# Cerf



## KalaMama (Nov 20, 2009)

So we all know that breeding dogs should have a CERF eye examination. I was looking at a dog on ofa recently and its cerf report said

E1-Lens, punctate cataract *significance unknown

What does this mean? My next question is, what is a good cerf report? Obviously when nothing is found that is good, but what else is acceptable(or not a big deal)?


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## Stargazerpoodles (Dec 27, 2010)

Punctate cateract is a blue spot on the lens of the eye. Not the same as full cateract and is not blinding to the dog. They can see perfectly well, and the spot may never grow. May be caused by injury or genetic, they do not know. 

However, I have seen a particular line of Spoodles who has it, and have seen some get who have had it and other get have not. When looking at breeding to this line, a breeder must judge if this is something they can live with, as it does not cause blindness. Personally, I do not have a problem with it, as it has little affect on the overall health of the dog, but if there were dogs of equal quality to breed to, I would not breed to one with this. Kind of a fine line to walk.

Cerf is a tool to use, one of many, so a breeder can make an informed decision of whom to breed.


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## Paula (Feb 21, 2011)

I had a dog show up with this on his CERF exam. I was surprised, but the VetOp doing the exam expressed her position that it meant nothing and was common, and she had to include it on the report just because she had to include everything on the report. So I don't know . . .


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## 2719 (Feb 8, 2011)

This is from some literature I have on health concerns (I have lots of literature)

CERF Exam
•Step 1:
A CERF exam is used by veterinarians and breeders to track genetic eye diseases in dogs. Breeders will have their dogs pass this test before they sell or breed a dog so that heritable diseases do not continue through their line of dogs. The exam will check on punctate cataracts and will monitor them throughout the progression. 

Dogs with punctate cataracts will usually pass a CERF exam for their eyes, meaning the examiners do not know the significance of the cataract and the dog likely will have to be rechecked in six months to a year to see if there is any progression, unless a cause other than genetics is known by the veterinarian to be the cause of the punctate cataract..

Also, Paula, I forgot to mention since you are a new member like me, if you use the google search bar within this forum it will give you a listing of all threads on the forum that have been discussed. When I first joined I spent countless hours reading older threads and found them to be very educational and enlightening.


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## Paula (Feb 21, 2011)

Perhaps "punctate cataract" was not exactly what my dog had, as the VetOp stated flatly that it should not progress, was not an issue, etc. etc. She said nothing about needing to recheck, although of course he will be rechecked for CERF annually in any event. Will have to check the paperwork for the terminology used - but she described it as a pinpoint spot in the middle of the eye that did not affect vision, so very similar at the very least. I didn't think anything of it because of her attitude that it was nothing to be concerned about either from the dog's individual health or in terms of breeding; she was apologetic that she had to put it on the report! 

Yes, I have been looking at all the threads and lurking around! Much fun.


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