In a message dated 12/11/2002 11:10:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> My Berner has a preliminary diagnosis of SARDS, sudden acquired retinal > detachment, with the prognosis of being blind, in fact she is pretty close > to that now. They weren't kidding about the sudden! Does anyone know > anything > about this or have personal experience in this area?. As you can guess , we > are devastated! Hi Carol, I'm afraid I can't give you much information on SARD, the two hereditary eye (not the ld) anomolies I'm aware of to any extent at all in Bernese are PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) and some types of cataracts. I can tell you that at the eye clinic conducted in conjunction with our national specialty last spring, (1) case of retinal detachment was tentatively diagnosed by the opthalmologist. As the clinic is only for screening, I believe the owner was referred for follow-up and I don't know what the outcome was. Certainly, losing sight is serious... BUT before you panic, know that most dogs learn to cope with it very well with a little bit of help from their friends (human and canine). And, there's a terrific support network available to help to you help Tobie adjust. Contact Lary Lawson who maintains a website and email list specifically focused on blind dogs, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Also, since we don't know much about SARD, you can help us by sharing here on the L what you learn and by entering Tobie and the final diagnosis in the Berner Garde database (www.bernergarde.org) and the GDC eye registry (contact George Packard at GDC, tool free 877-741-2155 (1-5 PM EST) or email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Both provide information to the research community and to breeders working to reduce the incidence of heritable disease in our Bernese. Please let us know how you make out at the opthalmologist... I imagine you're reeling right now but hopefully the doctor will help with a firm dx and understanding of what's happening. -Sherri Venditti
