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Health and Guarantee | Gatos Cane Corso
Health and Guarantee
At Gatos Cane Corso, we put careful breeding decisions, breed-appropriate health screening, and veterinary care at the heart of raising our puppies. We take these steps to give every puppy a healthy start. Even careful breeding cannot prevent every health concern. Our guarantee provides clear support when a covered condition arises.
We provide two separate protections: congenital and inherited coverage through your puppy’s second birthday, and 14-day protection for qualifying infectious illness present before handover or acquired during company-arranged transport. For qualifying congenital or inherited conditions, we cover diagnosis expenses up to the purchase price and separately refund the full purchase price, whether you keep or return your puppy.
Breeding and Preparing Your Puppy for Home
How We Breed
Health and temperament guide our breeding decisions. Our parent dogs are purebred, AKC-registered Cane Corsos, and we use breed-specific health evaluations to inform our choices.
We perform recommended Cane Corso health screenings, including hip, elbow, and patella evaluations; cardiac examination; DNA testing for neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis and dental-skeletal-retinal anomaly; and ophthalmic evaluation when advised. These screenings help assess joint soundness, heart function, and known genetic risks before breeding.
How We Raise and Care for Our Puppies
Our puppies grow up in our home with daily handling and gentle introductions to various people, household sounds, and everyday experiences.
From birth, each puppy has a care calendar and folder recording feeding, vaccinations, deworming, veterinary visits, and procedures. We add AKC paperwork, pedigree, microchip details, and individual care needs as available, then review these with you.
Preparing for Pickup or Delivery
Before departure, our veterinarian examines your puppy and assesses fitness for the planned journey.
Your puppy travels in a spacious, secure, well-ventilated crate or carrier, selected for their comfort throughout the journey. We coordinate food, water, comfort, and breaks. Your puppy travels with transition food, their folder and calendar, and, where suitable, a scented comfort item from their mother. We confirm handover, arrival and contact details and explain care during the journey home.
What We Cover and How We Help
Congenital and Inherited Conditions
Congenital conditions are present at birth, though they may be discovered later. Inherited conditions arise from a dog’s genetic background. These categories overlap when a genetic condition is present from birth and identified later in life.
These examples include common concerns in Cane Corso dogs and other recognized inherited disorders. Coverage includes, but is not limited to, these examples. Other congenital or likely inherited conditions qualify under the same requirements.
| Condition | What it affects | How it is assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Hip dysplasia (HD) | Abnormal hip joint development causing looseness, pain, lameness, and secondary arthritis. | Orthopedic examination and pelvic radiographs evaluated by an orthopedic specialist or recognized registry. |
| Elbow dysplasia (ED) | Developmental malformation of the elbow joint leading to forelimb lameness and joint degeneration. | Orthopedic examination with radiographs of the elbow in flexion and extension or computed tomography (CT). |
| Patellar luxation (PL) | Displacement of the kneecap from its normal groove, causing skipping gait or hindlimb lameness. | Orthopedic palpation and grading, combined with radiographs when structural alignment is assessed. |
| Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) | Weakening and enlargement of the heart muscle that impairs pumping and causes arrhythmias. | Board-certified veterinary cardiologist examination using echocardiography and electrocardiogram (ECG) or Holter monitoring. |
| Congenital heart defects (such as subaortic stenosis, SAS) | Structural heart or vessel malformations present from birth that restrict blood flow. | Cardiac auscultation followed by Doppler echocardiography performed by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. |
| Entropion or ectropion | Inward rolling or outward drooping of the eyelids, causing corneal irritation, ulceration, or chronic inflammation. | Ophthalmic examination by a veterinarian or board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist once facial maturity allows evaluation. |
| Prolapsed gland of the third eyelid (cherry eye) | Protrusion of the third eyelid tear gland, causing tissue swelling and chronic ocular irritation. | Clinical ophthalmic examination of the affected eye and third eyelid structure. |
| Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 1 (NCL1) | Rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder causing progressive motor decline, vision loss, and seizures. | Neurological examination and advanced diagnostics supported by breed-specific PPT1 genetic testing. |
| Dental-skeletal-retinal anomaly (DSRA) | Rare recessive disorder affecting tooth enamel and structure, bone growth, and progressive retinal vision loss. | Clinical dental, skeletal, and ophthalmic evaluation supported by MIA3 genetic testing. |
While single-gene disorders such as NCL1 and DSRA are uncommon, joint, heart, and eyelid conditions are complex traits influenced by multiple genes and growth factors. A DNA test alone shows genetic status, not active clinical disease.
An appropriate specialist must diagnose the condition and support a clinical opinion that it is congenital or likely inherited. Absolute genetic proof is not required. The condition must be moderate or severe, or require ongoing treatment or surgery. Carrier/risk results without clinical disease and minor findings resolving on their own do not qualify.
How to Make a Congenital or Inherited Claim
For either claim type, email info@gatoscanecorso.com. We normally reply within 24 hours and always within 48 hours, identifying any missing required records together. We email the final decision within three business days after we receive complete records, including our veterinarian’s review. Records already on file count.
