Pituitary Dwarfism in Dogs

Pituitary Dwarfism is autosomal recessive inherited disorder and is encountered most often in the pastoral breeds particularly the German shepherd dog where 20% are now estimated to carry the faulty gene. The pituitary is a hormone producing endocrine gland at the base of the brain this peasi ed gland is composed of the anterior lobe and the posterior lobe. The anterior pituitary synthesi es many of the essential hormones which are then secreted for numerous body functions such as growth! reproduction! lactation and metabolism Hormones secreted by the pituitary gland:

Growth hormone "G#$! which is essential for growth Thyroid %timulating #ormone "T%#$! which regulates thyroid function Prolactin "P&'$! which is essential for lactation (ollicle %timulating #ormone "(%#$ 'uteini ing #ormone "'#$! which is essential for ovulation in female dogs and sperm production in male dogs )drenocorticotroph #ormone ")*T#$! which stimulates the adrenal corte+ ,ndorphins - pain receptors in the brain )ntidiuretic #ormone )D# - .idney tubules /+ytocin - uterine muscles and mammary glands

)ny defect in the development of the pituitary gland creates enormous problems for the dog the most obvious e+ample of hormone deficiency is the small stature but there are also many hidden problems. Dogs that are carriers of the recessive gene do not have any visible symptoms and loo. e+actly the same as the dogs that are not carriers and this is the problem. Pituitary dwarfism is a recessive disorder of a single gene located on chromosome 0! the birth of an affected dog means that both parents are carriers each with a single copy of the gene and of course with a recessive gene when two carriers are mated on average 10% of their progeny will be carriers and 21% of their offspring will be dwarves. Pituitary dwarfs are in proportion but significantly smaller than their healthy littermates they do not display shortened deformed legs as is commonly assumed this is achondroplasia "a full si ed dog with severely shortened legs$. )nother visual clinical symptom of pituitary dwarfism is that dwarves retain their puppy coat much longer than normal however in their first year the coat will be lost and the animal will become bald "alopecic$ e+cept for head and lower legs without treatment of G#.

This lac. of growth and abnormal retention of the puppy coat will be mostly noticed by 2 to 2 months of age by the novice breeder3owner! an e+perienced breeder should be able to spot a dwarf much earlier particularly if a breeder has had prior e+posure to this condition. 4hen the dog loses its puppy coat! the s.in can become s5uamous "scaly$ and hyperpigmented that is the s.in becomes much dar.er in colour than normal "blac.ened$ and due to their lowered immunity! dwarfs can be prone to deep bacterial s.in infections. The clinical symptoms are not limited to the visible appearance of dwarves6 they suffer from a whole range of conditions particularly from under development of the liver and .idneys causing chronic renal failure to cardiovascular problems. The deficiency of Thyroid %timulating #ormone results in an underactive thyroid gland causing many animals to be slow and dull additionally the reduced level of gonadotrophins may result in failure of one or both testis to move or 7descend7 into the scrotum "cryptorchidism$ in male dwarves while female dwarves do go into heat! but they do not ovulate. )lthough the physical features of pituitary dwarfism may seem obvious! the final diagnosis should be based on 8pituitary stimulation tests8. These tests can detect a deficiency of G#! T%#! (%#! '# and Prolactin. 9f canine growth hormone was available then this would be used to treat dwarves but this is not available so animals are treated with porcine G# which ma.es a good alternative. 4ithout proper treatment! the long term survival rate is poor! many dwarves will not live to more than 2 to : years of age. #owever! some dogs do live longer! probably because in some cases the pituitary gland still produces a very small amount of hormones. )lthough treatment can improve the 5uality of a dog;s life significantly! sadly it cannot cure them.

Hobbit aged 2 years - treatment with proligestone from age 4 months which has made great improvements to coat and appearance but Hobbit still has many internal problems

<nfortunately the common misconception is that Pituitary Dwarfism is very rare but this is not the case! it affects many dogs worldwide. 9t would be unfeasible to test all dogs as some are more prone

than others! what is not .nown is how many of the reported pastoral breeds such as *ollies! )ustralian %hepherd! %amoyed and to a lesser e+tent outside this group %pit ! 'abradors! 9rish %etters and 4eimaraners to name but a few actually really do have pituitary dwarfism and not some other form of dwarfism or condition! as yet PD reports are unconfirmed in other breeds. 4hat is .nown is that 20% of German %hepherds and their derivatives such as the %aarloos wolfhound! the * echoslova.ian wolf dog are now carriers of PD which is much higher that might be e+pected for an apparently rare condition. The result is 00% of all PD affected dogs die in the womb or shortly after birth and are seen as fading puppies but of course some survive and are often sold before the condition is recognised! their life span can be severely shortened! average age : years! however many can live very much longer with .nown recorded e+amples up to =2 and =2 years of age. The latest research from the <niversity of <trecht shows that neurological symptoms "abnormal cervical vertebrae$ are li.ely to be present in dwarves. >eurological complaints have been found to be caused by instability in the spine at the first and second vertebrae which can result in pressure on the spinal cord producing pain! paralysis or sudden death! therefore the issues surrounding Pituitary Dwarfism must be ta.en very seriously when breeding. This is an incurable illness which should be prevented as a priority but in order to do so! two carriers of this recessive gene should not be bred from and because as already mentioned visually a carrier cannot be distinguished from a non carrier ?udgement cannot be made on appearance a genetic test is re5uired. )fter =1 years of intensive research at the Department of *linical %ciences of *ompanion )nimals of <trecht <niversity! this test has been available since 200@ and is one of the few available for genetic conditions. 9f this D>) test would be used for all suspected breeding animals then occurrences of pituitary dwarfism would be significantly reduced. The genetic test re5uires : ml. of blood "collected in an ,DT) containing tube$. The blood sample then should be sent toA Dr. #ans %. Booistra - Department of *linical %ciences of *ompanion )nimals! (aculty of Ceterinary Dedicine! <trecht <niversity - Ealelaan =0@ - 21@: *D <trecht #.%.BooistraFuu.nl (or further 9nformation in the <B on Pituitary Dwarfism contactA %aart?e (oundation - *hairmanA Tan?a %toetman an!a "toetman #Holland$ saart!e%stoethoeve&nl Helen "'uires #(ustralia$ brayline%bigpond&net&au "tephen )ebb #*+$ shadowpar,collies%outloo,&com -wa .orychta-/alc0ews,a #Poland$ info%atropabelladonna&pl Heather "aunders #*"($ Pituitary&Dwarf%gmail&com Please report any dogs that are affected with pituitary dwarfism to the above contacts! all information will be treated in the strictest of confidence! further help! advice and information is available.