc · Feb 2, 2009

EdA said:
Obviously you did not know that (in addition to being a Labrador Retriever specialist) I am also a Chinese Crested and Havanese specialist....;-)

Great I can send those to you now that I know a specialist. You can put me on your referral list for Tibetan Mastiffs and Chinooks.

Duk4me, you want to move to Colorado? I need some more clients like you who know I can't know everything about every breed, but try to do my best. I'll pay relocating fees.

Vets and EIC Continuing Education

wdsk

Kris Hunt

RemsBPJasper

firehouselabs

YardleyLabs

firehouselabs

Mike Peters-labguy23

Fowl Play WA

HeavenSent

Mike W.

labdoc

EdA

copterdoc

labdoc

ErinsEdge

duk4me

Katie Minor

EdA

wdsk

labdoc

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