CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation)

CERF provided breed reports on eye screening test results by AVCO (American Veterinary College of Ophthalmologists) certified ophthalmologists until 2011. There was documentation about passing CERF exams and a research report that listed heritable and possibly heritable eye diseases, and breeder recommendations.  The most common heritable eye problem over the years has been juvenille cataracts. Since there is variable age of onset for this problem in the younger dog, it was strongly recommended by CERF that breeding dogs have yearly CERF eye exams from age 1 to age 5 or 6.  That is also the BCCA recommendation for breeding dogs.  CERF ceased operation in 2014 and the Veterinary Medical Database, which hosted the CERF information was taken on by OFA.  These links have data from the CERF records.

• Eye disorders and screening in sires & dams of litter listings, Linda Aronson, DVM & Elsa Sell, MD
• Early CERF Statistics on Heritable Eye Disorders, Elsa Sell, MD

NEW.  OFA Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER)

• • • Heritable eye disorders (AVCO Blue Book 2021, p 146)
      

      Disorder	Inheritance	Breeding Advice	Genetic Test Available
      Distichiasis	Not defined	Breeder option
      Corneal dystrophy	Not defined	Breeder option
      Persistent pupillary membranes iris to iris	Not defined	Breeder option
      Cataract	Not defined	NO
      Y suture tip opacity	Not defined
      Retinal dysplasia – folds	Not defined	Breeder option
      Collie Eye Anomaly (Choroidal Hypoplasia)	Autosomal recessive	NO	Mutation in the NHEJ1 gene

    • Most common eye disorders in Beardies

  Diagnosis	1991-2016 Total # 3,877	2017-2021 Total # 439
  	# (%)	# (%)
  Cataract, suspect not inherited/significance unknown	391 (10.1%)	48 (10.9%)
  Persistent pupillary membranes (PPM), iris to iris	148 (4.1%)	19 (4.3%)
  Retinal dysplasia, folds	52 (1.3%)	4 (0.9%)
  Punctate cataract, anterior cortex	51 (1.3%)	20 (4.6%)
  Corneal dystrophy	49 (1.3%)	6 (1.4%)
  Incipient cataract, anterior cortex	40 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)

  • List of disorders ineligible for CAER certificate
  • OFA statistics for the Bearded Collie
    • Rank – 87
    • # Exams – 897
    • Normal % – 94.3
    • Abnormal % – 5.7
  • OFA eye certified Beardies  – 2010-2022
    • CERF – # 452
    • CEA – # 41
    • PRA – # 7