Romyldale Morningstar

Morgan is a very special little lady, and not just because she reminds so much of her daddy at the same age. Morgan is a survivor. Her dam, Lessa, has produced three litters for a total of nineteen puppies with only three surviving. Her first litter was a litter of six and all six were affected by what appeared to be a neurologic disorder beginning at around 5 1/2 weeks of age. The puppies began experiencing seizures followed by uncoordination that progressed until they were unable to stand or raise their heads and had to be hand fed. Michigan State University became involved at this point and one of the puppies was euthanized. Autopsy showed a spongy degeneration of the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, or leukodystrophy. The puppies seemed to rally and regained a great deal of their coordination (were able to walk, feed themselves and even play), but then began to experience clusters of seizures and were either euthanized or died as a result of prolonged seizuring. The last puppy was euthanized at eleven weeks of age. This is Josee one of my puppies from the first litter.

I approached Lessa's co owners, Arlene Badura and Rita Rice, and discussed whether she should be spayed and placed in a pet home. They consulted with several knowledgable breeders and the consensus was that she should be given another chance as MSU was unable to determine at that time if this was an inheritable disorder or a possible toxic exposure. I was reluctant to whelp another litter of possibly defective puppies, so Arlene took Lessa when she came into season and bred her to an unrelated sire. That litter consisted of five puppies. Three died between three and five weeks of age. I saw the surviving puppies at around five to six weeks of age and the female was exhibiting similiar symptoms to what I had observed with my litter. MSU was contacted and accepted both puppies for further testing. Autopsies showed spongy degeneration in the bitch puppy only. At this point I was again ready to spay Lessa, but Dr. Sheri Wood DVM intervened. She believed Lessa was too valuable from a research standpoint. She agreed to adopt Lessa as her own personal dog and repeated the first breeding. Eight puppies resulted. One puppy died within 24 hours of whelping. Four were affected and were eventually humanely euthanized. Three appear to be completely normal. Morgan is one of these three. Dr. Wood was not in a position to keep three healthy puppies, so two were placed with my veterinarian and his receptionist's parents.

There has been further research at the University of Wisconsin and the disorder has been identified as a mutation in Lessa's mitochondrial DNA. I believe Dr. Li's work is due to be published. Dr. Li's research would have benefitted from more DNA samples particularly from females closely related to Lessa.

Morgan continues to enjoy normal health, she has been spayed and placed in a loving home.

Pedigree