Health Testing
D.M.
Degenerative Myelopathy
Degenerative myelopathy is a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs. The disease has an insidious onset typically between 8 and 14 years of age. It begins with a loss of coordination (ataxia) in the hind limbs. The affected dog will wobble when walking, knuckle over or drag the feet. This can first occur in one hind limb and then affect the other. As the disease progresses, the limbs become weak and the dog begins to buckle and has difficulty standing. The weakness gets progressively worse until the dog is unable to walk. The clinical course can range from 6 months to 1 year before dogs become paraplegic. If signs progress for a longer period of time, loss of urinary and fecal continence may occur and eventually weakness will develop in the front limbs. Another key feature of DM is that it is not a painful disease.
A DNA test is available for use by breeders and pet owners. The test clearly identifies dogs that are clear (have 2 normal copies of the gene), those who are carriers (have one normal copy of the gene and one mutated copy of the gene), and those who are at much higher risk for developing DM (have 2 mutated copies of the gene). However, having two mutated copies of the gene does not necessarily result in disease.
Suffice to say we test for this disease even though the test (like Hip and Elbow dysplasia) is not definitive and a clear result may not be a guarantee that your animal will not develop this disorder in later years.
Again, testing is a tool to aid in making informed decisions for breeding, but it is only a tool and cannot replace extensive knowledge of your bloodlines and the many hours of research that is needed to breed healthy happy pups.