Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae in cats and their effects on morphology of adjacent joints

The present study aimed to describe the radiographic appearance of lumbosacral transitional vertebrae in the cat and compare prevalence of hip dysplasia and lumbosacral spondylosis with a population of cats without transitional vertebrae. Pelvic radiographs of cats were reviewed retrospectively, providing a population of 100 cats without transitional vertebrae and 14 examples of lumbosacral transitional vertebrae. All cats were assessed for hip dysplasia and lumbosacral spondylosis; the lumbosacral transitional vertebrae identified were also assessed for asymmetry or rotation of sacro-iliac (SI) attachment. The transitional vertebrae demonstrated a wide variety of morphology; six cats had asymmetry or rotation of SI attachment in a dorsal plane; four of those six cats had lumbosacral spondylosis and two of these had hip dysplasia. No further examples of degenerative changes were identified in the remaining eight cats with lumbosacral transitional vertebrae. The frequency of lumbosacral spondylosis was higher in the population with lumbosacral transitional vertebrae, but this was not statistically significant. There was a marked trend towards lumbosacral spondylosis in cats with pelvic rotation or asymmetry. The frequency of hip dysplasia in cats with lumbosacral transitional vertebrae was very similar to those without.