Heart failure can have a lot of different causes, one of the causes found in the Welsh Springer Spaniel is Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) caused by a dominant mutation to the gene PLN.
In DCM the heart grows too large and becomes unable to pump blood effectively. Although affected dogs appear generally healthy, they are at risk of sudden death from heart failure, generally between two and three years of age. Examination of cardiac function will reveal ventricular dilatation and arrythmia. While DCM cannot be treated directly, proper medication can support heart function to improve the welfare of affected dogs as long as possible. This variant of DCM can also be prevented by genetic selection of breeding animals, with our CombiBreed DNA test Dilated Cardiomyopathy (PLN) with test number H865.
