Badania porównawcze górnych dróg oddechowych u norwich terrierów, psów ras brachycefalicznych i mezocefalicznych

Comparative investigations on the upper respiratory tract in Norwich Terriers, brachycephalic dogs and mesaticephalic dogs

Norwich Terriers and Norfolk Terriers are small dogs of between 5 to 8 kg body weight (BW), of common ancestry. In 1906, the lines were separated into tilted eared dogs (Norwich Terriers) and hanging eared dogs (Norfolk Terrier) and finally recognized by the United Kingdom Kennel Club in 1964. The Norwich Terrier Breed standard has been described as having a wide skull with a facial skull one third shorter than the cephalic skull. Although not known to be categorized as a brachycephalic breed, this shortening of the relative length of the nose may be the reason why it is anecdotically described (Suggs, 1995; Maza, 2003; Slater, 2004), that Norwich Terriers suffer from respiratory problems, which are normally summarized under the term brachycephalic syndrome.

The goal of this study was to clinically investigate within a population of Norwich Terrier, if they showed signs of the brachycephalic syndrome and if their skull dimensions allowed them to be classified as a brachycephalic breed.

Material and Methods

Animals

The study population consisted of 3 groups: Norwich Terriers (NW), non-brachycephalic dogs (Non-BC), and brachycephalic dogs (BC). The NW group was composed of 23 dogs between 1 and 13 years of age, 13 males and 10 females with a body weight (BW) of 5.0 to 8.5 kg, which were supplied by the Swiss Norwich Terrier club, The Non-BC group was partly selected from another investigation regarding repeatability of rhinomanometry (8 female beagle dogs, weighing 8.2 to 10.3 kg).

For a part of the study where nostrils were measured, another 22 non-brachycephalic dogs were added to the group. They were presented for surgery unrelated to the respiratory system issues (mainly neutering). The BC-group was composed of 8 client-owned dogs, which had been referred to the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich for surgical corr...