Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder of dogs that causes progressive deterioration of the muscles. It is often caused by a deficiency of dystrophin, the protein that helps stabilize and regenerate muscle tissue. Muscular dystrophy usually affects male dogs more severely than female dogs.
Risk Factors for Muscular Dystrophy in Dogs
Canine muscular dystrophy is an hereditary disease carried on the X-chromosome. Female dogs may carry the gene for the disease while showing no symptoms. If they develop muscular dystrophy, the symptoms are often much milder than they are in male dogs. In order for a female dog to succumb to muscular dystrophy, both of her parents must pass on the defective gene, while a male dog might develop the disease if only one of his parents passes on the defective gene.
Certain breeds tend to be more prone than others to muscular dystrophy. It is especially common in Golden Retrievers, but can also occur in the following breeds:
- Brittany Spaniel
- Samoyed
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi
- Miniature Schnauzer
- German Shorthaired Pointer
- Rat Terrier
- Labrador Retriever
- Irish Terrier
- Groenendaeler Shepherd
Because muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder, dogs with this disease should not be breed. If your dog has a family history of muscular dystrophy, he should not be bred, even if he shows no symptoms of his own.
Symptoms of Canine Muscular Dystrophy
The symptoms of muscular dystrophy typically begin early in life, when puppies are about eight weeks old. When the disease first appears, it causes general weakness, intolerance to exercise and stiffness of gait.
The disease quickly progresses to more obvious muscle degeneration. Your dog's muscles will become weaker and weaker, his tongue may swell up, and he may have trouble swallowing. Your dog may have difficulty using or moving his tongue, and may hold food in his mouth, or drop it after chewing, because he's unable to swallow it. He may suffer from muscle spasms in his throat and neck that can last up to 30 seconds.
Dogs with muscular dystrophy often can't exercise at all. They have trouble breathing and trouble drinking water.
Diagnosing and Treating Muscular Dystrophy in Dogs
Your dog's progressive muscle deterioration might not be the result of muscular dystrophy. Similar symptoms can occur immune disorders, metabolic conditions or certain bacterial infections. Your vet will need biopsy samples of your dog's muscle tissue to confirm a diagnosis of muscular dystrophy. Having this diagnosis is important, because it gives you the power to eliminate this disease by not breeding your dog.
There is no way to cure or treat canine muscular dystrophy. Currently, researchers are working on promising new treatments using stem cells, but these treatments have not yet been fully developed.
Muscular dystrophy is always fatal. Puppies suffering from severe cases of muscular dystrophy may die within a few days of developing the first symptoms. Dogs with milder cases may survive for several years. Eventually, muscular dystrophy will affect your dog's heart; this complication is the most common cause of death for dogs with muscular dystrophy.