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  Discussion on Cataract in broodmare prosect
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 11, 2000 - 11:44 pm:

I had a filly born this spring with a cataract that my vet says involves her entire lens and has caused total blindness on that one side. It's been with her since the first day. She is a very well-bred filly and I had planned to keep her as a broodmare prospect. My question is, is a cataract inheritable? Also, if the eye appears stable now, with no other damage or infection, is there any reason to believe it will cause problems in the future?

Posted on Monday, Jun 12, 2000 - 9:40 pm:

There does seem to be lines of horses that have more problems with cataracts, so it is possible this is genetic. Sometimes eyes with remarkable deformities have problems with fluid balance or inflammation that may result in glaucoma or the opposite: loss of pressure in the eye. I know of no way to predict which will and won't however.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 31, 2000 - 9:45 pm:

Joyce,
May I ask what breed your filly is? In my humble opinion, it is POSSIBLE, depending on the bloodline, that the cataract was brought on by the presence of 2 ASD (anterior segment dysgenesis) genes, which is inheritable. In which case, breeding her to a solid black horse (to date, blacks are thought to NOT be carriers of an ASD gene) would preclude an offspring from inheriting 2 ASD genes, and therefore, demonstrating full ASD traits, of which cataracts are a symtom. However, I am sure any good vet would recommend researching her bloodlines and other possible causes before making a judgement. If the scenario I described is correct, breed very, very selectively, and only if she has much to add to her progeny. In my humble opinion...
RKaren

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2000 - 2:39 pm:

Hello All,
Though ASD can rarely have cataracts associated with it, this would be an atypical presentation. There should also also be changes in the anterior segment that accompany the cataracts and the problems bilateral. For those interested is ASD we have a good article by Dr Ramey on the subject at: The Horseman's Advisor: Equine Diseases: Eye Diseases: Forum: Eye cyst problems in rocky mountain horses/chocolate.

Though researching the blood lines is a good one, I think I would not recommend the rebreeding of this horse no matter what those findings. This could be genetic, completely recessive, but not have symptoms evident in the immediate family.
DrO
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