Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blindness and unsteady walk in young Australian Cattle Dogs
By Sisk, D B et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1990·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical and pathologic features of ceroid lipofuscinosis in two Australian cattle dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Two Australian Cattle Dog siblings, both around 1 year old, started showing signs of a serious condition that affected their vision and movement. Over several months, they became blind and developed coordination problems, known as ataxia. After thorough testing, veterinarians diagnosed them with ceroid lipofuscinosis, a lysosomal storage disease that is similar to a condition seen in humans. Unfortunately, this disease is progressive, and there is currently no cure, meaning the dogs will continue to experience worsening symptoms over time.
People also search for: Australian Cattle Dog vision problems · ceroid lipofuscinosis in dogs · dog ataxia treatment
Abstract
A lysosomal storage disease was diagnosed in 2 Australian Cattle Dog siblings, using light and electron microscopic evaluation. Both dogs developed clinical signs of disease at about 1 year of age. Vision and motor function deteriorated over several months; by 2 years of age, the dogs were blind and had progressive ataxia. Cytoplasmic inclusions with ultrastructural patterns characteristic of ceroid lipofuscin were observed in most neurons examined and in the cells of several other parenchymatous tissues. Biochemical studies, including determination of lysosomal enzyme activities, excluded several other lysosomal storage diseases. In these dogs, the clinical and pathologic features of the disease were similar to those of the juvenile subtype of ceroid lipofuscinosis (Batten disease) in human beings.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2391273/