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A Comparison of
Bichon Dyskinesia,
White Dog Shaker Syndrome and Epilepsy
Anne Jones RN, BSNE
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There are three conditions with signs
that are similar that can be found in Bichons. Each of them is rare
in our breed but each will need to be considered if the dog displays
these signs. Diagnosis can only be made by a veterinarian or a
veterinary neurologist. The intent of this article is to familiarize
the pet owner with the diseases so that he or she will know what to
look for and to describe to the vet.
Inherited epilepsy is a neurological event that will need
diagnosis and treatment from the onset. Your dog will have a seizure
and the inherited form of epilepsy usually will appear by the time
he is three years old. Inherited epilepsy and seizures that are a
sign of other metabolic or neurologic diseases look the same so it
takes careful medical examination and testing to determine the
underlying cause of the seizure. For a better understanding of
epilepsy, there is a significant amount of information on the
website of the Epilepsy Foundation, which can be reached via
a link on this web site (see Links above). Based on data collected
by BFCA, inherited epilepsy is relatively rare in Bichons compared
to many other breeds.
Seizures begin with a contraction of skeletal muscles and the
dog loses consciousness. The legs will stretch out, the dog will
fall over and the body will begin to twitch, called the tonic phase.
He may vocalize, lose control of his bladder or defecate. As the
clonic phase begins, his jaws will snap shut and he will appear to
be running in place as his legs rhythmically move. If not
stabilized, he may in fact have the ability to run briefly and out
of control. In a small breed such as a Bichon, it is best to attempt
to wrap him in a towel and hold him close until his body relaxes.
Even if he gets up and tries to walk, he will not be in control and
should be crated because he will actually still not be in control or
aware of surroundings. We do get quite a few reports of seizures
in Bichons and they are most often related to some existing
condition that needs veterinary diagnosis and treatment. A
seizure cannot be ignored. Any seizure is a sign of serious health
issues.
The other two conditions mentioned above appear to be extremely rare
in Bichons. There is an article on Bichon Dyskinesia on this
site and there is no need to go further into explanation of this
disease. The important point that must be made is that you will
almost certainly not be able to have your veterinarian witness a
dyskinesia event in the clinic. Therefore you must make
arrangements to videotape several episodes. In the meantime, you
should make an appointment with your vet as soon as you have
witnessed the behavior. There is the possibility that the dog is
having a seizure in some form and a delay could postpone diagnosis
and treatment of some other condition. If you want to take a copy of
this article or the article on dyskinesia with you, feel free to do
so. We always recommend veterinary examination about any unusual
sign of illness and he or she will rule out other possible
conditions. If there is no other diagnosis, then you may need to
consider Bichon dyskinesia if the behavior sounds similar. This
condition was first diagnosed in a Bichon in Great Britain and later
diagnosed in an American Bichon in 1998. At this time we have fewer
than 10 confirmed cases in our files with about as many possible but
unconfirmed cases..
White dog shaker syndrome has appeared on lists of diseases
likely to occur in Bichons Frises almost as long as Bichons have
been recognized as a breed in the United States. As of this date
(early 2007), we have had exactly one report come to our
health committee of this diagnosis. That does not mean it does not
occur but it is either being missed or misdiagnosed. However it does
occur in Maltese with some frequency and the Maltese is a cousin in
the bichon family of dogs.
White dog shaker syndrome is reported to first appear in
young dogs under age 3 years and in both sexes. They have a fine
tremor of the body that gets worse when excited or agitated and may
be accompanied by weakness, tilting of the head and possibly
seizures. It appears to be a condition of the central nervous
system, with an increase in white blood cells found in cerebrospinal
fluid. Treatment with corticosteroids long term should bring about
resolution of symptoms but lifelong low dose treatment may be
needed. It is not considered a fatal disease. Information about the
condition is found on maltese and terrier web sites because they are
the breeds most often diagnosed with it. Because we do not have
reports in Bichons does not mean that it can be ruled out. (Please
note that there is another condition with head tilt called
vestibular disease which occurs mostly in older dogs. That is a
disease of the middle ear.)
In summary, with a seizure the dog will collapse and extend his body
in a rigid position with jaw snapping or clamping, rhythmic
movements of the legs and possibly vocalization. He will continue to
be disoriented for a time after the seizure ends. With dyskinesia,
the dog walks along normally, halts, extends one or more limbs,
holds the position for a period of seconds to minutes, relaxes and
walks on. He may fall if the episode involves several limbs. He
rises afterward and is clearheaded. With white dog shaker syndrome,
there are tremors of the body, agitation and weakness and there may
be tilting of the head to one side. These episodes can be lengthy
and will likely be more frequent.
In order that we may maintain data on illness in Bichons, we request
that anyone having a Bichon diagnosed with any of the above
conditions (or of any inherited condition) fill out a Health
Incident Report and submit it to our health committee. This
enables us to know if disease is present in the breed, how
frequently it is diagnosed and, with the submission of pedigree
information, the genetic inheritance. While some breeders hesitate
to provide pedigree information, this information is only used by a
very limited committee and kept confidential to enable us to
study trends. Only through knowing the genetic history can the
condition be eliminated!
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