LEUKOENCEPHALOMALACIA AND CEREBRAL WHITE-MATTER VACUOLAR DEGENERATIONIN 2 RELATED LABRADOR RETRIEVER PUPPIES

Two Labrador Retriever dogs from a common dam had similar neurological deficits consisting of cortical blindness, dullness, and loss of prev iously learned habits. Both were examined at 5 months of age, and hist opathological examination revealed leucoencephalomalacia and vacuolar degeneration of the cerebral white matter. Histopathologic findings in these 2 dogs differed from those reported previously in Labrador Retr ievers with spongy degeneration of central nervous system white matter . A nonlittermate full sibling to 1 of these dogs was examined at 1.5 years of age for similar clinical signs that did not progress for the next 25 months.