In a previous survey from 1999 of health and
behaviour problems in spaniels, it was found that in
general, the most frequent health problems were related
to the eye, ears and skin. Infections of the eye, ears
and skin problems, such as atopic dermatitis and eczema,
were most common in English Springer Spaniels and Welsh
Springer Spaniels. The Breeding and Soundness Committee
of the Norwegian Spaniel Club (ASU) decided that it was
necessary to get an overview of this problem, as well as
to characterize its type and seriousness. It was also of
interest how it affected the dog-owner relationship and
animal welfare of the dogs. The ESS breed was chosen
because the breed has a sufficient number of
registrations per year (250) to provide a large enough
database for statistical processing.
As a student graduation project at The Norwegian
School of Veterinary Science (NVH) it was decided to
distribute a questionnaire to 500 randomly selected ESS
owners in February 2004. The aim of the study was to
carry out a survey of ear- and skin problems in ESS and
relate these to factors such as, the dog's environment,
grooming, feeding, veterinary care and owner-dog
relationship. The owners who received the questionnaire,
were randomly selected (Microsoft TM Excel) based on
their dog's registration number from the national
register of English Springer Spaniel dogs of the
Norwegian Kennel Club. Dogs that were 7 years old or
younger were selected to minimise the number of dogs
that had died prior to the survey. Chisquare with
continuity correction was chosen as the statistical
model, and results were presented with 95 % confidence
interval. Level of significance was 5 %.
Totally, the response rate was 74 %. The survey
showed, that 37 % of dogs were either currently affected,
or had been affected, by skin problems. A high
prevalence of chronic problems was found. Scaling was
the most common clinical symptom, but the prevalence of
symptoms, such as erythema, hyper-pigmentation, crusts,
wounds and red bumps (papula), was also high. A high
number of dogs were pruritic. The changes of the skin
were most extensive on the dorsum, on the abdomen, on
the skin throat, the axilla, perineum and on the inside
of the thighs, but lips, paws and ear pinnae were also
affected to some extent. The skin problems occurred for
the first time at less than two years of age. They were
more serious during summer and autumn and in hot and
humid weather.
A total of 39 % of the dogs were either currently
affected or had been affected by ear problems. The
majority of these problems were acute infections, but
among dogs with chronic skin problems chronic ear
problems were also prevalent.
Relatively few of the owners were aware of any
information concerning the parents or siblings of their
dogs concerning the prevalence of ear- and skin problems.
Only small and statistically insignificant differences
were found concerning the effect of the dog's
environment, grooming or veterinary care between dogs
with or without ear- and skin problems. An interesting
finding was that dogs that frequently swam or bathed in
saltwater had more acute ear and skin problems than
those that had chronic skin problems and those dogs that
rarely were exposed to saltwater. No statistically
significant relationship was found between the sex of
the dog and ear- or skin problems. Of all dogs 12 % had
been used in breeding.
The majority of owners in this survey did not feel
that the skin or ear problems seriously affected the
welfare of their dogs or influenced their relationship
with the dog. Less than 5 % of owners of dogs that had
died, who responded, had been forced to euthanase their
dog due to serious health problems related to ear- or
skin.
Finally, from the returned questionnaires a few dogs
were selected for a closer characterization of the skin
pathology, and the dogs were examined at the Norwegian
School of Veterinary Science. The majority of those dogs
received the diagnosis atopic dermatitis, some had
seborrea of an either primary or secondary nature. Blood
samples and photos of the skin pathologies were taken to
establish a database on skin problems of the breed. The
remaining part of the study will concentrate on genetic
studies of affected dogs and their relatives.
Acknowledgments: The study was supported by
the Petersborg legacy, established by kind donations by
the late Aase Marie and Peter Petersen. The support of
individual dog owners who completed the questionnaires
is gratefully acknowledged.
Keywords: canine;ES;,questionnaire; ear- and
skin survey; Norway.
