Bedlington-L

The Bedlington Terrier Discussion Group

Copper Toxicosis

Subject:Copper Toxicosis
Sender: dessco1@airmail.net (Dess June)

Copper Toxicosis in the Bedlington Terrier

All dogs, regardless of breed, have some health problems. BedlingtonTerriers, although mostly free of many of the genetic problems facingsome other canines, may be afflicted by a disease called InheritedCopper Toxicosis (ICT). ICT causes the retention of copper in theliver. This copper storage problem becomes acute when the accumulationof copper becomes quite high, resulting in a toxic liver. Copperstorage problems have been diagnosed in a number of other breeds, butthe discussion which follows refers only to the type found in theBedlington Terrier.

Cause:

ICT is caused by a simple recessive gene and manifests itself inclassic Mendellian genetics as “affected”, “clear”, or “carrier”.Affected dogs may show symptoms of the disease as early as two years ofage. ICT is not always fatal and affected animals can live to arelatively old age, depending on treatment, diet, stress, and yet someunknown body chemistry which enables some animals to survive with veryhigh amounts of copper in their liver.

Diagnosis:

How do you tell if your Bedlington is affected? The surestway is a liver biopsy done on a dog not less than a year old. Theveterinarian takes a wedge and sends it to a lab which does an atomicabsorption test or dry weight measure. If the sample contains less than400 parts per million (ppm) of copper, the dog is considered“unaffected” and will not show any signs of the disease. Dogs with 400to 1200 ppm are considered affected ,although they generally won’t showsigns of the disease, but will pass this gene on to their offspring.“Severely affected” is defined as having over 1200 ppm of copper in theliver. Some Bedlingtons have been biopsied and shown to have as much as13,000 ppm of copper in their liver.

Treatment:

The drug of choice is Syprine, or Cupramine(D-Penicillaimine) which is not as easily tolerated. These drugschelate copper and are used by humans affected by Wilson's Disease whichis similar (but not the same) as ICT. If the copper content of theliver is quite low, although the dog may be affected, Zinc Acetate orZinc Gluconate may be used only to hold the level of copper; they arenot chelating agents. Zinc is not recommended for heavily affected dogsuntil the copper level is brought down by the use of Syprine orCupramine.

DNA Testing:

Using liver biopsies done over the years by responsibleBedlington breeders, the University of Michigan’s Department of Geneticsfound a linked genetic marker for ICT in Bedlingtons. If the breeder ofthe dog has done research on their markers and can tell what their“numbers” mean, this is an invaluable tool. Testing is done in theU.S. by VetGen. A simple cheek swab is all that is needed. VetGencannot tell you the status of your Bedlington with this testing; youwill need to find out from the breeder what the “numbers” mean. VetGencan be found on the Web or at 1-800/GoVetGen.

*This letter and information used with permission of Dess June. 8/16/99

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List of Copper Levels in dog foods.

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