English Cocker Spaniel: health-screening sources

Key facts

Statement dated

23 June 2021 [source]

Core areas

Hips, prcd-PRA and patellas [source]

Additional structure

Two elective items from the listed options [source]

The June 2021 recommendation has a structured list

The English Cocker Spaniel Club of America’s statement names hip evaluation, prcd-PRA DNA testing and patellar evaluation. It then asks for two elective tests from a list including thyroid evaluation, familial nephropathy DNA testing, BAER, specialist eye examination, adult-onset neuropathy DNA testing, EIC and acral mutilation syndrome testing. This is not the same as saying every elective is required, nor that any two tests chosen from an unrelated commercial panel satisfy the club’s guidance. The actual elective names and resulting documents matter.

The list mixes observed function and inherited variants

BAER assesses auditory response, while a specialist eye examination records observable ocular findings. The prcd-PRA DNA result concerns a particular inherited variant and cannot establish hearing status or replace an examination of the eyes. Likewise, familial nephropathy and adult-onset neuropathy are separately named testing topics rather than different spellings of one generic clearance. Keeping the method beside each result helps a reader understand why the parent club offers a range of additional evidence. A test package’s advertised number of conditions is less informative than whether the relevant named assays and clinical assessments appear.

Scope and identity are more useful than a health-tested label

This is ECSCA guidance for English Cockers, not the American Cocker breed’s separate parent-club statement. It concerns documented screening and should not be read as a guarantee for all working and show lines. Retain each parent’s permanent identity, hip and patellar reports, actual prcd-PRA result and the particular elective records supplied. If the file contains an eye certificate, its date and findings matter; if it contains a hearing record, the individual ears matter. A veterinarian can then discuss the evidence in relation to the particular dog rather than treating completion of a source list as an individual diagnosis or assurance of future health.

Common questions

Sources & further reading

References for this guide. Rules and services can change; check the responsible organisation for current details.

• English Cocker Spaniel parent-club health statement (opens in a new tab)
• OFA: Companion Animal Eye Registry scope (opens in a new tab)
• OFA: congenital deafness and BAER (opens in a new tab)

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