Pituitary Dwarfism
CsW pup and CsW dwarf pup
What is pituitary dwarfism:
Dwarfism is a horrible incurable disorder which you don’t wish to any dog. A dwarf has a badly developed pituitary , which means that certain hormones (such as growth hormones) are not produced. Due to the shortage of the production of the thyroid stimulating hormone, they have a slow functioning thyroid. Besides the fact that these dogs stay small, they are also haunted by various horrible side effects (e.g. baldness, itching, inflammations, malfunctioning of the liver and kidneys, slow behaviour) when they are not treated with medicines on a daily basis.
Saarlooswolfhond litter with 1 dwarfpup
Recognising and existence of dwarfism in a breed:
Dwarfism is not always recognised by a breeder!!
Many dwarfs die in the uterus or die during the birth.
And moreover 90% of the living born dwarfs die in the first week.
Pups behind in growth are often not recognised as dwarfs. After (4 weeks or later) people see that a pup is different in comparison with the other pups. Dwarfism is known in the breeds German Shepherd, Karelische Bearsdog, Saarlooswolfhond and the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.
Unfortunately also in CsW breed several dwarfs (from several lines) are known.
And when 1% is dwarf in a population, 18 % will be carrier of this mutated gen!
And the number of carriers in practice is often much higher than thought
CsW litter with 2 dwarfs
The university of Utrecht did validate the pituitary dwarfism test for the CsW breed
Now it is also possible to test a CsW for Dwarfism!
So there is no need that more CsW dwarfs will be born!
Because of a simple test can be established if a dog is carrier of this mutated gene.
And not any dog has to be out of breeding program when he/she is carrier.
The only thing is not to make any crossings between carrier x carrier!(of this mutated gen)
Therefore it makes sense to test as much as possible CsW's to see how this mutation in the breed is spread.
And to prevent another CsW dwarf will be ever born, you have to test all CsW's that will be used for breeding!
Saarlooswolfhond dwarf pup
How an owner can test his CsW for pituitary dwarfism:
Because not all vets will know the test, it can be useful to give them a copy of the article of dr. H. Kooistra en drs. A. Voorbij: Pituitary dwarfism in German shepherd dogs and Saarloos wolfhounds -Availability of a genetic test-
here you can download this document as pdf file **
A form blood sample is here to download as pdf file ** .
** A pdf file is to open with program Acrobat Reader. You can download this program for free for example Here
- The owner can fill in all the info about himself and the dog in the form: ”Blood DNA research Pituitary Dwarfism” and sign it.
- Then the owner can go to his own veterinarian with his CsW, the form the pedigree and a copy of the pedigree.
- The vet has to check the chip number, fill in the info and has to sign the form.
- Then he can collect 4ml EDTA blood sample.
The 4 ml blood sample (collected in an EDTA containing tube) can together with the signed form and the copy of the pedigree send by the veterinarian to:
Dr. H.S. Kooistra
Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University
Yalelaan 108
3584 CM Utrecht
The Netherlands
CsW dwarfpup
- After the test the university will send a bill to the owner
- The costs of this genetic test is Euro 100 (excl. VAT).
- When the university has received the paying of the owner, they will send him the test result.
- When the dog is free of dwarfism gen, the owner also receives an official certificate.
Saarlooswolfhond dwarf 4 months and GSD dwarf 2 years
Update results Dwarfism test click here
11-2011
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When a dwarf is born
Pituitary dwarfism exists in CsW breed and we know several dwarfs in different countries from different lines.
When a CsW is carrier of the dwarfism gene it is not any problem, this dog will not get pituitary dwarfism.
You also can breed without problems, you only have to make a combination with a Free dog and no dwarfs will be born.
But because yet only a few CsW's are tested, still dwarfs will be born.
So I also will give some info for owners and breeders of dwarfs.
When a dwarf is born an owner/breeder can think about a few options:
- Keep it yourself without treatment
- Keep it yourself with treatment (and you have to find a university or well specialized vet who can measure hormone values and who has the possibility to give thyroxine and p GH)
- Euthanize the dwarf in the country of your own when the dwarf becomes ill and suffers
- Euthanize the dwarf in Holland (The university did ask me to tell you all this option too).
- Adoption in Holland by the new Dutch Dwarfism Foundation where a dwarf can get treatment
About medication for a dwarf:
Any defect in the development of the pituitary gland causes a lack in producing hormones. And most dogs with pituitary dwarfism has a lack of these hormones GH, TSH, PRL, FSH, LH, ACTH.
That is why a dog with Pituitary Dwarfism have to be treated with a combination of GH (grow hormone) and thyroid hormone.
But it is not possible to treat a dwarf with canine GH, because it is not available for medical use.
But porcine GH (of pigs) is identical to canine GH, and a good alternative for treatment.
I don't know if porcine GH is available in other countries
About dwarfs without treatment:
Some dwarfs without treatment can become between 4 and 5 year old. But there is a huge individual difference.
Because some dwarfs still produces a bit of GH of their own!
And their prognoses also it depends of how their kidneys were developed because of this.
Because the progression of kidney failure is also important for the age a dwarf can reach.
The Dutch university did even know a dwarf that did become 10 years old without treatment, because his kidneys did function (because of his own producing of GH) His only problems were bold skin and skin inflammation.
So nobody can ever predict what age an individual dwarf can reach.
About treatment:
The Dutch university knows after years of research that giving a combination of thyroid hormone in combination with porcine pGH is giving good results.
With giving the pGH in the first year they stimulate the kidneys of a dwarf to develop in a normal way.
They did find out that start with giving pGH after the first year did not have any results and influence on the kidneys anymore.
And when the kidneys did not develop (and grow)the first year in the right way, this cannot be treated anymore with medicines. (The lack of development of kidneys causes a lot of problems for dwarfs)
So the Dutch university only starts with treating very young dwarfs with giving pGH in combination with thyorid hormone.
About the research:
The Dutch university is still doing research about treatment and the development of the dwarfs. And so they treat dwarfs of some breeds on this moment.
But for their research they also need pituitary's of dwarfs, so they can do more investigation of the dwarf process and see what is exactly going wrong in the pituitary.
And this research of pituitary's can be a great help for dwarfs (and human) in future.
And that is why they did ask me to ask all owners of dwarfs to help them also with this research.
So when you dwarf is very ill and you have to make sad decisions or consider to euthanatize, please contact me!
And we can also speak about the possibilities to euthanatize in the Dutch university (because then your dwarf can also be great help for other dwarfs)
About adoption and treatment in Holland
In 2010 the Dutch Dwarf foundation "Saartje" was founded. This foundations will give info about dwarfism in dog breeds and the possibility of testing.
Besides this they also offer dwarf dogs a new home and treatment.
So an owner of a dwarf can donate the dwarf for free to the foundation. And the foundation will become the new owner of the dwarf and will take care for treatment and will pay for this.
I hope I could help dwarf owners/breeders a bit with all this info
When you still have questions, just contact us! info@wolfdog-healthinfo.org
