Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Progressive abnormal walking in adult Jack Russell Terrier with SETX
By Shelton, G Diane et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2026·Department of Pathology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Progressive abnormal gait in an adult Jack Russell Terrier with a homozygous frameshift variant in SETX (senataxin).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old male Jack Russell Terrier was brought in for a progressive abnormal gait that had been worsening for 9 months. The dog showed signs of stiffness and a hopping movement in the back legs, often lifting one leg while trying to move. Despite normal blood tests and muscle biopsies, a genetic test revealed a mutation in the SETX gene, which is linked to gait issues in this breed. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for this condition, and the focus is on managing the dog's symptoms as they progress.
People also search for: Jack Russell Terrier abnormal gait · dog genetic mutation SETX · dog stiffness treatment
Abstract
Here we describe an 8-year-old intact male Jack Russell Terrier with a 9-month history of slowly progressive gait disturbances that advanced over 2 years to generalized stiffness without ataxia and severe bilateral hyperflexion of all limbs. Gait evaluation showed high lifting of both pelvic limbs resulting in a hopping movement in the rear end; the right pelvic limb was kept lifted, making the dog trot on the 3 other limbs. Both thoracic limbs were lifted higher than normal. Complete blood count and serum biochemistry analysis including creatine kinase activity were normal. Electrophysiological examination showed no abnormalities. Muscle biopsy samples collected at a later stage of the disease showed no abnormalities. A homozygous frameshift variant in SETX (senataxin) was identified and is predicted to truncate about 85% of the protein. The SETX variant adds a new gene variant to the list affecting Jack Russell Terriers with gait abnormalities.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42105303/