NKs health

What I have read NKs are supposed to be quite healthy breeds. What kind of healthy issues your NKs have had? Ife has had UTI, once inflammation of uterine, nasal mites and abouth month ago she had sleep in the corner of the eye (hope this is the word I mean). I think our cold and dry winter weather caused it because it has stopped now.

Do you know any hereditary diseases on NK? I have heard that one Kai has a glaucoma.
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Comments

  • For my Kais: Dandruff!!!

    I think Shibas tend to have the most health problems, but there are also so many more of them.
  • Not too many health issues for my Kishus. Taro had really bad ear infection which made his ears floppy, Riki has had about 8 different areas stitched up due to injuries during hunting and a bit of dandruff, Koyuki has ring worms, Yuki #1 has had no health issues what so ever.

    I really think the medium sized NK has very few known genetic illnesses but correct me if I'm wrong. I know in Japan, heart worm is one of the leading deaths for NK due to the crazy amount of mosquitos. In some of my old NK books, it shows the extremes of heart worm infestation in NK. I'm sure not as bad now since there are more vaccines available on the market.
  • Lots of issues! My shibas are hypothyroid, and while that is common enough in Akitas, it hasn't been studied so much in Shibas, but I suspect it is much more common than people think.

    I would guess Akitas have the most health problems (and higher numbers) but I'm thinking of American and Japanese Akitas together, not just the Akita Inu.

    My Akita has a mild case of micropthalmia, which is a genetic eye disorder. Cataracts and glaucoma also show up, and I believe those have a genetic component as well.

    Hip dysplasia and luxating patellas (the latter esp. show up in shibas). Both my Shibas have very mild LPs. No HD, though, luckily!

    Other health issues that come to mind:

    I just read that there is a genetic predisposition to bloat in larger breeds (which would include Akitas--it's unfortunately common enough in them). I hope never to have to deal with this! My neighbor's great pyrenees got it and we simply couldn't get him in the car...he was so heavy...and by the time we got help (the fire dept. came), it was too late, and he died on the way to the vet. It was awful!



  • edited December 2010
    Shibas are prone to allergies. My Mitsu doesn't have them (and hopefully won't develop them). According to my vet, chicken is the allergy she sees the most in shibas, but I know on the shiba forum there are shibas that are allergic to grains, grass, and I think there's even a shiba that is mildly allergic to human dander, if I recall correctly...

    Eta: oops, I missed the hereditary aspect. Not sure how genetics come into play with allergies...
  • My byb Shiba girl has an autoimmune disease and is allergic to human dander, but she is managed well on meds and diet.
  • I'm not gonna list all of the health issues we have seen in our NK over the years, but I will say this: The NK breeds are pretty healthy.

    The more popular the breed the more health issues seem to exist in that breed. So you will see that the Akita and the Shiba have more issues than the Shikoku, Kai, Hokka, and Kishu, but generally speaking, all the NK breeds are pretty healthy dogs.

    All one needs to do is own a molosser-type breed or toy breed to see just how health the NK breeds are relative to the rest of dogdom.

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  • Those of you with Akita (now or previous) have filled out this health survey from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, right?

    http://www.offa.org/surveys/survey_akita.html

    My Taiwan-born Shiba is hypothyroid. That's all we've got so far, but it's enough to deal with, combined with his allergies. =P
  • Yeah, I know Akitas and Shibas has the biggest problems. Hopefully we Kai, Kishu, Shikoku and Hokkaido breeders could do some collaboration in breeding and try to avoid same problems :).

    I'm so paranoid with every healthy problems because my English Springer Spaniel was so allergic. That's why I wanted quite healthy breed.
  • My two Shibas both have allergies. Bella is highly allergic to grain and has some inhalant allergies (dust, pollens, grasses). Nola is allergic to chicken and pork (both cooked, never tried raw with her).

    Nola also has hip dysplasia, but so far we have been able to deal with that without having to have surgery.

