Our tests were all approved so we will be starting with CERF and OFA Patellar Luxation as our Required Tests.  Our Optional but Suggested Tests are OFA Hip Dysplasia, OFA Legg Perthes (minimum of 12 months), Thyroid and Cornell DNA Bank (blood).

This is a very positive move for the future and the health of our breed.

Yorkie CHIC Page Link
http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/brdreqs.html?breed=YT

CHIC Yorkies Page Link
http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/results.html?submit=Begin&breed=YT

YTCA Health Committee
Barbara Bedsted
Sharon Griffin
Rob Lyon
Crystal Messersmith
Nick Valenti

Five Yorkies have qualified for CHIC numbers retroactively.  Congratulations Crystal and Lisa!

    Paradise Stolen Jewel
    Paradise Undersea Mystery both owned by Crystal and Tim Messersmith

    Settled Justin Time
    Sir Kodie Lucapher Peterson
    Ch. Tip Top Come Fly With Me owned by Lisa Farmer

The Yorkshire Terrier Club of America is pleased to announce they are
helping to "raise the bar" in the fight against canine disease. The
Officers and Board of Directors recently voted to support the funding
of the following grants that will be matched by the AKC Canine Health
Foundation for a total of $21,000.

$2,500 for Grant No. 908 Serotonin Type 2A Receptor Antagonist
Therapy for Preventing the Progression of Myxomatous Mitral Valve
Disease.

$1,000 for Grant No. 1160-A Development of Contract-Enhanced Magnetic
Resonance Angiography for the Diagnosis of Congenital Vascular Liver
Disease in Dogs.

$7,000 for Grant No. 963 Genotyping Small Breed Dogs with
Portosystemic Vascular Anomalies and Microvascular Dysplasia, Sharon
A. Center, DVM, Cornell University.

These grants will help improve the health of the Yorkshire Terrier.
They were peer reviewed for methodology and significance with a focus
on keeping costs at a minimum. They have received appropriate
scientific scores ranging in categories from intellectual quality to
the overall merit of the study. Funds for these grants come from the
YTCA Donor Advised Fund.

Robert Owen, Secretary
Yorkshire Terrier Club of America

Dear Ms. Bedsted, 

I am writing to you because I see on the YTCA website that you are the chairperson of the YTCA health committee. I want to let you know of a finding that we have made recently at OptiGen through our research/free testing program. 

A Yorkshire Terrier that was diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) was sent to us for free testing and we have found that the cause of that PRA is prcd-PRA.  This particular Yorkshire comes from a line of champions and so I am concerned that prcd-PRA may be present to a significant extent in the breed.  I have spoken with the owners of the affected dog to let them know that we will add Yorkshire Terriers to the list of breeds that can make use of OptiGen DNA testing. 

This will allow them to test their line for any Carriers and to prevent the production of any prcd-Affected offspring in their future breedings. In looking at the CERF statistics, I see the PRA is not that uncommon in Yorkshires --2-4% of the Yorkshires that were examined between 2000-2005 were diagnosed with PRA. 

Although it is never a happy day when a hereditary disease is identified in one's beloved breed, I am hopeful that breeders will recognize what a great advantage it is to have a DNA test immediately available to detect any carriers of the disease in the population.  There is information on our website about prcd 
http://www.optigen.com/opt9_test_prcd_pra.html

Also, I would be very happy to answer any questions or discuss this finding anytime. 
Best Regards, Sue PK 

--
Sue Pearce-Kelling 
President and Manager, OptiGen, LLC 
Cornell Business & Technology Park 
767 Warren Road, Suite 300 
Ithaca, NY 14850 
www.optigen.com 
ph:  (607) 257-0301 
fax: (607) 257-0353

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