A patellar luxation, a “slipping” or “dislocation” of the kneecap, can be inherited, acquired during the growth phase or caused by injury.

Benign familial juvenile epilepsy in the Lagotto Romagnolo is a form of epilepsy that occurs specifically in this dog breed. Epilepsy is frequently identified in humans, usually caused by various causes such as tumors, trauma, strokes and neurodegenerative diseases. However, epilepsy can also be a disease in its own right, in which case it is caused by a genetic mutation. These genetic epilepsy syndromes are the most common neurological diseases in dogs, and in some breeds they are even 10 times more common than in humans. JE in the Lagotto Romagnolo is an identified disease, with a first report available in 2002. The gene that causes the disease was discovered in 2007 as part of a study at the University of Helsinki.

Lysosomal storage disease (LSD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disease that currently only affects the Lagotto Romagnolo. It is a relatively newly discovered disease. Its genetic background was investigated and discovered in a collaboration between the University of Helsinki and the University of Bern.

What

Hyperuricosuria or hyperuricemia is a change in purine metabolism that occurs from birth. Normally, dogs excrete allantoin as the end product. Dogs that are homozygous for the mutation in the SLC2A9 gene excrete significantly less allantoin and more uric acid (hyperuricosuria). Just as in urine, the uric acid content in plasma is 2 to 4 times higher than in healthy dogs (hyperuricemia). Since uric acid is less soluble in water than allantoin, higher amounts in urine can lead to crystal formation, resulting in the formation of bladder stones, which often have to be removed surgically.

In the early years of breeding, isolated cases of short-haired, different-looking puppies were repeatedly reported. This phenomenon was and still is very rare and is more of a cosmetic nature. Short-haired Lagotti are by no means sick, they just look very different from the normal, curly Lagotto Romagnolo. The short hair is not immediately apparent at birth, but only becomes apparent as the puppies grow. At the age of 7-8 weeks, however, the puppies can be distinguished from their curly siblings by their unusually short coat, especially on the head, ears and legs. Adult animals usually have longer feathers on the body, ears and tail, but the face and legs are short-haired. These dogs have a normal coat change and shed. Externally, the short-haired Lagotti look more like a Münsterländer.