This was not my vet. It was a male pet pup, diagnosed at 7 months old by their own vet. I discussed with my vet (a breeder) and she agrees with all of you. No reason to retire a great girl based on this one occurrence. Still trying to sort out how to handle the pup. I have offered to take him back, but they don't want to give him up. So, we are working on a solution. Thank you all for your input.
I got one girl with ectopic ureter out of my lines which go now to the 5th generation. In all these years and after several litters, she has been the only one with EU. I didn't breed the pair together again or the affected female. Yes, it is considered genetic, so the vet is not wrong when he gives that advise. It is up to the breeder to take the risk.
Over the years, I have had 3 puppies with ectopic ureters. Two made it through and one was lost at 3 weeks. The two that made it also had the surgery to correct it.
I was told years ago that it only came down through the dam, but new info states that it is a recessive, so both parents need to carry the gene.
These pups were from three different sets of parents, but the same line on the bitch side.
excerpt from the link above (a golden retriever article...but still relates):
'The ectopic ureter defect is suspected to be a recessive trait, needing both partners to produce the defect. It is also speculated that there may be 5 or 6 genes involved making it a polygenetic condition. For 30 years, breeders have tried to trace the defect in the pedigree lines and most agree that the condition goes back to several kennels in the UK around the 1930s to 1960s. Because the early suspect carriers were mostly Champions and all popular breeding dogs, it is believed that the early carriers may be behind the entire Golden Retriever population. Only through DNA testing will be able to determine if a dog is a carrier of genes that can lead to ectopic ureter.
Think of it like a 1,000 piece puzzle. A puppy is made up of those 1,000 pieces (genes) and there are 6 pieces missing. As long as the 6 missing pieces are not in the puzzle, the puppy is fine. However, if the parents together have the 6 missing pieces and the puppy gets those pieces then they are "affected" which results in the defect. It's rather like a game of Russian Roulette as genes are carried by all ancestors and the current parents can be made up of any of the ancestors from the past hundred years.'
