BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Screening Scheme

For breeds with inherited disease that can be detected soon after birth (congenital and neonatal disease) we would advise you to screen the puppies as part of a litter screening, usually between 6 and 12 weeks of age.

Adult dogs should be examined under the eye scheme before they are used for breeding, this should be carried out within 12 months before mating; especially in the breeds in which inherited eye disease can develop later in life.

A final examination, at reduced cost, should take place in all dogs that have been used for breeding when they have reached 8 years of age.

Eye panellists appointed by the British Veterinary Association can carry out eye tests and can issue certificates under the scheme. Owners make an appointment with one of the eye panellists directly, or through their own veterinary surgeon. Often, breed clubs will arrange for a BVA panellist to attend their shows. This enables many dogs to be examined on one occasion at a reduced rate.

Find a list of health testing clinics near you.

• All dogs must be permanently identifiable by a microchip. Ensure that your contact details are up-to-date on the microchipping database that you registered with 
• Owners of dogs registered with The Kennel Club must have their Kennel Club registration certificate and any related transfer certificates with them at the time of testing to qualify for an eye test under the scheme
• Wherever possible, any previous eye certificates issued for the dog should also be provided

The panellist will examine the dog, issue an eye certificate and inform the owner of the result at the time of examination. Copies of the certificate are distributed to the owner, the owner’s veterinary surgeon, the BVA and the examining eye panellist.

Following consultation with the Eye Panel Working Party, The Kennel Club (KC) and British Veterinary Association (BVA) announced a number of changes to the KC/BVA/International Sheepdog Society (ISDS) Eye Scheme, effective from 1 January 2020.

The following questions and answers are in response to these changes.

1. Why was schedule B removed?

After assessing the format of the scheme the Eye Panel Working Party, which includes representatives from the BVA and The Kennel Club, it was agreed that schedule B no longer served a reasonable purpose. We now have improved ways to more effectively monitor eye conditions in all breeds with the Canine Health Scheme annual sightings report, which has run alongside the scheme for five years now. This provides continual surveillance of the incidence of any new and emerging conditions in any breed, which will assist breeders in making sensible breeding decisions that promote good dog health.

2. Should I still screen my dog for eye conditions if they have been removed from schedule B?

Of course The Kennel Club and BVA encourage routine testing for dogs of any breed, regardless of whether they are used to breed from or not, as any abnormalities will be collated into the annual sightings report. This report will then be reviewed annually by the Eye Panel Working Party, allowing continued monitoring of the incidence of any conditions all breeds. Should there be an apparent prevalence of a particular condition this will be reviewed by the group, and potentially added to a list of inherited eye disease (previously known as schedule A).

3. Do all eye test results of dogs registered with The Kennel Club now appear on the Health Test Results Finder?

Yes. Previously only results of breeds which appeared on either schedule A or B would be published in the Breed Record Supplement or on The Kennel Club's Health Test Results Finder. Now any dog registered with The Kennel Club presented for testing will have the results published encouraging more breeders to test their dogs prior to breeding.

4. How do I know if my breed has being moved onto the list of inherited eye disease (previously known as schedule A)?

The breed health co-ordinators of any affected breeds have been informed about the changes by the health department at The Kennel Club, with the request to share this update with their breed. The information has been posted in relevant health and breeding social media groups, and on The Kennel Club and BVA websites. If you are unsure, please email The Kennel Club health team 

5. What do the panel consider before adding a breed onto the list of inherited eye disease (previously known as schedule A)?

A number of factors are taken into consideration, these may include the number of cases that are seen by the panellists, the number of dogs of that breed that have been examined, the numerical popularity of a breed and the severity or nature of the condition. A breed will only be added if the panellists agree that the condition presents a risk to the health of that breed.

6. How does the sightings report work?

Whenever a BVA panellist spots an eye condition or abnormality they send a report regarding this to a central contact within the BVA. This information is then collated into a report which is reviewed on a regular basis at a meeting of all the Eye Panel Working Party (consisting of eye panellists, the BVA and The Kennel Club) who will discuss the findings. Should the abnormality be apparent in a number of dogs, they will recommend various actions - including further research into the breed or the condition, which may also lead to the breed or its condition being added to the list of inherited eye disease (previously known as schedule A).

7. Is the sightings report available online?

The sightings report is a research document and as such is not readily available outside of the Eye Panel Working Party, but should your breed have a breed health and conservation plan, these reports are included within the evidence base. You can contact your breed health co-ordinator to request a version. The sightings report effectively acts as an early warning system and means that the specialists can fully investigate the condition and its severity and/or its relevance to a breed population over time.

8) Why are test results no longer being referred to as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’, but rather ‘affected’ or ‘unaffected’?

The terms ‘affected’ and ‘unaffected’ have been in use for some time but The Kennel Club is aware that some owners consider health screening results as a straightforward ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ - however, subsequent breeding decisions are rarely that simple. All health screening provides information to breeders to enable them to make sensible breeding choices when selecting which animals to breed from. In the past, a large number of animals may have been excluded from breeding programmes for having a known heredity defect which may actually be of limited significance to the breed - indeed using the knowledge gained from screening, such an animal could contribute significantly to a breed gene pool with no risk of passing the condition on to its offspring. It’s important that breeders consider all aspects of a dog and its health, and the contribution that it could make to a breed when deciding to have a litter of puppies.

For further information on the scheme, please visit the BVA website.

• Breeds and conditions listed on the known inherited ocular disease (KIOD) schedule (previously known as ‘schedule A’) will be recorded as ‘affected’ or ‘unaffected’.
• Dogs that have had a gonioscopy eye exam from July 2017 will have a grade of 0-3 published.
• Any other eye examinations will be recorded on our website and database as either ‘unaffected’ if no observations are found, or ‘observation made – refer to owner’ should any abnormalities be identified (previously recorded as ‘test results with owner’).

Many other potentially inherited conditions are also being assessed and the information gathered from routine eye examinations is collated and analysed from "sighting reports" (completed by the eye panellist). In this way, any emerging inherited condition can be detected early and dealt with properly before it becomes more widespread. Once the inherited nature of the condition has been confirmed it is moved onto a list of inherited eye disease. Similarly if a condition is not noted in the breed for at least five years it may be removed from this list.

For an overview of the scheme and information for your clients, please visit the BVA’s website and view the leaflet on hereditary eye diseases in dogs.

If you have any questions regarding the scheme, please contact them via email.

The names and results of dogs registered with The Kennel Club will be sent to The Kennel Club for recording on our database and will be made available:

• in the next available Breed Records Supplement
• on our Health Test Results Finder
• as an estimated breeding value, to aid owners in selecting lower-risk dogs for breeding within our Health Test Results Finder

Some inherited conditions have such a characteristic presentation that they can be diagnosed with a high degree of certainty on clinical examination. The parallel and complimentary use of DNA tests, when they are available, enables breeders to devise safe breeding programmes for single gene mutations; the challenges are greater with more complex modes of inheritance.

Statistics on the number of dogs examined under the eye scheme and summary results of the examination can be accessed in our eye scheme breed-specific information.