Dogs with this disease become paralysed on the back side when they become older.
In the past there were a lot other diagnoses about dogs with paralysed hind limbs. But now there is a test for right diagnose for several breeds.

This disease is also spread in German shepherd breed and the Saarloos breed.
There was a test for GSD and since last month also for SWH! :
So with good breeding selection there is no need to spread this disease more in these breeds.

Explanation in English about what is degenerative myelopathy (of Michigan veterinary specialists)
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Degenerative myelopathy is a condition that results in progressive paralysis of the hind limbs in middle-aged to older German Shepherd dogs.

The cause of this degeneration is unknown, but the underlying disease is degeneration of the white matter in the spinal cord.

[*:c90e34a544]The white matter is the portion of the spinal cord responsible for transmitting information between the brain and the body.
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More info in English language about this subject:

http://www.michvet.com/library/neurology_degenerative_myelopathy.asp

Thanks to Bruno Lanssens and his CsW Justine Stella Atoi de Louba Tar the DM DNA test for the CsW breed is validated!

Stella was affected with DM and the gen deformation was the same as in other breeds.

The van Haeringen lab did test with SOD1, so also in all other labs that make SOD1 can now a CsW be DNA tested for DM!

The 3 possible results of a DNA DM test are:

In German language:
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N/N (normal)

DM/N (Träger)

[*:c90e34a544]DM/DM (Betroffen)
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In English language:
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Normal

Carrier

[*:c90e34a544]Affected
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Vrij/ NN /normal, means that the dog has no gene mutation
Drager/ DM/N / carrier , means that the dog is carrier of the mutated gene and can spread this
Lijder/DM/DM / Affected means that the dog has this disease

An animal can be free and has in that situation two healthy alleles. When used in breeding this animal will not become ill due to the disease. It cannot spread the disease in the population.

An animal can be carrier and has in that situation one healthy and one disease allele. When used in breeding theoretically 50 percent of the offspring will receive the disease allele. Carriers will not become ill.

An animal can be affected and has in that situation two disease alleles. When used in breeding all offspring will also receive the disease allele. Affected dogs will become ill.

I am convinced that it is only a matter of time, that all diseases that we now can see in GSD and SWH breed will appear in CsW.
But because we now have DNA tests for Dwarfism and DM we also can find out how these diseases are spread in the breed.

In the dwarfism mutation we see it is more spread (in several lines) then thought.
In DM we know now only the official results of 2 CsW's (from different lines) who were affected. And I am sure there are a lot more.
But because this disease appears when the dog is older, it is not always recognized (by owner or vet) as DM.

So at least it would be a good reason for owners of older dogs with these kind of problems to make the DNA test!
But also for all owners and breeders it is a good suggestion to test , to see if and how this mutation is spread.

But of course this is always a personal choice!

As I did said before, in all labs that make the DNA test for DM can be made a test for a CsW. Because now we know the mutation in SOD1-Gen is the same for CsW breed.

For example in: van Haeringen lab in Holland

By sending EDTA blood or swab with a form to:

Dr. van Haeringen lab . BV
P.O. Box 408
6700 AK Wageningen
The Netherlands

HERE you can find their info about the DM test in English language
HERE you can download a form in English language

The price is Euro 59,50 ex BTW
An owner receives a bill together with the test result

Or in: Laboklin labor in Germany

By sending EDTA blood or swab with a form to:

Laboklin Labor
Postbox 1810
97668 Bad Kissingen
Deutschland

HERE you can find their info about the DM test in German language.

HERE you can find their info about the DM test in English language

HERE you can download a form and the info about this in German language

HERE you can download a form and the info about this in English language

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