New Moon Pomeranians

~Health Concerns~

Home // Our Poms // New Moon's Future // Health Concerns

The Breed Standard // American Pomeranian Club // Webrings // E-Mail Us

Like all breeds, Pomeranians are do have health concerns. The most common are:

Luxating Patellas - The patella (knee) luxates (pops out of place), either in a medial or lateral position. Bilateral involvement is most common, but unilateral is not uncommon. A grade 1 or grade 2 luxation should not affect the dog's wellbeing or quality of life, but a grade 3 or grade 4 is serious and may cause the dog to carry the limb, or the move in a crouched position.

Hypothyroidism - Autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common cause of primary hypothyroidism in dogs. The disease has variable onset, but tends to clinically manifest itself at 2 to 5 years of age. Dogs may be clinically normal for years, only to become hypothyroid at a later date. The marker for autoimmune thyroiditis, thyroglobulin autoantibody formation, usually occurs prior to the occurrence of clinical signs. Therefore, periodic retesting is recommended. The majority of dogs that develop autoantibodies have them by 3 to 4 years of age. Development of autoantibodies to any time in the dog’s life is an indication that the dog, most likely, has the genetic form of the disease. Using today's technology only a small fraction of false positive tests occur. As a result of the variable onset of the presence of autoantibodies, periodic testing will be necessary. Dogs that are negative at 1 year of age may become positive at 6 years of age. Dogs should be tested every year or two in order to be certain they have not developed the condition. Since the majority of affected dogs will have autoantibodies by 4 years of age, annual testing for the first 4 years is recommended. After that, testing every other year should suffice. Unfortunately, a negative at any one time will not guarantee that the dog will not develop thyroiditis.

Black Skin Disease - A coat loss problem also known as SHLS (Severe Hair Loss Syndrome) (occurs mainly in males). They may have profuse puppy coats with no guard hairs, which does not shed. When the puppy coat sheds, the coat does not grow back. Another version of the same condition happens at a later age, with a normal appearing coat that slowly starts to thin.

Collapsing Tracheas - If your Pom sounds like they are coughing up a hairball, the problem may very well be a collapsing trachea. This can be diagnosed with a X-ray and usually medication is prescribed to reduce coughing which should help a great deal. This can be life-threatening so please do not ignore it, get your Pom the to Veterinanrian right away!

Congenital Heart Disease - Congenital heart diseases in dogs are malformations of the heart or great vessels. The lesions characterizing congenital heart defects are present at birth and may develop more fully during perinatal and growth periods. Many congenital heart defects are thought to be genetically transmitted from parents to offspring; however, the exact modes of inheritance have not been precisely determined for all cardiovascular malformations. Heart problems can range from very slight to life threatening. Some are impossible to diagnose until a sudden death occurs.

Hypoglycemia - It is more common in very small or very active puppies. Be sure that your breeder gives you complete instructions on how to determine if your puppy is starting to develop hypoglycemia. It is a problem that the puppy outgrows as it matures. Adult hypoglycemia is a serious metabolic disorder, those who have this should not be bred.

Eyes - Heritable eye disease.

OFA's Website & CERF's Website

Be sure that the puppy you buy is out of parents who are both OFA tested (cardiac, patellas) as well as CERF normal.

A note on OFA Cardiac testing: Though a practitioner (Veterinarian) vcan pick up some of the more severe murmurs, it is recommend that a cardiologist be consulted for full body auscultation.