Echocardiogram

I’m trying to find vets who can perform echocardiogram (heart screening) for my dog for breeding purposes. Could you please advice if this can be done in a vet practice or do i need to go though a referral programme. Also, what is the average cost of such test? I’m located in Oxfordshire, but can travel anywhere in UK. Thank you in advance

Hello - I am very encouraged to get your e-mail.  This touches a contraversial issue and this individual vet has views that may seem extreme within our profession.  I think it is unethical to knowingly breed animals of extreme conformation (i.e. that are obviously more likely to be born with a particular defect than most of the population), in order to preserve a feature that will make the dog more 'saleable.'  For example, that we shouldn't be selecting for dogs with 'baby eyes' positioned on the front of their heads, if we know that this will make them more likely to develop a painful condition called dry-eye.  However, the reality is that most of the official breeds and most 'designer crosses' have some predisposition to a particular illness.  The mainstream opinion appears to be to accept that dog breeding for certain shapes happens (even though most dogs are not employed to the use that they were 'bred for'), and thereby to introduce schemes that curb extremes of damage to the health of the pet where possible.

You don't tell me what sort of dog we are talking about here, nor what condition you are concerned about.  The kennel-club has a screening programme for mitral valve defects in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCSs) and if you are considering breeding a CKCS, I woud certainly consider this to be a minimum as far as screening is concerned.  However for any breed, I think that it is sensible to visit your vets, talk about the family history as your understand it, ask what inherited defects they woud be most worried about for your dog (for many breeds this wouldn't be a heart problem), express a desire for help to make very careful decisions in breeding pups that are as healthy as possible and to ask your vet for suggestions.  This, in my opinion, should be the future of dog breeding.