The Cocker spaniel club

As with any popular breed of dog, a number of hereditary conditions are occasionally seen in the Cocker Spaniel. The Cocker Spaniel Club has been monitoring the health of the breed for many years to ensure the incidence of these conditions is kept as low as possible.

PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) is an inherited eye disease found in many breeds of dogs with varying ages of onset. There are various types of PRA but the one most commonly seen in Cockers is GPRA (General Progressive Retinal Atrophy) also known as prcd-PRA. This results in night blindness gradually leading to total blindness. In Cockers, PRA has a variable age of onset, from as early as 18 months to as late as 7 years. It is inherited as a simple Autosomal Recessive gene, meaning that a copy of the PRA gene must be inherited from both parents for the disease to occur.