Congenital peripheral vestibular disease attributed to lymphocytic labyrinthitis in two related litters of Doberman pinscher pups.

Five Doberman Pinscher pups from a litter of 10 (litter A) and 3 of 9 pups from a subsequent mating of the same bitch (litter B) had clinical signs consistent with unilateral or bilateral peripheral vestibular disease. Results of CBC, serum biochemical analysis, urinalysis, ophthalmologic examination, deep otoscopic examination, and CSF analysis were normal in all affected pups. Bacteriologic culture results from CSF were negative and affected pups did not have canine distemper antibody titers in CSF. The most severely affected littermates were euthanatized and necropsied at the owner's request. Gross lesions were not found at necropsy, but marked lymphocytic labyrinthitis was discovered microscopically in decalcified sections of the labyrinthine system. The case history and histologic findings were suggestive of an infectious, most likely viral, cause, but organisms were not isolated from specimens of CNS tissue. The involvement of the same bitch in the 2 litters suggests heritable factors. One mildly affected pup apparently recovered or compensated for its vestibular dysfunction.