8th vertebrea - Page 1

we have some clients that will not take a detection candidate with one additional vertebrea, im fine with that, my question however is if anybody ever heard about real problems in a dog on older age, that is 100 % due to 8th vertebrea, various vets have various opinions so far 

Where in the spine is this extra vertebra? In the neck?

rear end, and sometimes its a tailbone that didnot totally close, will see if I can upload some pics

Duke if you have trouble posting the pics email them to me and I will see if I can post them

http://westernrider@yahoo.com

duke, they probably aren't accepting those dogs because the 8th lumbar vertebra is considered to be part of the LTV [lumbosacral transitional vertebra] complex, and thus puts the dog at greater risk of developing cauda equina syndrome.

Alternative classification and screening protocol for transitional lumbosacral vertebra in German shepherd dogs


If given a choice between two candidates of equal ability, with one having a normal spinal structure and the other having LTV, the smart choice would be to take the one less likely to develop a crippling, painful condition that will require surgical intervention and a prolonged convalescence post-op before the dog could go back to duty...which would be the dog without the LTV complex.

Hexe, well that certainly makes sense!

2 things hexe,

you write, it puts the dog at greater risk,now my question is, are there known cases or factual information that they REALLY DO develope equina 

and secondly, you write, very important, IF GIVEN A CHOICE, thats a biggy LOL, most agencies cannot get the numbers they want and still reject top dogs with 8th vertebrea,

but anyway, my main question is if there is actual data of dogs with 8th vertebrea developing any problems during their working life ? 

There has been a good amount of research on the issue, duke, yes.  

where can I find the outcome please ?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16429983/

8 times more likely to develop cauda equina than dogs without tv, also much more likely to develope it earlier. Seen alot of dogs retired at 5-6 with TV. The risk is way too high