B/W Border Collie with One Blue Eye - Genetic Problem and Prone to Cancer?

[JamieL]

Hello everyone,

I saw that most of your B/W Border Collies have both brown eyes but rarely one blue, one brown. And most of them live a longer life (12 years up).

I recently lost my soul mate, a B/W Border Collie boy who was only 10.5 years old, to nasal cancer. He had always been healthy but April this year he suddenly bleed from one of his nostrils. That was how we knew he had nasal cancer. I poured all my savings for his treatments but cancer still took him away after merely 4 month from diagnosis. I'm devastated and can't stop thinking about the reason why he got such a cruel and aggressive cancer. Was it the food I fed him? Was it the environment? or was it genetic? As his cancer was found exactly on his blue eye side. At his finally days a lump grew on top of his head and it eventually reached his blue eye.

I see that blue eyes usually appear in merle Border Collies and I also read that two merles shouldn't be bred together because of some genetic issues? Could my boy have something like that? I'm not familiar with this so I would like to get any advises from you.

Thank you very much.

Jamie

[Lawgirl]

Hi JamieL,

The dog in my profile picture was my boy Oscar.  He had one blue eye and one brown.  I lost him very suddenly and very young to sepsis at age seven years.

I have another border collie Shadow, who is a tricolour with one blue eye and one part brown, part blue eye.  He is Oscar's nephew.  Shadow is now seven years old, and although he has hip dysplasia, he otherwise is healthy.

Different colour eyes are more common in merles but not unknown in other colours also.

Blue eyes used to be associated with an increased risk of deafness, but I think more recent research has tended to discredit this.  Two merles should not be bred together because pups with two copies of the merle gene has problems with eyes and ears often leading to blindness and/or deafness.

Cancer can have genetic tendencies in dogs, as in people, or it can be due to a random mutation, or due to an environmental exposure at some point in their life.  I realise how hard it is to lose your soul dog, but you really must not blame yourself.  Cancer is cruel and unpredictable and horrible.  I am very sorry for your loss.

Here is Oscar (also a black and white, but with a white face)

And here is Shadow (tricolour, blue eye and part colour eye)

[JamieL]

Thank you for answering my question and also for your kind words. I'm trying to make peace with the fact that my boy is gone. And that it makes no sense to beat myself up and keep asking "Why" because there is no answer to it. But some days like when I wrote this post yesterday I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Losing your Oscar must have been really hard for you as well. He has such a sweet face. I wish Shadow good health in the coming years.

[urge to herd]

Echoing what Lawgirl said in her post. There is soooo much we still don't know about genetics and what influences what. I had 3 at one time. One had not been treated well before we got her. She came with itchy skin that would not relent. Did the organic food only, did the allergy elimination testing, and finally put her on a daily steroid, with my vet's approval. She never had any detrimental side effects from the steroid.  Shonie wound up outliving the other 2 border collies!!!   

It is so very painful to lose them. I hope the loving memories you have of your boy are a consolation.

Ruth