I

nAugust,theAKCCanineHealthFoundation(CHF)spon-
soredthe2013NationalParentClubCanineHealthCon-
ferenceinSt.Louis.LindaMurrayandIattendedthe

conferenceonbehalfofthePBGVCAandthePBGVHealth
andRescueFoundation,respectively.Weboththoughtthat
itwasafabulousexperience,withexcellenttalks,abundant
opportunitiestointeractwiththespeakers,andlotsoffree
dogbiscuits!Hereisasynopsisofthepresentationsthatwe
heardattheconference.

CanineEpilepsy:Whereweareandwhereweare

going.Epilepsyisaneurologicaldiseasethatdoesn’tstrike
thePBGVcommunityveryoften;however,whenitdoes
occur,theresultsaredevastatingfortheaffecteddogand
family.WilliamThomas,DVM,MS,DACVIM,Professorof
NeurologyandNeurosurgeryattheUniversityofTennessee,
describedthecausesandtreatmentsofcanineepilepsy.

Mostcommonly,theepilepticseizureproducesexcessive

synchronouselectricalactivityinbothsidesofthebrain,
aconditionknownasprimarygeneralizedseizures.The
generalizedtonic-clonicseizurewillstartwithafrightening
periodofmusclecontraction(tonicphase),followedby
rhythmicjerking,paddlingorrunning(clonicphase),which
canbeaccompaniedbyurinationand/ordefecation.These
seizuresgenerallystopspontaneously,afterwhichthedog
maybewobblyandblindfor15to20minutes.Unlike
generalizedseizures,focalseizuresarerestrictedtoone
regionofthebrain.Theclinicalpicturedependsonthearea
thatisaffected.Forexample,electricalactivityinthevisual
cortexmaycausethedogtoseespotsdancingbeforehim,
leadingtoafly-bitingactivity.

Generalizedtonic-clonicseizuresthatlastfiveminutesor

morearereferredtoasstatusepilepticus.Ifaseizuredoesn’t
stopbyfiveminutes,itgenerallywon’tstop;thiscanbelife
threateningorleadtobraindamage.Multipleseizuresthat
occurwithinashortperiodoftimearecalledclusterseizures.

Dr.Thomasreportedthatonetotwopercentofalldogs

willhavesomeoccurrenceofseizuresinhis/herlifetime.
Sometimestheseizurewillbeduetoadistincttumorwithin
thebrainortoametabolicdisorder.Whentheseizureshave
noknownunderlyingcause,theyarereferredtoasidiopathic.

Idiopathicepilepsyissuspectedtohaveageneticbasis.Sixty
percentofdogswithidiopathicepilepsywillsufferstatusor
clusterseizuresatsomepoint.Thisismorecommoninlarge
dogsandresultsinasignificantlyreducedlifespan.

Thetypicalageofonsetofidiopathicepilepsyisbetween

1and5yearsofage.Priortotheirfirstseizureandbetween
seizures,affecteddogsappeartobeperfectlynormal.
Unfortunately,thereisnotesttopredictwhetheradog
willbeaffected.Theclinicaldiagnosisisbaseduponruling
outotherbraindiseases.Importantdiagnostictestsinclude
brainimagingandanalysisofcerebrospinalfluid.Often
thecerebrospinalfluidwillshowsignsofinflammation.

Currenttreatments,phenobarbitalandbromide,don’tfix

theepilepsy;instead,theysuppresstheseizures.Wewerevery
surprisedtolearnthatbromidewasfirstusedinthe1850’s
andphenobarbitalusebeganinthe1920’s.Incredibly,no
treatmentsthataremoreeffectivehaveemergedsincethen.

Whatdoweneedtodotobeatthisterribledisease?Most

importantly,weneedtoidentifythegenemutationsthat
makeadogsusceptibletoseizures.Thiswillgiveusabetter
understandingofwhatisgoingonduringaseizureand
willleadtobetterdiagnostictests.Itwillalsopermit
developmentofmoreeffectivedrugswithfewersideeffects.
Importantly,identificationofcausativegeneswillleadto
developmentofgeneticteststhatwillallowscreeningfor
carriersandaffecteddogs.

Inheritedcardiomyopathies:Understanding

uniqueclinicalandgeneticaspectsforyourbreed.
Cardiomyopathyliterallymeans“sickheartmuscle.”The
AKCwebsitedescribestwotypesofcardiomyopathiesin
dogs:hypertrophiccardiomyopathyanddilatedcardiomy-
opathy.“Inhypertrophiccardiomyopathy,thewallsofthe
chambersoftheheartthicken,leadingtoadecreasein
pumpingefficiency.Thisformofcardiacfailureisquiterare
indogs.Indilatedcardiomyopathy(DCM),thechambersof
theheartincreaseinsizeandthemusclesthatformthewalls
oftheheartstretchthinner.CanineDCMisoneofthecauses
ofcongestiveheartfailureandisthemorecommontypeof
cardiomyopathyindogs.”Mostinheritedcardiomyopathies
areadultonset;thatis,theyarediagnosedwhenthedogis
5yearsorolderratherthanpresentatbirth(congenital).

KathrynMeurs,DVM,PhD,NorthCarolinaStateUniversity

CollegeofVeterinaryMedicine,discussedcardiomyopathies
andtheirmodesofinheritance.Fortunately,PBGVsarenot
afflictedbyinheritedcardiomyopathies.Nevertheless,itis
worthwhiletouseDr.Meurs’sdiscussionofthesediseasesto
illustratetheprinciplesthatgovernallcaninegeneticdiseases.

DCMintheDobermanisanadultonsetdiseasewithan

autosomaldominantinheritance.Autosomalmeansthatthe
traitisnotcarriedonthesexchromosomesandcanaffect
malesandfemalesequally.Dominantmeansthatadogwill
beaffectedifitinheritsonediseasegenefromeitherparent.
AEuropeanstudytoevaluatetheprevalenceofDCMin
Dobermansofallagesrevealedthestunningfactthat58
percentofthebreedexhibitsclinicalsignsofthedisease(G.
Wess,2010).ThegeneforDCMinDobermansintheUnited
Stateshasbeenidentified;itencodesaproteinimportantfor
mitochondrialfunction.The

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www.pbgv.org

December2013

ISaberTails

ITheHealthyPNGV

byLauraLiscumonbehalfofthePBGVCAHealthCommittee

PhotosbyJaneSwanson

The2013AKC

CanineHealth

Foundation

Conference

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