Myositis
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Pugsavers
Aussie Witch
Renee
Saira
8 posters
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Myositis
Just in case anyone else's dog comes down with this, it was not something I was familiar with, nor have we ever seen it in rescue. So, I'm posting some links and some stuff on it, since early detection can mean a much better outcome. And when I was reading up on it, a lot of people said their vets missed it at first, so I am glad I had a vet who was on the ball.
Symptoms of acute MMM include swelling of the jaw muscles, drooling, and pain on opening the mouth. Ophthalmic signs may include third eyelid protrusion, red eyes, and exophthalmos (protruding eyeballs).
Sophie had been lethargic (for her) the day before. By the next day, she was dropping treats and was drooling. I may have noticed it earlier but we feed Honest Kitchen so she was still eating fine. While we did find a broken tooth, the main thing that alerted the vet to this was the fact that Sophie couldn't open her mouth more than 1/2 inch, even when they were doing the dental.
Diagnosis of MMM is through either biopsy of the temporalis or masseter muscles or the 2M antibody assay, in which blood serum of the possible MMM-dog is reacted with temporalis tissue of a normal dog, or both. We did the antibody test, however, it came back negative. But, there is a good possibility for this test to throw a false negative if the dog is immune supressed, so if your dog is...definitely keep that in mind. Sophie has been on Atopica since she was a few months old.
Treatment
Immunosuppressive doses of corticosteroids should result in clinical remission of masticatory myositis. Therapy is recommended for at least 4-6 months. The dose of corticosteroids is gradually reduced over that time period, starting two weeks after therapy is initiated.
Good links:
http://www.michvet.com/library/neurology_masticatory_myositis.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masticatory_muscle_myositis
Symptoms of acute MMM include swelling of the jaw muscles, drooling, and pain on opening the mouth. Ophthalmic signs may include third eyelid protrusion, red eyes, and exophthalmos (protruding eyeballs).
Sophie had been lethargic (for her) the day before. By the next day, she was dropping treats and was drooling. I may have noticed it earlier but we feed Honest Kitchen so she was still eating fine. While we did find a broken tooth, the main thing that alerted the vet to this was the fact that Sophie couldn't open her mouth more than 1/2 inch, even when they were doing the dental.
Diagnosis of MMM is through either biopsy of the temporalis or masseter muscles or the 2M antibody assay, in which blood serum of the possible MMM-dog is reacted with temporalis tissue of a normal dog, or both. We did the antibody test, however, it came back negative. But, there is a good possibility for this test to throw a false negative if the dog is immune supressed, so if your dog is...definitely keep that in mind. Sophie has been on Atopica since she was a few months old.
Treatment
Immunosuppressive doses of corticosteroids should result in clinical remission of masticatory myositis. Therapy is recommended for at least 4-6 months. The dose of corticosteroids is gradually reduced over that time period, starting two weeks after therapy is initiated.
Good links:
http://www.michvet.com/library/neurology_masticatory_myositis.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masticatory_muscle_myositis
Re: Myositis
This is a new one on me! It's always good to have as much information as possible, on all these obscure conditions and pray to Dog that you never need it. Thanks for the detailed info, Saira. And hope Sofa is back to her wicked ways asap.
Aussie Witch-  
- Number of posts : 8556
Location : The Antipodes.
Re: Myositis
Thanks so much for the information. I had never heard of it before either. Poor Miss Sofa has to be the pug that teaches us all.
Pugsavers-  
- Number of posts : 1541
Location : Sacramento, CA
Re: Myositis
Pugsavers wrote:Thanks so much for the information. I had never heard of it before either. Poor Miss Sofa has to be the pug that teaches us all.
Her vet uses her to teach her students!
Re: Myositis
One of my foster parent's had a black male pug who got this. He actually was caught early and did really well.
Re: Myositis
northernwitch wrote:One of my foster parent's had a black male pug who got this. He actually was caught early and did really well.
I think your theory of black pugs getting it due to bossiness is a good one. You were the only person I know who had heard of this!
Re: Myositis
All my years in rescue and I've never heard of this. Thanks for the info. How's she doing?
Brenda-  
- Number of posts : 2221
Location : Atlanta, GA
Re: Myositis
Well, like you, our rescue seems to get the genetic freaks. Between Tank and a couple of my fosters, my vet says she learns a ton from me and my animals.Saira wrote:northernwitch wrote:One of my foster parent's had a black male pug who got this. He actually was caught early and did really well.
I think your theory of black pugs getting it due to bossiness is a good one. You were the only person I know who had heard of this!
We have a bunch of hair loss on Tank's back end, particularly his tail--he's getting what's called rat tail--classic symptom of hypothyroid. Which he is. So we ran a full blood panel (at a rather staggering cost as I wanted a full thyroid panel as well) and so far everything is normal including his T4. T3 is slightly off so we're waiting for notes from the blood vet. Who knows what the deal is with him.....
Re: Myositis
Brenda wrote:All my years in rescue and I've never heard of this. Thanks for the info. How's she doing?
Brenda, she's improving. They measured how far she could open her mouth last night and it's now an inch. It's still painful though, and the poor girl has her tongue out now to one side. We go back in again on Monday.
Blanche, I hope they figure out what is going on with Tank.
Re: Myositis
At least you know and taught us all.
I hope she gets well soon, I am sure she will, your vet sounds like a keeper.
I hope she gets well soon, I am sure she will, your vet sounds like a keeper.
ocnside-  
- Number of posts : 718
Location : NC
Re: Myositis
I'm just glad that you and Sopha found each other and that your vet is on the ball. And I am very glad that she is improving.
Pugsaunt-  
- Number of posts : 6877
Location : On the shores of Penny's Marina in Sparks, NV
Re: Myositis
Pugsaunt wrote:I'm just glad that you and Sopha found each other and that your vet is on the ball. And I am very glad that she is improving.
We're tapering her steroids to lower levels and so far so good.
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