# Health Tests Requirements???



## blkdog (Dec 29, 2014)

Hi,

I have a Poodle and a Havanese and am looking to add a Maltese to our family. A reputable breeder of both the Havanese and Poodle has required testing that should be done on the parent dogs before they are bred as written out in their club standards.

I have spoken to a few Maltese breeders that I found on the American Maltese Association website. When I asked about health testing, they informed me that there is no required health testing on Maltese. Is this true? I find it so hard to believe that reputable breeders of Maltese are not health testing the parent dogs for eye issues, patellas, liver shunts, etc.

Please let me know if I have been misinformed. What if any health testing I can expect reputable breeders to perform.

Thank you so much for your feedback, I want to be diligent in my search for a healthy, well bred Maltese puppy.

Cristine


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## ariamaltese (May 10, 2005)

Hi Cristine.

You have not been misinformed. The breeders that you have contacted are correct. For our breed, Maltese as of todays' date there are no tests that will provide genetic marker information to help a breeder know where to avoid breeding x dog to y dog. 

A breeder can run a basic CBC (blood panel) to help give some baseline information, but even that can be funky b/c our breed tends to run high with bile acid levels (an issue that an be at times of possible shunt). 

As a show breeder of Maltese for nearly 15 years now, I would love to have tests to help us further, but alas, these tests don't exist for us as they do others at this time. Even testing things like Luxating Patella, or CERF can give good results at one age and then later be retested and show adverse results. 

A reputable breeder will provide a guarantee against anything life threatening/congenital - generally for up to a year or more from date of acquisition. Unfortunately, for many breeds this is the best we can offer because the vet. sciences have yet to catch up with our need for more specific tests (and, of course they lack the funding). 

I wish you the best of luck in your search! 

Heidi
Aria Maltese


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

While there are not genetic tests available, we are able to test the phenotype (the expression of the genes) for a few diseases in Maltese. That said very few breeders do this. 

A bile acid assay can be tested to rule out a liver shunt. We know that anything under a value of 25 is normal. The gray zone is the numbers indicating MVD. Regardless it should be important to rule out liver shunts in breeding stock. 

Patellas can be registered with OFA. It is best to do this at a year of age to exclude later injuries. 

The heart can be certified with OFA (just the auscultation for Maltese) to rule out PDA. 

A single ACVO exam can rule out eye lash and eye rim abnormalities.


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## pparrish (Jan 21, 2015)

What is a liver shunt and is that serious?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I liver shunt is when blood bypasses the liver and is not properly filtered. It can be deadly in some cases and easily managed in others.


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