ErikaS.
Well-Known Member
Eosinophilic myositis, hopefully spelled right, is an auto-immune disease in large breed dogs and King Cavalier spaniels in which the dog's body attacks its own jaw or mandibular muscles. We have been fighting this disease with my St. Bernard for 10 months and I am just not seeing any end in sight. The treatment is cortisone to calm the inflammation.
It started with what I thought was a fungal infection in her ear. Took her to the vet. Treated her for ear infection. Then her cheek and progressively the side of her face swelled up. Thought it was an infection from one of my other dogs biting her- got her face drained. Then the other ear started oozing and the other side of her face swelled. This time she had noticable pain when opening her mouth- a tell-tale sign of the disease- and she was diagnosed and treated and treated and treated. We're at the chronic stage now and my beautiful fat Saint isn't the same and never will be. Her face is skeletal and oozes from where the swelling erupted. I try to keep her bandaged or in a cone so she doesn't scratch her face raw ...again. Her ears ooze. She lost a lot of muscle mass throughout her whole body. Fortunately, she can still open her mouth about an inch, so she can still eat and drink...and she does.....And she stinks.
My husband and I don't know how much longer to keep going with this. The vet says it will stop when there is no more jaw muscle to destroy.
Sorry this is really unpleasant. What would you do if she was your dog?
** I wanted to thank everyone who replied. We have talked with our vet at length and decided putting our Saint down would probably be the best option. We haven't set the date yet as my husband and I are not ready. It will be soon as she is still not any better. She has had a good life, been a good dog and we have done all we could for her, so I am okay with it. Just not fair that bad things happen to good dogs. Thanks again, Erika****
It started with what I thought was a fungal infection in her ear. Took her to the vet. Treated her for ear infection. Then her cheek and progressively the side of her face swelled up. Thought it was an infection from one of my other dogs biting her- got her face drained. Then the other ear started oozing and the other side of her face swelled. This time she had noticable pain when opening her mouth- a tell-tale sign of the disease- and she was diagnosed and treated and treated and treated. We're at the chronic stage now and my beautiful fat Saint isn't the same and never will be. Her face is skeletal and oozes from where the swelling erupted. I try to keep her bandaged or in a cone so she doesn't scratch her face raw ...again. Her ears ooze. She lost a lot of muscle mass throughout her whole body. Fortunately, she can still open her mouth about an inch, so she can still eat and drink...and she does.....And she stinks.
My husband and I don't know how much longer to keep going with this. The vet says it will stop when there is no more jaw muscle to destroy.
Sorry this is really unpleasant. What would you do if she was your dog?
** I wanted to thank everyone who replied. We have talked with our vet at length and decided putting our Saint down would probably be the best option. We haven't set the date yet as my husband and I are not ready. It will be soon as she is still not any better. She has had a good life, been a good dog and we have done all we could for her, so I am okay with it. Just not fair that bad things happen to good dogs. Thanks again, Erika****
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