I was interested in a nice male only to find out on the cerf web sight this guy has PPM (Persistent Pupillary Membranes)it sounds like it can or can not be inherited anybody know anything about this?

The opthamologist I take my dogs/puppies to, says PPMs are "nothing", and not to worry about them at all, he says they are not heritable. He is a very highly respected veterinary opthamologist.

Same here, at our last CERF clinic he found them on one of our girls. They were so small that they had been completely missed the year prior. He was very insistent that this should NOT be a concern and should NOT affect her breeding potential. I was fearful that it would be passed on but he insisted that it was not hereditary in Labs and even if it were, the type she has (iris to iris) will not have any effect on vision. We have seen it occur in one puppy but have been told that it will pop up once in awhile and is nothing to worry about. The membrane is there on every puppy's eyes at birth but in some it just doesn't dissolve completely and tiny string like remnants remain.

I wouldn't give it a second though.

my girl had no PPM the first year, a ppm the second year, and no ppm the third. In labradors it is a breeders option. I chose to breed it and the two pups I kept had no PPM's the first time around. I was told in Labradors it is not an issue.

My Opthamalogist has told me on several occassions that PPMs are not an issue for labradors. I have a dog that CERF'd for 4 years with flying colors. On the fifth CERF he has PPMs. Yes, it's a breeder's option and it doesn't bother me if everything else is there.

My stud dog had a PPM (iris to iris) in one eye. He has sired five litters and every pup I have had cerfed has come up clear of PPM. So, in my opinion, they are a storm in a teacup. No problemo!

Some CERF findings are just simply something different - recorded on the CERF form but meaningless in terms of a breeding program. If they don't affect vision in any way and aren't linked to more serious problems, then even if they ARE inherited, they are still meaningless. PPMs are one. I've been told by the eye doc that punctate cataracts are another. There are many others.

CERF requires the doc to record anything "different", and different doesn't always mean disaster. When you get the CERF, ask the doc right then and there, and then if there are any questions when it comes time to breed, you can refer people directly to the doc that saw it.

Had a puppy confirmed with this a few years ago. Cerf'able certainly. My ACVO only recommended that if he was bred, we not breed him to a bitch that had it. I know exactly where it comes from as this particular pups grandam has it.

Is this something that can be seen by looking in a puppy's eye? I have heard someone say they saw what looked like a little white string in the eye of an eight week old pup and wonder if it is this.

About the puppy with it that Kim knows where it came from because puppy's granddam had it - I thought this wasn't hereditary? How can it have come from the granddam if it is not hereditary? Wouldn't it be more likely that it would have just have randomly shown up since it appears to be quite common?

Hereditary? Maybe.
Bad? No.

Conclusion? No big deal.

Just because it's hereditary, doesn't mean it's bad. And vice versa.

Obviously, ya'll know much more about this is in Labradors than I do. And I am interested to know more. But in PBGVs, CERF has always said that it is breeder option on any type of PPM. However, that has just changed. The only type of PPM that will CERF now is iris to iris. They were seeing a great increase in the number of PBGVs with PPM due to breeders using affected dogs. I have a bitch with PPM and bred her to a clear dog( with little in his extended or vertical pedigree) and both puppies had PPM. The sire of the bitch had PPM and many of his offpsring have PPM. So our belief in PBGVs and with my vet opthal. is that it is genetic.
PPMs have never worried me too much, however, CERF is now saying NO instead of breeder option.
Julia

That is exactly what worries me. Even if it is no big deal, it seems to be very common and as soon as CERF decides it is no long a Breeder's Option then a lot of wonderful producers and their pups are not going to be passing their CERF exams. That would take a lot of good dogs out of the gene pool.

Julia - does the PPM cause any vision problems?

Never mind - I just found this interesting site:

http://www.vmdb.org/dx1.html

Thanks for posting this and for the post about PBGVs - now if I get a PPM, I'll ask about whether it's iris to iris or not.