Some Hereditary Neurologic Diseases of Animals

Abstract

The recent upsurge of interest in these diseases has been occasioned by their increasingly frequent recognition. Since the clinical signs in many of these conditions are apparent at birth and are often dramatic, the increased incidence is evidently genuine rather than a result of better diagnosis. In cattle, hereditary nervous disorders may be increasing as a result of breeding many females to a few sires which is made possible by artificial insemination. In many breeds of dogs, there has been intensive inbreeding to a few sires which have been show champions. Most of these diseases are recessive, and the parents of affected animals do not themselves show clinical or anatomic abnormalities. The opportunities for inadvertently perpetuating a disease and increasing the number of carrier animals in a given breed are thus considerable.