A degenerative myelopathy in young German shepherd dogs

Two young male German shepherd dogs, six and seven months old, were evaluated for progressive hindlimb ataxia and paresis. Both dogs were found to be thin and poorly muscled on physical examination, and on neurological examination, the lesions were localised to the spinal cord between T2 and L4. Microscopical examination of the spinal cords demonstrated widespread axonal degeneration similar to that seen in aged German shepherd dogs with chronic degenerative radiculomyelopathy (CDRM), although the distribution of these changes was not identical to CDRM.