Diseases that affect the muscles of the dog often involve the nervous system and are difficult to diagnose without sophisticated testing by a veterinarian. A common clinical sign for most of the diseases includes intermittent or generalized muscle weakness and pain. Canine muscle diseases include:
Canine myasthenia gravis, which is characterized by generalized periodic weakness
Tick paralysis, caused by a toxin that produces ascending paralysis of the skeletal muscle
Polymyositis, which involves inflammation that produces lameness and pain in the skeletal muscles which cannot be attributed to any other cause. Polymyositis often involves the muscles of mastication — another common sign can be lockjaw.
Dermatomyositis, which involves inflammation of canine muscles along with characteristic skin lesions
Degenerative myelopathy, a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs — the disease has an insidious onset typically between 8 and 14 years of age and begins with a loss of coordination in the hind limbs.
Canine muscular dystrophy, a rarely seen genetic muscular disease
Peripheral neuropathies like coonhound paralysis is a good example of an inflammatory peripheral neuropathy.
A strong immune system is essential to good health and longevity and the result of providing optimum nutrition to your dog.
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