Hello again,
After reviewing some of the comments made on my previous post, "Celebrities with Lupus", I received a good bit of feed back concerning former President George Bush Sr. and wife Barbar’s famous pet springer spaniel, Millie, having lupus. Because it sparked so many questions, I wanted to take a moment and provided some information on canine lupus.
Lupus in dogs, just as in humans, is a general term for an autoimmune disease characterized by the formation of antibodies against the body’s own tissues. There are two distinct forms of lupus in dogs. They are discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). DLE, sometimes referred to as "collie nose" or "nasal solar dermatitis," is one of the most common immune-mediated skin diseases in dogs.
Symptoms
The symptoms of lupus vary widely and often are missed until the disease has reached an advanced stage.
DLE is a relatively benign variant of SLE wherein a dog becomes allergic to its own tissues. DLE primarily affects facial skin. The most common site is the hairless surface of the bridge of the nose. Other sites are the lips, mouth, and the area around the eyes, the ear flaps and, rarely, the genitalia or feet. Dogs with DLE usually are otherwise healthy.
SLE is a much more serious condition than its cutaneous counterpart. SLE is a multi-system, immune-mediated disease characterized by the formation of antibodies against normal body cells and tissues. Basically, the dog’s body attacks itself, from the inside out. While a large number of autoimmune symptoms can be caused by SLE, the most common sign of this disease is shifting leg lameness.
Treatment
DLE cannot be cured but is more manageable than the systemic form of the disease. The goals of treating DLE are to control and resolve the facial skin lesions, particularly on the hairless areas of the top of the muzzle. Treatment may include oral or topical antibiotics, topical lotions or ointments, oral vitamin E, oral fatty acid supplements and oral or topical corticosteroids. Affected dogs should be kept out of the sun as much as possible, because the symptoms of DLE worsen with exposure to ultraviolet light.
SLE is also incurable. The goals of treating SLE are to manage the symptoms of the disease, relieve the dog from pain and lameness and prevent progressive renal or other organ failure if possible. Because the effects of SLE often vary, not all cases need to be treated aggressively at all times. Dogs suffering from severe, acute-onset SLE may need to be hospitalized for initial management, until their condition is stabilized. There are a number of drugs that can be used to help manage SLE, including corticosteroids to suppress the abnormal immune reaction and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce the inflammatory response. Secondary bacterial skin infections should be treated aggressively with appropriate antibiotics.
Hopefully this has answered your questions and for you pet owners made you just a little more knowledgeable about pet health.
Until next time, check out the image below, comment, and post!
Thanks for reading!!!
Thanks for reading!!!
Thank you for this post, as I own a Chihuahua named Pixie. From reading your post I started looking at other articles about dogs with lupus. I have read where some dog owners have thought their dog had mange, and then later found out after taking them to the Vet, that it was indeed Lupus. After that I got to thinking, "What other animals have been diagnosed with Lupus, or is it just dogs that have been seen with this disease?" I've found that another popular domesticated animal, the cat, has also been known to carry lupus. There are many similarities with this disease between the two species. They both have the two distinct forms of the disease known as, DLE and SLE. As well as they show very similar symptoms and their treatment plan consists of the same medications. What I found interesting is even though there is no known cause of feline lupus, there does seem to be a genetic predisposition. The predominant breeds of cats that have been diagnosed with lupus are Persian, Himalayan, and Siamese cats. Yet again, no matter your gender, race, or species, we are shown that lupus does not discriminate.
ReplyDeleteReference:
http://www.petwave.com/Cats/Health/Immune/Lupus/Overview.aspx
Interesting. I was wondering if the medications used to treat animal lupus would be the same as those to treat human lupus. That also led me to wonder how common lupus is in animals, since that would surely affect treatment options. I couldn't find any statistics on the number of dogs with lupus, but, as Natasha said, it's a common skin disorder. I did find that 60% of affected dogs are female and that the mortality rate of dogs with SLE is 40%. According to lupus.org, the treatment in dogs is similar or the same as treatment in humans.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that dogs could be diagnosed with DLE. Studies done in rare cases show that dogs with DLE have gone on to develop a type of skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, at the site of their skin lesions. It is thought that the increased tendency towards developing a sunburn (because of the loss of protective pigments) and chronic inflammation of these areas is to blame. Through research testing, one day DLE can be cured.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else I was very surprised to hear that dogs could be diagnosed with Lupus and I was wondering if it had any tie to mange since its commonly mistaken for it. Do they use the same form of therapy as in humans and would they have the same reactions, complications, etc that human patients would see. And this makes me wonder why the disease is usually not detectable until the advance stages; is this when it becomes symptomatic or at least enough that can be detected in dogs that cant speak for themselves. My aunt's dog is actually showing some of these symptoms that have been getting worse lately and it makes me wonder if this could be the cause, ill have to tell her to look into getting that checked out.
ReplyDelete