When it comes to diagnosing genetic conditions in dogs (or in humans), doctors use a variety of clues. One of those clues may not necessarily be what the physical symptoms are, but when did the physical symptoms start happening. Today’s blog focuses on the when, not the what, of genetic diseases. Although the when of genetic disease does not exclude the importance of what; when will be today’s topic. Now that I’ve thoroughly confused you and you may be thinking about the old slapstick comedy routine “Who’s on First” by Abbot and Costello, let’s get started.
“Congenital” is a term that often floats around the medical community when discussing disease symptoms. It simply means “present at birth”. This complicated word comes from the Latin root “congenitus”, which literally means “born together with”. Con – with; genitus – to bear, or beget. If a symptom or group of symptoms is seen right when a pup is born, it is congenital. When making a diagnosis of an inherited genetic condition, knowing the symptoms are congenital can shorten the list of what genetic condition may be the cause. Only recently has canine ...