[Ladysmom]

I was reading on the no puppy mills website about genetic diseases in Maltese and was surprised to find out how many eye problems this breed is prone to inherit:

Abnormally growing eyelashes
Blindness
Abnormal draining of tears from overproduction
Glaucoma
Progressive retinal atrophy which leads to night blindness
Retinal dysplasia (malformed retina)

Lady's had her eyes checked once. They even did a glaucoma test. She passed with flying colors which is especially amazing considering she's been a diabetic for more than 3 years. Most diabetic dogs go blind, often in the first few months.

It also listed the other inherited diseases Maltese are prone to, like liver shunts, thyroid disease, white shaker dog syndrome, luxating patellas and a few others.

For anyone who wants to see the whole list (and find out the actual medical terms), here is the link:

http://www.nopuppymills.com/index.php?page=genetics

 

[Ladysmom]

Yes, Lady has a very slight grade 1 heart murmur. Her vet discovered it when I frist adopted her at age 4. Nearly 5 years later it hasn't gotten any worse, thank heavens.

I was also surpised that epilepsy was not on the list. I am amazed at how many Malts I meet in this area that have some sort of seizure disorder. Most aren't as serious as Lady's - many aren't even on medication because they only have a few seizures a year.

I was walking Lady in my mom's neighborhood a few months ago and an older lady stopped to chat. Her friend has a Maltese and she was raving about them, but then she asked me if Lady "had fits" like her friend's dog did!