Albino labs-heard this term before? I bet not. But have you ever heard of “some labs don’t contain eumelanin and pheomelanin in their body parts. They suffer from deafness, blindness and skin cancer. They need a lot of care.” I bet yes, you all may have heard about this. These are all characteristics of an albino lab. Add albino lab doesn’t have eumelanin and pheomelanin in the body parts. The coat color is pure white, the paws are of light pink color, and the eyes- they range from blue to pink color. This is neither a recognized color by AKC not a variant of yellow color or like a white color lab, it’s different from them.
Role of Genetics
As I already mentioned above, an albino lab doesn’t have eumelanin and pheomelanin in any of their parts of body. Eumelanin and pheomelanin production are controlled by polygenic modifiers. In albino labs, these polygenic modifiers don’t produce enough eumelanin and pheomelanin. Polygenic modifiers control the intensity of eumelanin and pheomelanin produced in the body. Eumelanin is mainly responsible for giving black and also for brown color to eyes, to nose and to the coat, whereas pheomelanin is only responsible for the shades of yellow in coat color.
Health problems of Albino Labs
An albino lab, unlike any other color lab, has a higher rate of getting surrounded by deadly health issues like skin cancer, vision sensitivity, deafness and sun sensitivity. Now let us talk about them in detail:
👉 Skin Cancer:
Skin cancer is most common in albino labs. Their body doesn’t produce eumelanin in enough amounts, which causes sensitivity to the sun and thus causes skin cancer. You melanin acts as a protector from ultraviolet radiation of sun.
👉 Vision Sensitivity:
Again due to low expression add intensity of eumelanin in eyes, albino labs may squint when exposed to sunlight, bright or dull. They can have a vision loss if exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. You can use UV protection glasses to avoid blindness and give some supplements in the food for better vision.
👉 Partially or fully Hearing Loss:
Due to sensitive ears, albino labs may have hearing problems. They may be fully or partially deaf if exposed to loud sounds.
👉 Sun Sensitivity:
Albino labs may have little or no eumelanin at all, so they are extremely sensitive to sun and their skin may become redden and feel burnt when exposed to sun. So, never take your albino lab out for a walk during peak sun hours.
Thank you for reading this article and stay tuned for more!