 Barked: Wed Nov 28, '12 7:29am PST |
 | |  | | Mishka & Luna said:
All white dogs with blue eyes, pink paw pads, pink noses, and pink eye lids are also known as Lethal Whites. The same goes for horses that are all white with pink noses and blue eyes. Although Lethal white is mostly known and seen in the American paints (horses), dog breeds like aussies, and blue merle great danes also can be seen with it. Instead of being known as Lethal white syndrome (LWS), they are known as double dapples/double merles. Also if a dog has LWS, it is not to be mistaken that this syndrome is lethal to dogs like it is in horses. This often results in the dog having digestive problems, blindness, and deafness. About a year ago I was at a dog event and a great dane rescue had an all white great dane whose eyes were pink. She was blind but not deaf. I've never heard of dogs with the LWS to have short lives. I know with foals who have LWS they are known to not live longer than a day or two. Majority of the time horse owners will have the foal euthanized after its a couple hours old. I've known a few paints with LWS actually live but they are castrated (if they are stallions) as soon as they are old enough and mares are kept on constant watch for when they come in season so they don't have an unexpected breeding. Horses that have LWS can pass the trait on even if the other parent does not carry the gene. As with dogs I know you have to breed two merles together to get a double merle. If both parents are tan piebalds then there is a good chance that gucci is a diluted pie bald and not a double merle or LWS.
I think the only reason why your vet called gucci "albino" is because vets try to use more common terms for owners to understand on what they are talking about. For example if he/she told you that gucci has lethal white syndrome you may have gotten the wrong idea and scared for your puppy and your family sake.
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Unfortunately most of what you posted above is inaccurate.
If you're interested, you can get an accurate run-down of how lethal white in horses is different from homozygous merle here: Lethal Whites
Lethal white horses will die shortly after birth due to a malformation of their digestive tract.
Merle is a gene which seems to inhibit the development of select cells and results in a dilution of an expressed colour. In MM situations it results in dogs that have an unusual amount of white on them because they've been, for all intents and purposes, double diluted. To go along with that, the dog's eyes and inner ears are often under-developed, resulting in dogs with impeded sight and hearing. The similarity in appearance with lethal white foals is obvious, but genetically it is very different. Calling MM dogs lethal whites is a misnomer.Edited by author Wed Nov 28, '12 7:32am PST
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6
thank you for continuing to care for your precious Chi. 
