The Differences in Radiographic Vertebral Size in Dogs with Different Chest and Skull Types.

The objective of this study was to elucidate the differences in vertebral length, vertebral height, and vertebral length/height ratio of the fourth thoracic vertebra (T4), the second lumbar vertebra (L2), the fifth lumbar vertebra (L5) and the seventh lumbar vertebra (L7) based on radiographs in dogs with various body sizes, skull types, and thoracic conformations and to determine the relationships of these parameters with age and sex. A total of 258 dogs were included in this study and classified by three criteria-BW (Criterion 1), skull type (Criterion 2), and thoracic conformation (Criterion 3). Age had weak negative correlations with vertebral length and height.