Masticatory Muscle Myositis - Page 1

Does anyone have any info on Masticatory Muscle Myositis.  Is this genetic?  Treatment?

Treatment is high doses of steriods for several months, eventually tapering off as the dog recovers.  There is a predisposition in certain breeds such as German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, I've seen quite a few Goldens with this, all had full recovery but it was a rough few months.  It is said that the immune system attacks the 2M muscle fibers in the jaw, so it falls into that category of autoimmune disorders which we all know are unfortunately pretty common in the GSD breed.  It can happen overnight, the dog will be fine one day and the next it cannot open it's mouth, usually around the age of 3 years.

Bhall:  From my past experience it CAN possibly be Auto Immune related.  Don't know if that is this particular case but that has been my experience with it.  Also the jaw CAN sometimes not be able to be opened up, really an ugly disease.  Best of luck  Nanci

Bhall my vet at the time I was experiencing this problem said it could possibly be caused by an injury to the mouth or the roof of the mouth like some sort of puncture wound to the roof of the mouth;  I hope this is not the case but I seem to remember (25: years ago or so) that prednisone was given but that dog did not have a good outcome and long term trouble along with seizures, etc.  Best of luck  Nanci

I believe that it's not the injury that causes it, but if the dog does injure it's mouth and has the predisposition to get this disease, that can bring it on.  The handful of dogs that I saw with this condition while working at the vet all recovered and were able to open their mouth back to full range.  They were all Goldens and 1 large Hound dog.