- Visit your veterinarian. Obtain an assessment and, where needed, a written specialist referral identifying the suspected condition.
- Send the referral promptly. Specialist confirmation is ordinarily due by the second birthday. Email the referral within seven calendar days of receipt and no later than that birthday to obtain 30 additional calendar days for evaluation and confirmation.
- Documented clinic delays. Send evidence of the earliest suitable appointment within 7 calendar days of learning of the delay; we will record a revised date that covers the visit, testing, and report preparation.
- Further documented clinic or laboratory delays. Forward updates within 7 calendar days; extensions cover the referred condition, not unrelated concerns first suspected afterward.
- Send complete clinical records. Provide identity and purchase details, specialist diagnosis, supported congenital/likely inherited opinion, severity or treatment needs, relevant tests, and applicable referral or delay evidence.
- Request your benefits. For your one-time purchase-price refund, choose to keep or return your puppy. Send itemized invoices for diagnostic reimbursement. For a later qualifying condition, follow the same clinical and reporting requirements and submit its invoices against your remaining diagnostic allowance. Missing invoices do not delay a supported refund.
Diagnosis Costs
We reimburse documented, medically necessary examinations, specialist consultations, imaging, laboratory tests, and other testing used to establish qualifying congenital or inherited diagnoses, up to your puppy’s purchase price in total per dog. Necessary tests can qualify even when an individual result is negative.
This allowance can cover more than one qualifying condition through your puppy’s second birthday, including applicable referral extensions. Receiving a refund does not end diagnostic coverage. Later qualifying conditions and invoices can use the remaining balance; they do not create a new allowance. Each condition must meet the same clinical and reporting requirements. Ongoing treatment for congenital or inherited conditions is not covered.
Your Purchase-Price Refund
A confirmed qualifying congenital or inherited claim receives a full refund of the puppy’s purchase price, regardless of treatment cost. Diagnostic and arrival-illness payments do not reduce it.
| Your choice | Refund | Your puppy |
|---|---|---|
| Keep your puppy | Full purchase-price refund | Stays with your family |
| Permanent health-related return | Full purchase-price refund, plus company-arranged pickup and initial examination | Returns permanently to our care |
You may receive one full purchase-price refund per dog. The diagnostic allowance applies under either choice and remains available after the refund, subject to its remaining balance and coverage deadlines. Later qualifying conditions do not provide another refund. Diagnostic invoices support their reimbursement but do not delay a supported refund.
Refunds are issued within 1–3 calendar days after written eligibility confirmation, complete clinical records, and your choice. For returns, refunds follow within 1–3 calendar days after handover, with records complete. Approved diagnostic reimbursements are issued within 1–3 calendar days of approval and receipt of necessary invoices. Payment-provider settlement may take longer.
Health-return pickup is completed within 7–10 calendar days of written confirmation and receipt of transport details. We confirm the collection date and pay transport and the initial examination separately from claim payments. Additional company-paid treatment follows a veterinary plan agreed before handover.
Illness Around Delivery
For company-arranged delivery, we cover one qualifying illness episode: veterinarian-confirmed infectious illness with signs first appearing within 14 calendar days after handover, where evidence supports likely illness before handover or during our arranged transport.
The episode includes diagnosis and treatment costs for that illness and its direct complications, up to your puppy’s purchase price. The treatment course may require multiple visits, invoices, or installments and may include related specialist visits, medication, surgery, and necessary follow-up. This allowance is separate from the congenital/inherited refund and diagnostic allowance.
How to Make an Arrival-Illness Claim
- Seek veterinary care. Complete the initial examination within three days of arrival. Do not wait for our reply before obtaining urgent treatment.
- Notify us. Email info@gatoscanecorso.com within 48 hours of symptoms, or as soon as reasonably possible in an emergency.
- Send complete records. Provide identity and purchase details, examination report, diagnosis, tests, symptom timeline, veterinarian’s exposure assessment, treatment plan, and itemized invoices.
New exposure after handover does not qualify. Uncertain timing or cause is reviewed with your veterinarian; absence of symptoms at handover alone does not prove absence of illness. A late checkup alone does not automatically void arrival protection or unrelated congenital/inherited coverage; we assess available evidence.
Related infections from the same handover or journey share one arrival-illness allowance. This covers one qualifying episode and treatment course. Approved arrival reimbursements are issued within 1–3 calendar days of approval and necessary invoices.
Later invoices under either approved protection receive a decision within three business days of complete supporting records and payment within 1–3 calendar days after approval. Each benefit has its own separate limit. Payments under one benefit do not reduce another, and the same expense cannot be reimbursed twice.
Your Responsibilities
- Arrange the first vet visit within three days. Bring the health folder and calendar so your veterinarian can continue age-appropriate vaccinations, deworming, and ongoing care.
- Keep records and follow care advice. Maintain veterinary records and follow your veterinarian’s recommendations.
- Keep us informed. Follow the appropriate claim process, forward documented delay updates promptly, and provide accurate details for any qualifying return.
We remain available for questions about your dog throughout their life. We want every puppy to be treated with kindness, patience, and respect.