Cardigan Welsh Corgi nutrition: weight, IVDD and DNA tests

A Cardigan Welsh Corgi weighs more than its height suggests. The American Kennel Club standard gives 30 to 38 pounds (13.6 to 17.2 kg) for males and 25 to 34 pounds (11.3 to 15.4 kg) for females, on a dog 10.5 to 12.5 inches tall, with a life expectancy of 12 to 15 years. That weight sits on a long back and short legs. Keeping the dog lean is the one nutritional decision that bears on almost every health problem the breed is known for.

A long back on short legs

Cardigans, like Pembrokes and Dachshunds, are chondrodystrophic: the long bones of the legs are short and thick, and the discs between the vertebrae age early. In these dogs the soft center of a disc can turn to cartilage and calcify in young adulthood, so it cushions poorly and can rupture into the spinal canal. A 2017 genetic study in PNAS traced both the short legs and intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) to one extra copy of a growth-factor gene, FGF4, on chromosome 12. Dogs carrying it had about 51 times the odds of disc disease.

Diet cannot change the discs a dog was born with. Weight is a different matter. Every extra kilogram adds load to a spine that already works at a mechanical disadvantage. Ramps onto sofas and into cars cut down the jumping and twisting that load a disc.

Inherited conditions breeders screen for

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America's health statement calls the breed healthy overall and names three inherited problems: hip dysplasia, progressive retinal atrophy and, rarely, degenerative myelopathy. Each has a screening test (OFA or PennHIP x-rays for hips, and DNA tests for the other two), so a puppy buyer can ask to see results for both parents.

Hip dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is a malformed hip joint that wears into arthritis. Genetics sets the risk. A heavy, fast-growing puppy puts more strain on a loose joint, so the practical steps are the same as for the spine: a complete puppy food fed to a lean body shape, no extra calcium on top of it, and weight control for life.

Degenerative myelopathy

Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a slow loss of the nerve fibers in the spinal cord. It starts as a scuffing, weak or swaying back end and progresses over months to years to paralysis. The breed club says it seems to affect only very old Cardigans. The Cardigan Welsh Corgi Health Foundation puts typical onset after age 10 and describes the SOD1 marker: dogs with two copies are at risk, while dogs with one copy do not usually develop the disease. Nothing reverses it. Physical therapy has helped slow the loss of function, and carts keep affected dogs mobile. No diet or supplement has been shown to prevent or slow DM, and early DM is easily confused with disc disease or arthritis, so a dog that starts dragging a back foot needs a proper neurological work-up.

Progressive retinal atrophy

The rcd3 form of progressive retinal atrophy is an inherited blindness first traced to its cause in Cardigans. In 1999 researchers found that a one-letter deletion in the PDE6A gene caused it in an extended family of affected Cardigans, which made a DNA test possible. Affected dogs carried two copies. There is no evidence that lutein, vitamin A or fish oil prevents or reverses it. Testing parents is what prevents it.

Keeping a Cardigan lean

A dense double coat and a deep chest make an overweight Cardigan look sturdy rather than fat. Judge by hand. The ribs should be easy to feel under a thin layer of fat without pressing, there should be a visible waist from above, and the belly should tuck up behind the ribs when seen from the side.

Portion errors start with the scoop. When 100 dog owners were asked to measure out dry food with a cup or scoop, their measurements ranged from 48% under to 152% over the correct weight, and small volumes were the least accurate. A kitchen scale set to grams removes that problem.

• Weigh each meal in grams, using the calorie content per 100 g or per kg printed on the bag.
• Take treats, chews and training rewards out of the daily total rather than adding them on top.
• Plain green beans, carrot sticks or cucumber make low-calorie extras.
• Weigh the dog once a month. A gain of 0.5 kg on a 14 kg dog is about 3.5% of its body weight and worth acting on.

The same problem, in the Pembroke, is covered in the Pembroke Welsh Corgi nutrition guide.

How many calories a Cardigan needs

The table uses the formulas in the Merck Veterinary Manual. Resting energy requirement is 70 × (body weight in kg) raised to the power 0.75, and that figure is multiplied by a factor for age and neuter status. Treat the result as a first estimate and adjust it to the dog's body shape.

Puppy figures apply to the current weight and climb as the puppy grows. Many older Cardigans move less and need less, which shows up on the scale before it shows in the coat.

Choosing and serving the food

Pick a food labeled complete and balanced for the dog's life stage, and choose it by calories per cup or per 100 g rather than by the breed size on the bag. A Cardigan has short legs and a medium-sized dog's weight, and portions matter more than the size label. Two measured meals a day work well for adults. Puppies usually get three or four meals until about six months.

Joint supplements are a common add-on for the breed. None has been shown to prevent disc disease, hip dysplasia or DM. For a dog already diagnosed with arthritis, fish oil or a joint diet is a reasonable question to put to the vet along with the dose.

Sources

1. Cardigan Welsh Corgi dog breed information. American Kennel Club.
2. FGF4 retrogene on CFA12 is responsible for chondrodystrophy and intervertebral disc disease in dogs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017.
3. The Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America health statement. Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America, via the American Kennel Club.
4. Degenerative myelopathy (DM). Cardigan Welsh Corgi Health Foundation.
5. cGMP phosphodiesterase-alpha mutation causes progressive retinal atrophy in the Cardigan Welsh corgi dog. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 1999.
6. Dog owner's accuracy measuring different volumes of dry dog food using three different measuring devices. Veterinary Record, 2019.
7. Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.