The last decade of open communication and supportive community has brought a multitude of Kishu Ken owners from around the globe together to share their dogs online - in public forums of the earlier 2000 and 2010s and social media websites such as Instagram and Facebook, we can speak with others across the globe in the palm of our hands. In a rare breed with geographically distant ownership, this is has been invaluable for sharing anything from cute dog pictures to critical health information.

In the last handful of years in particular, health issues in the Kishu Ken are becoming better known. For decades since their introduction to the USA (the first breeding pair in the USA was born in 1991, our current data suggests), very little information on breed health had been known. 

Because of this openness and sharing, we now know that allergies and skin conditions are commonplace in the breed.

But sometimes, skin issues aren't as simple as allergies and the cause has far deeper roots and can mean something much more nefarious for your dog.

At current, we know of the following autoimmune illnesses in Kishu Ken:

• Autoimmune Thyroiditis: the most common form of hypothyroidism in dogs. Autoimmune Thyroiditis has been observed in the Kishu Ken by OFA evaluation/grading as of July 2020. Autoimmune Thyroiditis has evidence to say it is genetic, though the inheritance mode is not clearly understood. Autoimmune Thyroiditis can be evaluated by OFA panel in pet and breeding dogs and should be performed before breeding when possible now that we are aware of the existence of this type of hypothyroidism in the breed. Autoimmune Thyroiditis is treatable by thyroid hormone such as thyroxine and hypothyroid dogs have a good quality of life once diagnosed and treated. 
• Addison's Disease: an autoimmune condition that causes the body to attack the adrenal glands. Addison's disease is typically treated with prednisone. Addison's disease is comorbid with Autoimmune Thyroiditis after thyroid failure and can be very taxing on the body. At present, there is at least 1 Kishu Ken bred by an early US breeder who had been diagnosed with Addison's Disease and passed at 8 years of age. Addison's Disease has no known preventative or precautionary test in Kishu Ken and may only be diagnosed by vet exam/bloodwork when a Kishu Ken becomes ill.
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: an autoimmune condition that causes the immune system to attack otherwise healthy parts of the body (tissue, joints.) SLE is also comorbid with Autoimmune Thyroiditis after thyroid failure. SLE has historically presented first as severe dermatitis in the Kishu Ken where skin around the eyes and muzzle and toes becomes raw or may develop sores. In early stages, this has sometimes been mistaken for allergies. This type of lupus may be treated and controlled for some time with prednisone. There is no preventative or precautionary test for SLE known at this time. It may be diagnosed by clinical presentation and bloodwork. However, Kishu Ken diagnosed with SLE have had more or less ambiguous bloodwork results, which sometimes happens with this form of lupus.

What does this mean?
For Owners of Kishu Ken:

• Inform your veterinarian that autoimmune illnesses are seen in the breed (Autoimmune Thyroiditis, Addison's Disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.)
• Consider running bloodwork on your dog during regular annual exams as routine. This can get a reference range for what your dog's results look like when they are healthy so if they do become sick, changes in your dog's individual bloodwork may help with diagnosis.
• Consider running an OFA Thyroid panel on your dog. This can determine if your dog is affected by Autoimmune Thyroiditis. As Autoimmune Thyroiditis may increase the chance your Kishu Ken develops Addison's Disease and SLE when their thyroid fails, it is good information for any Kishu Ken owner to know, even if you never plan on breeding their dog or your dog is already altered. 
  • If you choose to run an OFA Thyroid panel, please consider submitting to the OFA database and signing the section to release abnormal results to the database. This can help provide important data about the breed's health. Submission to the OFA database costs an additional fee, but if you email info@kishuclub.com, there may be some assistance available in these fees.
• If your dog is currently affected by severe skin issues, consider speaking to your veterinarian about SLE as this is a rare illness in a rare breed. Kishu Ken with SLE have generally responded well to prednisone therapy/treatment.

For Breeders of Kishu Ken

• Consider submitting OFA Thyroid on all breeding dogs (or comparable thyroid screening if not in the USA.) This information will tell you if your breeding dogs are affected by Autoimmune Thyroiditis as dogs who are affected may appear healthy until as late as 6-8. As these affected dogs can appear healthy until they are likely about to be retired from breeding and already have 2 or even 3 generations down from them, this test is very important to give you much-needed insight on your breeding stock. This can also tell you if your individual dog is potentially at risk for developing Addison's disease or SLE as they are seen as comorbid conditions during thyroid failure.
• Inform your buyers of the 3 autoimmune illnesses we know are currently seen in this breed. Make sure they are aware, and expect that some day, you may produce a dog with these illnesses. With so little data on how they are inherited, it is impossible for any Kishu Ken breeder to promise an owner that their dogs will not be affected, but we can be here to present them with honest information and support them at every turn.

At this time, the National Kishu Club is collecting registered names and pedigrees on dogs who are affected by autoimmune illness and allergies for research and education purposes. If your dog is affected by any diagnosed allergies or autoimmune illness, please consider submitting an email to info@kishuclub.com with your dog's pedigree name, diagnosis, and parentage. We will work to develop an easy submission form on the website to submit your dog.

You may also help in the form of a monetary donation to allow the club to collect pedigree data on ancestors via a NIPPO research pedigree request and even support our ability to collect data and research these illnesses in the breed.

This is a special breed with relatively few health issues, but the ones that we are seeing can be very scary for owners and breeders. Please know that no matter if your Kishu Ken is healthy or even currently affected, you and your dog are not alone, and you can always send the club an email if you think you need help, or you can join the Facebook group of Kishu Ken owners and enthusiasts to share and find a community that will love to see you and your dog.

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/KishuKenGroup

A stronger Kishu Ken pedigree database is finally here! It is our hope that Kishu Ken ancestry data may begin to improve with submission to this database, thanks to the hard work of Mr. Shigeru Kato and the Nihon Ken Blog / Japan Dog Export.

Entries to the database are being quality-controlled (to assure the reliability of the data) by Mr. Kato at this time, but any owner my submit their pedigree data to the database for approval.

Using this database and our Embark testing, it has already become clear that all Kishu Ken in the USA come down from only a handful of lines. This database may help us target which lines to import from in the future, to maximize diversity.