Rat Terrier Statistics and Health Survey -
February 2002

Approximate Number of Dogs in the United States - 238,457

Mini's (10-18 Lbs) - 125,531
Standards (18-28 Lbs) -64,620
Toys-Tots (Under 10 Lbs) - 46,517
Decker Giants (22-40 Lbs) - 1,789

There are presently born approximately 1560 Litters Yearly resulting in 7800 pups
Mini's - 4103
Standards - 2106
Toys-Tots - 1532
Decker Giants - 59
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Health
The General health of the breed is good and with the purchase of your Rat Terrier from a good breeder, you can expect a dog with a long and care free life. The breed has become very popular in the past few years. As a breed grows in popularly so do the problems, there is a increase of new breeders, dogs in puppy mills, pet stores and people looking to capitalize. An ongoing study of the breed has been made to chart what disease/defects exist in the breed. Shown below are problems that have occurred in the breed and a breakdown of the frequency of them showing up in any particular size of Rat Terrier.
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.

Survey
The Health survey results below is based on a Rat Terrier population
of 238,457 dogs with 24,624 reported problems
The survey shows that 10.3% of the total population shows at least one
of the below listed Diseases or Defects
.
Top 5 Disease/Defects affecting the Rat Terrier by Size.
*Complete list of all disease/defects located further down on page.

Size
Disease /Defect - Number Effected
Toy
Bad Bite - 1 out of 56
Demodectic Mange - 1 out of  59
Seizures/Fits/Epilepsy - 1 out of  77
Patella Luxation - 1 out of 100
Contact Allergies -  1 out of 100
Mini 
Seizures/Fits/Epilepsy - 1 out of  77
Demodectic Mange - 1 out of 83
Patella Luxation - 1 out of 83
Bad Bite - 1 out of  91
Contact Allergies - 1 out of  125
Standard
Seizures/Fits/Epilepsy - 1 out of  40
Demodectic Mange - 1 out of  56
Patella Luxation - 1 out of 59
Contact Allergies - 1 out of 83
Food Allergies - 1 out of 91
Decker
Contact Allergies - 1 out of 333
Food Allergies - 1 out of 333
Retinal Atrophy - 1 out of 333
Hip Dysplaysia - 1 out of 333

Reported Problems and Percentage of Population Effected
 *This is an ongoing study and it is based on the problems reported to date.

Column 1 shows the order seen for each problem. A ranking of 1 means that it is seen most frequently of all the problems listed.
Column 2 lists the individual disease/defects reported.
Of all health problems reported; Column 3 shows the % that each disease/defect contributes to those problems.  Occurances of any particular disease/defect may be seen more or less frequently . The % attributed  reflects a higher or lower % of  frequency of that particular disease/defect of the overall problems.
Columns 4-7 shows the percentage effected for each size and the frequency of occurence that one can expect.
 

Ranking
Disease /Defect
--------- 
# of Occurances
% attributed 
% of Toy/Tot 
Population 
Effected 
% of 
Mini 
Population 
Effected
% of Standard 
Population 
Effected
% of 
Decker
Population 
Effected
1
Seizures/Fits/Epilepsy 
3078
12.5% 
1.3% 
1 out of 77
1.3% 
1 out of 77
2.5% 
1 out of 40
None 
Reported
2
Demodectic Mange 
2834
11.5%
1.7% 
1 out of 59
1.2% 
1 out of 83
1.8% 
1 out of 56
None 
Reported
3
Patella Luxation 
2492
10.1%
1% 
1 out of 100
1.2% 
1 out of 83
1.7% 
1 out of 59
None 
Reported
4
Bad Bite 
2394
9.7%
1.8% 
1 out of 56
1.1% 
1 out of 91
1% 
1 out of 100
None 
Reported
5
Allergies - Contact 
1905
7.7%
1% 
1 out of 100
.8% 
1 out of 125
1.2% 
1 out of 83
.3% 
1 out of 333
6
Food Allergies 
1563
6.3%
.5% 
1 out of 200
.7% 
1 out of 143
1.1% 
1 out of 91
.3% 
1 out of 333
7
Umbilical Hernia 
1124
4.6%
.5% 
1 out of 200
.6% 
1 out of 167
.5% 
1 out of 200
None Reported
8
Color Mutant Alopecia 
1124
4.6%
.5% 
1 out of 200
.6% 
1 out of 167
1% 
1 out of 100
None Reported
9
Allergies-Insecticides 
733 
3.0%
.6% 
1 out of 167
.3% 
1 out of 333
.3% 
1 out of 333
None Reported
10
Retinal Atrophy 
586
2.4%
.4% 
1 out of 250
.2% 
1 out of 500
.3% 
1 out of 333
.3% 
1 out of 333
11
Soft Teeth 
586
 2.4%
 .4% 
1 out of 250
.2% 
1 out of 500
.4% 
1 out of 250
 None Reported
12
Inguinal Hernia
586
 2.4%
  .6% 
1 out of 167
.2% 
1 out of 500
.2% 
1 out of 500
 None Reported
13
Allergies - Airborne 
537
2.2% 
 .4% 
1 out of 250
.2% 
1 out of 500
.2% 
1 out of 500
 None Reported
14
Hip Dysplasia 
489
2.0%
.4% 
1 out of 250
.05% 
1 out of 2000
.5% 
1 out of 200
.3% 
1 out of 333
15
Cryptorchidism 
440
1.8%
 .6% 
1 out of 167
.1% 
1 out of 1000
.1% 
1 out of 1000
None Reported
16
Skin Allergies 
391
1.6%
.5% 
1 out of 200
.1% 
1 out of 1000
.2% 
1 out of 500
None Reported
17
Monorchidism 
342
1.4%
.3% 
1 out of 333
.1% 
1 out of 1000
.2% 
1 out of 500
None Reported
18
Hair Lip/Cleft Palette
293
1.2%
.4% 
1 out of 250
.1% 
1 out of 1000
.1% 
1 out of 1000
None Reported
19
 Tear Duct
244
1.0%
.3% 
1 out of 333
.1% 
1 out of 1000
.1% 
1 out of 1000
None Reported
20
Hydrocephalus 
244
1.0%
.3% 
1 out of 333
.05% 
1 out of 2000
.2% 
1 out of 500
None Reported
.

Additional Problems Reported with 1% or less occurrences
Ranking
Problem
Problem Percentage
21
Allergies to Vaccine & Medicine
1%
22
Entropion 
1%
23
Stomach & Intestines
1%
24
Retained Teeth
.8%
25
Missing Teeth
.6%
26
Murmers
.6%
27
Ear Infections
.6%
28
Liver
.6%
29
Perthes Disease
.4%
30
Allergy to Insects
.4%
31
Eczema
.4%
32
Other Bone
.4%
33
Congenital Spine Malformation
.4%
34
Unknown Allergies
.4%
35
Luxated Lens
.2%
36
Bladder
.2%
37
Megaesophagus
.2%
38
Kidney
.2%
39
Ear Drainage
.2%
40
Excessive Shedding
.2%
41
Long Hair
.2%
42
Dandruff 
.2%
43
Diabetes
.2%
44
Other CNS
.2%
.
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