Comparison Charts - Hereditary Diseases

There are four Comparison Charts on the Hereditary Diseases which are available as a pdf on this link (opens in new page) Please supply the link or copy of this document to your Vet.

Chart of Hereditary Diseases

There are four hereditary diseases known to affect the breed that may mimic one another.

DISEASE SYMPTOMS Lab. abnormalities often associated with the Disease
Renal Dysplasia (RD)
Renal dysplasia is a congenital or neonatal disease which causes maldevelopment of the kidneys in utero, or early in life.

more info ...

Increased water consumption

Increased urination (dilute urine)

Poor doer, decreased appetite

Vomiting

Possibly prone to urinary tract infection
Low urine specific gravity

Elevated creatinine and BUN

Small kidneys

Small, hyperechoic kidneys with or without cysts seen via abdominal ultrasound
Protein Losing Enteropathy (PLE)
PLE is usually caused by inflammatory bowel disease or lymphangitis/lymphangiectasia.

In affected Wheatens there is a stimulation of the immune system in the bowel wall.

more info .

Vomiting

Diarrhoea

Weight loss

Ascites, edema, pleural effusion
Note that not all laboratory abnormalities are seen in every case. The most important are indicated by an asterisk.

*Hypoalbuminemia, *Hypoglobulinemia, Hypocholesterolemia, Eosinophilia, Lymphopenia

Protein Losing Nephropathy (PLN)

PLN is difficult to diagnose.

The initial stages of the disease may be mistaken for liver, glandular or other enteric or kidney diseases.

Wheatens with PLN may have serious thromboembolic events before renal failure starts, even before there is increased serum creatinine or BUN.

An abnormality of the glomeruli usually causes PLN.

more info ..

Listlessness/depression

Decreased appetite, vomiting, weight loss

Ascites, edema, pleural effusion

Thromboembolic phenomena and hypertension (less common)

Late - increased water consumption, increased urination

Note that not all of the laboratory abnormalities are seen in every case. The most important are indicated by an asterisk

*Hypoalbuminemia,

Hypercholesterolemia

Elevated MA (Microalbuminuria)

*Elevated urine protein/creatinine ratio

Late - Elevated SDMA, Creatinine, BUN

Addison's Disease
Addison's disease (Hypoadrenocorticism) is the insufficient production and secretion of hormones (glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids) by the adrenal gland cortex.

The clinical signs are often non-specific and can mimic those of multiple other medical disorders.

more info ...

Listlessness/depression

Decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, weight loss

Inability to handle stress

Sudden collapse

Slow heart rate

Decrease in Na/K ratio. (Sodium/potassium ratio)

Low resting cortisol and abnormal ACTH stimulation test

Possibly elevated SDMA, creatinine, BUN

Possibly low urine specific gravity

Further information on all of these diseases can be found in this site: RD, PLE & PLN, Addison's disease, Also the health section of the SCWT Club of America's Website: www.scwtca.org

There are four Comparison Charts on the Hereditary Diseases which are available as a pdf on this link (opens in new page) Please supply the link or copy of this document to your Vet.

RD and PLN - Comparison

Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers who exhibit signs of kidney failure need to have careful diagnosis made, as RD and PLN can be mistaken for each other especially in the later stages of the disease process. The following chart assists with this comparison.

Renal Dysplasia (RD) Protein Losing Nephropathy (PLN)

Usually referred to as Juvenile Renal Disease (JRD). Dogs generally die between the ages of 6 weeks to 3 years.

Milder forms of JRD may be seen in older dogs

Dogs tend to show their illness at 5-7 years old, but onset can be both earlier and later than this.
Dogs drink large amounts of water. Their Urine Specific Gravity (USG) is often low (the urine is dilute). Dogs may not have these symptoms and can usually concentrate their urine until they reach end stage renal failure.
Dogs tend to lose little protein in the urine and the serum albumin usually stays normal. Dogs lose large quantities of protein in the urine, i.e. they have a high urine/protein/creatinine ratio (UPC) and their serum albumin drops.
Dogs eventually have high serum creatinine and Urea (BUN). Dogs generally do not have low albumin or high cholesterol. Dogs may eventually have high serum creatinine and Urea (BUN). Dogs have low albumin readings and high cholesterol (unless they have concurrent PLE, in which the cholesterol may be normal or low).
Severly affected dogs may be born with small, malformed kidneys. Usually have normal sized kidneys until later stages of the disease.
In the renal cortex are microscopic cystic lesions, decreased and immature fetal glomeruli and cystic glomeruli. These fetal changes are abnormal in dogs over 16 weeks of age. Dogs show glomeruli changes, such as glomerulosclerosis and/or glomeruloscleronephritis. They do not have many fetal glomeruli.
Dogs are not usually predisposed to effusions and thromboembolic (clots). Dogs can throw clots, eg in the lung, heart, brain, portal vein or distal aorta (saddle thrombus).

See also Article by Meryl P. Littman VMD DACVM - Differentiating RD from PLN, December 2006 (pdf)