DERMATOMYOSITIS (DM)
DM is an inherited inflammatory disease of the skin and/or muscle, most commonly found in
Collies, Shetland Sheepdogs and crossbreeds of these two breeds.
( I do not know a great deal about this subject, but am doing more online research.)
Symptoms: Skin lesions with hair loss, there may or may not be redness and/or crusting of the skin on
the ears, face, legs and tip of tail. One or many of these areas may be affected.
Muscle Atrophy can be non-existent or so severe that the muscle may atrophy.
Eating problems & possibly death may occur from an enlarged esophagus. Skin lesions
usually develop wth the first few years of life, but may not appear until seven or eight years old.
Possible Triggers: are stress related though many dogs have no recognized trigger.
Recommendations: Spay or neuter the animal as this is a genetic problem, and response to medication
seems stronger. DM does not itch unless there is a secondary infection, so generally
if there is itching it would not be DM.
Treatments: May be required for months or even the life of your dog. There are many drugs being used
to treat DM, and your vet is the best one to advise you on this since each dog responds
differently to individual drugs.
....so you can see why DNA testing is so vital to our wonderful Collie
breed. The more participants, the sooner a DNA test will be available
and the sooner collie breeders will be able to identify and eliminate
affected dogs from their bloodlines, and effectively choose dogs
who are clear of DM to use in their breeding programs.
I also wanted to say that all this sounds frightening when we are considering our own dogs.
I do not know what the percentage is of DM in Collies, but I will try to find out and post it here in the
next couple of weeks. I know of no occurrences of DM, PRA, Epilepsy or bloat in the dogs
I am breeding, and if it should ever occur I intend to be upfront
and honest about the genetics of my dogs.
A few of my dogs are affected with CEA, and if you have read the CEA
page you will see that I am working on that, while at the same time doing all
I can to remain true to the American collie standard.
All of this takes time, but as you can see,
many breeders are looking to the future to correct the things
that today's research is making possible.
Collies, Shetland Sheepdogs and crossbreeds of these two breeds.
( I do not know a great deal about this subject, but am doing more online research.)
Symptoms: Skin lesions with hair loss, there may or may not be redness and/or crusting of the skin on
the ears, face, legs and tip of tail. One or many of these areas may be affected.
Muscle Atrophy can be non-existent or so severe that the muscle may atrophy.
Eating problems & possibly death may occur from an enlarged esophagus. Skin lesions
usually develop wth the first few years of life, but may not appear until seven or eight years old.
Possible Triggers: are stress related though many dogs have no recognized trigger.
Recommendations: Spay or neuter the animal as this is a genetic problem, and response to medication
seems stronger. DM does not itch unless there is a secondary infection, so generally
if there is itching it would not be DM.
Treatments: May be required for months or even the life of your dog. There are many drugs being used
to treat DM, and your vet is the best one to advise you on this since each dog responds
differently to individual drugs.
....so you can see why DNA testing is so vital to our wonderful Collie
breed. The more participants, the sooner a DNA test will be available
and the sooner collie breeders will be able to identify and eliminate
affected dogs from their bloodlines, and effectively choose dogs
who are clear of DM to use in their breeding programs.
I also wanted to say that all this sounds frightening when we are considering our own dogs.
I do not know what the percentage is of DM in Collies, but I will try to find out and post it here in the
next couple of weeks. I know of no occurrences of DM, PRA, Epilepsy or bloat in the dogs
I am breeding, and if it should ever occur I intend to be upfront
and honest about the genetics of my dogs.
A few of my dogs are affected with CEA, and if you have read the CEA
page you will see that I am working on that, while at the same time doing all
I can to remain true to the American collie standard.
All of this takes time, but as you can see,
many breeders are looking to the future to correct the things
that today's research is making possible.
| Breeds affected with DM Collies Shetland Sheepdogs German Shepherds Autralian Cattle Dogs Pembroke Welsh Corgi Chow Chow Kuvasz & mixes of these Humans also may have this disorder. |