    But on a whole... They are both pretty healthy dogs. They are hardy, enjoy all types of climate and generally do not cause me much grief. Other than my accident prone Nola, I rarely have to go to the vet for anything other than routine stuff. :)
  • What health test would you stipulate for breeding dog? And is there any compulsary test what you need to do before you get pedigree for a litter? I have done every possible test for Ife which I think are important (hips, eyes, knees and elbows) and I would like to do heart auscultation, liver test and x-ray her back (but my vet though they aren't necessary). In Finland there isn't compulsary test for Kais but for many other breed we have. And how important you consider these healthy test for breed like Nihon Kens which are supposed to be quite healthy?
  • Rakka had a benign cyst on her neck that was removed, and Brad's Ahi (Rakka's littermate) had a cyst near her uterus, I think... Brad can clarify that one for me. @brada1878 Cysts are pretty random, though, so it may have been a coincidence.

    She's also been stitched up plenty of times just for hurting herself, and it seems to me that shikoku are prone to getting themselves into trouble, although Rakka's becoming more sensible with age.

    Sosuke's testicles are taking forever to descend, and from what I can gather, that's not too uncommon for kai.
  • I don't think Ahi had a cyst, but she did have a mineralization on her small intestine which caused a blockage. It was found and removed during her spay. She also had chronic vaginitis, Luxating Patella in both legs and shoulder issues.

    Mochi was the one with the ovarian cyst.

    Loa had Luteal Ovarian Cysts.

    @hondru - Yes, late dropping testicles seems to be a common issue in the Kai Ken, and in our imports it seems extra common in the lines that come down from a female named Taka (via Eishin and Mako). I have not decided how concerned I am as it doesn't seem to cause issues with reproduction - but, technically, if testicles are not fully dropped by 8 weeks it is considered a Cryptorchid (but not a retained testicle).

    We'll wait and see how it plays out, obviously it's not optimum, but I think a certain amount of open-mindedness needs to be used when judging imported preservation stock (opposed to stock produced by and kept for a breeding program).

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  • Koda's balls didn't drop until he was like 3 1/2 months old maybe 4. My vet was not worried at all. However I think he was concerned with how obsessed I was. Lol
  • Should one test for thyroid issues?
  • All NK should be tested for thyroid issues? Maybe we should have a list of issues that should be tested for for each breed, listed in order of importance (or prevalence).
  • We test all of our NK for Thyroid issues. So far all of our Kai and Shikoku are good, but Kaia (Shiba) and several Akita have had issues.

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  • Thanks for the advice for the Thyroid test. Have to make appointment for Ife for that test. And about the testicals. I had problems to find them at first because they were so tiny! But the vet in Japan had found them and then my own vet too. I think you shouldn't worry them too much until he is six months old. And the list idea is very good.
  • Well, I can still only feel Kyuubi's right testicle. No left yet! Or maybe I wasn't searching hard enough for them? lol Only time will tell!
  • So far my Shikoku seem pretty healthy with the exception that Shoushuu has an allergy to chicken (with possible allergy to all varieties of fowls) but nothing life-threatening it just makes his super skin itchy (specifically his hind right foot).


    Oh and...the motion sickness kinda sucks too...once we have a more established breeding stock...if at all possible, I'd love to breed away from the motion sickness, lol. I've been labeling this as "Stomach Sensitivity" as a potential health concern in Shikoku Ken.
  • I know there are more than just my Kaiya (Kai) with heart murmers. I dont know what kind of testing has been done on any of the others, but Kaiya has seen a cardiologist and has a Valvular Septal Defect (hole in her heart). While it is not life threateneing at this time, she would never be bred.

