Collie eye anomoly
P>An inherited condition in Rough and Smooth Collies, but also less commonly in Shetland Sheepdogs and Border Collies. Both eyes are affected but not always to the same extent.. It is inherited as a simple recessive gene and is non-progressive

This condition has a number of clinical signs most of which involve faults in the structure of the retina (area in the back of the eye which receives the light images) and therefore are only visible by examination with an instrument called an opthalmoscope. They include chorioretinal dysplasia (areas of the retina without the necessary colouration), colobomata (bulges in the lining of the back of the eye), retinal detachment (retina breaks away inside the eye), bleeding within the eye and corneal edema (clouding on the surface of the eye).
The outcome of CEA depends on the cause and ranges from mildly reduced vision to blindness.

There is no effective treatment for this disease. Based on the findings of the eye examination some dogs may need to be monitored regularly until 1 year of age for complications secondary to CEA.

As this is an inherited condition it is strongly advisable not to breed with affected animals. An examination at 6 weeks of age is used to screen for effected dogs. Because of the type of inheritance of this condition some dogs will carry the genes for CEA without showing any clinical signs.