Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Late-onset progressive spinocerebellar disease in Brittany Spaniel
By Higgins, R J et al.·Published in Acta neuropathologica·1998·Department of Pathology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Late-onset progressive spinocerebellar degeneration in Brittany Spaniel dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of Brittany Spaniel dogs, aged 7 to 14 years, showed signs of a serious neurological condition over a period of 6 months to 4 years. Symptoms included unusual movements of their front legs, difficulty walking, and tremors. As the condition progressed, some dogs had trouble moving and crawled in a crouched position. Unfortunately, the exact cause of this condition remains unknown, and the dogs experienced significant neurological decline.
People also search for: Brittany Spaniel neurological symptoms · dog tremors and walking problems · elderly dog coordination issues
Abstract
Eight Brittany Spaniel dogs, seven females and one male, between 7 and 14 years old presented with clinical neurological signs of spinocerebellar disease of about 6 months to 4 years duration. Clinically the dogs had a dramatic forward "saluting" movement of the thoracic limbs, hypermetria of the pelvic limbs, cerebellar ataxia and intention tremors. Terminally, dogs crawled in a crouched thoracic posture with neck extension. Lesions were confined to cerebellum, medulla oblongata and spinal cord. The most severe lesion was diffuse Purkinje cell loss with massive neurofilament accumulation in degenerating cells. There was some bilateral neuronal degeneration in the dorsal horns of the spinal cord and in the gracilis and cuneate nuclei. There was bilateral sporadic axonal degeneration in the dorsal columns and lateral and ventromedial areas of the spinal cord. The etiology of this syndrome was not determined.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9678519/