    She also seems to have pretty weak tendon/ligaments in her hind legs, but that might be an activity specific issue. She likes to run on slippery surfaces (or anywhere really)
  • I think murmers can be diagnose by simple heart listening and if the vet hears any murmur then get a referral to cardiologist. Maybe I add the heart test also to our list because it's so simple operation. May I ask from which kennel Kaiya is? I remembered that Ife had some heart murmers when she was 16 weeks old but when she was 20 weeks old the vet didn't hear them anymore.
  • edited May 2011
    Whether the tests are required or not, I think they're pretty important to do before breeding, so yeah, I'd say the basic tests: hips/knees/elbows/eyes. Thyroid. Check for heart murmur. Of course we all know stuff can still come up, but it seems important to me to try to get the odds better for healthy pups by doing the basic tests at least. And then the hard part for breeders must be then NOT breeding dogs if they have health issues, or if they show up in a litter. I keep thinking about how devastating it must be to find out after the puppies are born that there was an unexpected genetic issue (like my boy's micro, which shows up from recessive genes, so would be hard to predict til it happens).

    eta: thyroid problems are SO common in Akitas/Shibas that I would be really surprised if they weren't also showing up in other NK just un/under diagnosed.
  • I got Kaiya from Peggy...Mom is Peggy's dad is Marsha's. She was available because of the murmur and we fully knew about it before we even met her. We just had to see the cardiologist to figure out what was causing it. Her life is not affected at all at this point and hopefully never will be. She can still be her doggy self and run romp play and go full force all the time. A puppy with a murmur is not uncommon and a lot of times, they do outgrow it. I dont know that testing for anything heart related is necessary since it can be heard in just a routine exam if present.
  • Just though to raise this topic if there has showe up any new diseases. So far I think we can list for Kais murmur, epilepsy, glaucoma and megaesophagus. And do I remember right that few years ago there was one PRA case also?
  • I tried using the search and didn't find anything (maybe my search skills fail), so I hope it is okay to post my question here. If there is a thread that exists that for some reason I missed, please let me know. :)

    Previously during one of Meitou's vet visits (around 11 or 12 weeks old) the vet checking him said his testicles were normal (both could be felt). I had to take him in to the vet today and during the vet's check for testicles at first the vet couldn't find either testicle, but eventually was able to find the left one and after a lot of feeling (poor Meitou, hahaha) he could just barely find the right testicle. So Meitou is now under watch for potential cryptorchidism. From what I've been reading, I'm not sure if there is a certain time frame to know if he is considered crypto or not. He is currently 18 weeks, almost 19 weeks old. My vet wants to keep an eye on it and see how things develop, so I was wondering if there is a general consensus on around what age it is usually determined if a puppy is cryptorchid and should be neutered? @brada1878 @TheWalrus @lindsayt
  • I don't know an exact cutoff date. Some are very slow to fully descend, and I have heard of people waiting as long as 9 months. I would be worried if a Shiba was 4ish months old and not fully descended, but that's Shibas and the size difference probably makes a difference. Sometimes being in new places and being handled by strangers can cause the testies in young dogs to retract into the body, so a more accurate result would be to routinely check young male dogs when they are relaxed or at home, once a week or so during the growth spurts especially. It isn't uncommon for a young dog to retract testicles during a big growth spurt. Doing daily checks and massaging them down into the sack during these times may be worth while.
  • edited June 2013
    As someone mentioned, comparing my nk to my chihuahua is like night and day! Toy breeds are pretty sickly and my Shiba and Kai are both extremely healthy. Shiba only had one problem before I got her with an allergic reaction to her annual shots, but she hasn't had this problem since I got her almost 3 years ago. My chi has many problems though. Knee issues, poor eyesight and hearing, extreme food allergies, outdoor allergies, seizures, dewclaws that are regularly infected from licking, anxiety (in the form of codependency and licking my floors and furniture constantly), and hair loss. I love her dearly, but I'm sticking with nk from here on out. Much healthier and just as lovable! :)

    Edit: my chi also cannot be flea treated due to seizures and her allergy to every topical treatment on the market. Did I also mention she has extreme reactions to her annual shots and may not be able to tolerate them any more? And her dental made her sick for days afterwards (I thought she was dying!), but it doesn't matter how clean her teeth are, they're falling out anyways. She's only 6 1/2!!!
  • "gubernaculum" - wow! what a word! A good link, Shigeru, thanks.
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