Dog Breeds Affected By Degenerative Myelopathy

Here is a list of seventeen dog breeds that are prone to get degenerative myelopathy  at a later age. Other dogs may acquire the disease as well. The illness is caused by a mutated gene. Not all dogs with the mutated gene will eventually get myelopathy. Some dogs have two of the mutated genes (one from mother and father each), some have only one. The majority of the dogs with two mutated genes will eventually develop myhelopathy - usually at 8 to 10 years of age and above.
This disease is fatal. There is no known cure at this time despite of claims by websites that hawk phony service dog patches and cures for DM.
The best a dog owner can hope for at this time is to slow down the progression of the illness. Most dogs with DM are euthanized at around 8 to 12 months after first diagnosis. Some can persevere longer and enjoy some sort of a 'new' life in a doggie wheelchair.
There is a test for the disease. It costs $ 65.00 and can be ordered from the Orthopedic foundation For Animals (offa.org).

• American Eskimo Dogs
• Bernese Mountain Dog
• Borzoi
• Boxers
• Cardigan Welsh Corgi
• Chesapeake Bay Retrievers
• German Shepherd Dog
• Golden Retriever
• Great Pyrenees
• Kerry Blue Terriers
• Pembroke Welsh Corgis
• Poodle
• Pug
• Rhodesian Ridgeback
• Shetland Sheepdog
• Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers
• Wire Fox Terrier

The National Academy of Sciences of the United States reported in an article on the research of numerous scientists from a number of famous American universities on the most recent research into the causes of DM and possible treatments. The article was presented by James E. Womack, Texas A&M University under the title

"Genome-wide association analysis reveals a SOD1 mutation in canine degenerative myelopathy that resembles amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Canine degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease prevalent in several dog breeds. Typically, the initial progressive upper motor neuron spastic and general proprioceptive ataxia in the pelvic limbs occurs at 8 years of age or older. If euthanasia is delayed, the clinical signs will ascend, causing flaccid tetraparesis and other lower motor neuron signs. DNA samples from 38 DM-affected Pembroke Welsh corgi cases and 17 related clinically normal controls were used for genome-wide association mapping, which produced the strongest associations with markers on CFA31 in a region containing the canine SOD1 gene.

SOD1 was considered a regional candidate gene because mutations in human SOD1

can cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an adult-onset fatal paralytic neurodegenerative disease with both upper and lower motor neuron involvement. The resequencing of SOD1 in

normal and affected dogs revealed a G to A transition, resulting in an E40K missense mutation. Homozygosity for the A allele was associated with DM in 5 dog breeds: Pembroke Welsh corgi, Boxer, Rhodesian ridgeback, German Shepherd dog, and Chesapeake Bayretriever. 

Microscopic examination of spinal cords from affected dogs revealed myelin and axon loss affecting the lateral white matter and neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions that bind anti-super-oxide dismutase 1 antibodies. These inclusions are similar to those seen in spinal cord sections from ALS patients with

SOD1 mutations. Our findings identify canine DM to be the first recognized

spontaneously occurring animal model for ALS . . ."

If you want to know the real facts about the disease and possible remedies and also can handle 'science speak', go to http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/02/02/0812297106.full.pdf+html and become an expert in the most up-to-date research into this insidious disease.

 PJJ