What should I do with a congenital vertebral malformation in a Pug or Bulldog breed?

This TidBit Tuesday is focused on a recent article out of the Netherlands that looked at the L6-sacrum of NORMAL Pug dogs and Bulldog breeds.

Did you know...

1) More than 50% of dogs in these breeds have radiographic evidence of a vertebral malformation?

This means that if you radiograph the abdomen on a neurologically normal Pug and see lumbosacral hemivertebra it is not worth investigating!

2) Over 60% of this population of dogs had disc a herniation at L7-S1. (Remember, normal dogs!)

Disc herniation was more common in older animals and therefore the authors suggest these are age related changes. They are subclinical!

We've known for sometime that L7-S1 disc herniations in large breed dogs can be incidental on MRI; this confirms the same can be true in these breeds too!

3) The development of spondylosis deformans increased by 2.5 % for each increasing month of age. Also, the authors reported no significant difference in the presence of spondylosis deformans in dogs with or without vertebral malformations.

My interpretation...when a radiograph shows you spondylosis deformans with or without a vertebral malformation, you can still ignore it in a neurologically normal animal.

How do I know the animal is neurologically normal??

Someone help me out here...

Do a neurologic examination. :) Not sure you're up to the task? Contact me! I'm happy to do a neurology examination refresher CE at your hospital or a consultation to examine a clinical patient.