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Jaw Pain / Tightness?

moobywan

Active member
Hi there, my French Bulldog (Mooby) was diagnosed with SM back in April 2011. Mooby has been doing pretty well on Gabapentin (100mg / 3x a day) and amantadine. Mooby was also on prednisone, but we have started weening her off that because she has developed calcinosis cutis. Anyway, on the prednisone we are down to 2.5mg every other day.

We noticed yesterday that Mooby has started rubbing her face into me, her dad and her fur brother more often. She also has been doing her air guitar scratching more recently. On top of that she is having trouble opening her jaw, to the point we are almost having to push her pills into her mouth.

So my questions are...
  • Has anyone ever seen a jaw symptom like this with SM?
  • Is it normal for SM to progress to need more medication?

Thanks!
 
I remember reading Mooby's story when you first came on CT and Mooby was made an honorary cavalier. Sorry she isn't doing well. I don't have any answers for you but I'm sure someone will be able to give you some advice.
 
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So sorry to hear Mooby is having trouble. I would recommend that you schedule an appointment to see your vet as soon as possible. I haven't heard of that kind of jaw resistance associated with SM, but my cav Butters was diagnosed with another condition (masticatory muscle myositis) that presented that way. Trismus (difficulty opening the jaw) and muscle wasting just around the jaw muscles (particularly the dog's temples) are the two main features. The mainstay of treatment is also prednisone.
 
I remember Mooby; so nice to hear from you and glad she has done well so far. :flwr:

I'd def check with a vet -- have also not heard of jaw issues associated with SM but cavaliers but as helpfully noted already, there is a condition called masticatory myositis -- cavaliers unusually tend to get this under a year of age, in contrast to other breeds -- in which the jaws start to seize up. It is important to address it asap in dogs. Perhaps this is the issue?

http://www.michvet.com/library/neurology_masticatory_myositis.asp

Let us know what your vet thinks and how Mooby does.

Oh and yes, it is common for SM to progress and for meds to need changing -- sometimes increased dosage, or adding something else in or changing them around. My Leo started on 50mg gabapentin 2x and after 8 years was up to 200mg 3x before I switched him to Lyrica (now 50mg 2x).
 
best see your vet, someone on my facebook had a cav with similar symptoms , it turned out to be an abscess behind its eye or in its sinus
 
I guess I did leave out a little information (sorry about that). Her jaw seized about a number of months ago (5 months, maybe - hard to remember). At that time with thought it was maybe Masticatory Myositis. We had Mooby tested for it (blood tither test) and it came back negative. Even though the test was negative, we did treat for MM (per our vet). We blasted with steroids and VERY slowly started to taper off. When we started to taper Mooby also had a dental where they found a large abscess on the left side. They were surprised by this because she had been seen by so many vets who didn't see it. Anyway, they also found via x-ray that her lower canines (which had never come in, we just thought she didn't have them) were actually laying parallel to the jaw bone. After her dental she was scheduled for oral surgery to remove these teeth. On the 20th the doggie dentist went in to remove the lower canines. He got in there and it was much more complicated than he thought and was only able to remove the left side. The right side will come in a couple months.

Through many conversations with the dentist I asked him if the teeth issue / abscess was affecting her jaw. He said he thought it had to be something else.

One thing does work when her jaw starts to seize up, prednisone. But, like I mentioned, she has developed calcinosis cutis from the prednisone so we need to stop that. I just am trying to be proactive about looking for a cause of this because Mooby has seen a general practitioner, internal medicine specialist, neurologist and dentist over the last few months.
 
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