possible muscle wasting on head (long)

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natrhymer

natrhymer

Boxer Booster
Dieter is 4-5 years old. About three weeks ago, he had an infection that caused very swollen lymph nodes/sore neck and an infected eye. That cleared up in about a week with antibiotics from the vet. Around the time it cleared up (~two weeks ago), I noticed the "knob" on the back of his skull seemed different/bigger/more pronounced. DH said I was crazy; it looked the same to him. Then yesterday, I noticed an apparent "sunken" spot on his skull, between his eye and his ear. At closer examination, his head looks lopsided; one side (the side where the eye infection was) seems sunken/shrunken. It does not hurt him, and it feels like his skull is still intact (initially, I thought he had cracked his head on something -- it really looked like his skull had been "crushed" in).

He is acting himself; walking, running, playing normally. Last week and over the weekend, he was drinking a lot and peeing a lot more than normal, but, he has had a few bouts with UTIs, so I called the vet Monday and told her we'd be bringing a urine sample to the Thursday appt. The appt. was for his annual distemper shot.

Well, his peeing seems back to normal the last couple of days. I've called the vet twice since noticing the skull problem and she told me not to worry until we know something, but, I can't help it. She said since he's still acting normally, there's no reason to bring him in immediately. I trust her, she's a great vet, so I have no issue there.

I've been to the web to do some research and haven't turned up much. I suspect an autoimmune disease that causes muscle wasting (maybe Lupus?), but, it could be anything, really. I did a search here on BW, and only came up with two mentions of similar symptoms (sunken spots on head), but no information on causes/diagnoses/treatments.

Has anyone had any experience with anything like this? Any information I can arm myself with before the vet appt. would be great. Thanks!
 
natrhymer

natrhymer

Boxer Booster
Thanks. Well, it looks like it's possibly myositis, an autoimmune disorder. We're doing bloodwork to confirm the vet's preliminary diagnosis. It is treated with steroids, which can send it into remission. Sometimes it's degenerative (muscles deteriorate so much that the dog can't eat and/or loses control of his eye movement), sometimes the dog just ends up with a funny looking head and doesn't experience any other symptoms. It can be painful; thankfully Dieter isn't experiencing any pain right now. But, we'll wait for the formal diagnosis before looking at all the treatment options. Thanks for your well wishes!
 
natrhymer

natrhymer

Boxer Booster
Ech, well, the titers came back: no antibodies for myositis, which means it's probably not myositis. The vet and I discussed it, and, since Dieter's not experiencing any negative symptoms right now (no pain, still eating fine, etc.), we're just going to let it be. There's no sense in spending thousands of dollars trying to determine what it is until he needs treatment. Generally, I'm a "need to know" type of person, so that I can put together a game plan and work through to resolution, but, Dieter really is fine, and he tends to be an anxious boy, so more tests and umpteen vet visits won't be good for him, anyway (which might compromise his immune system). Until his quality of life is in jeopardy, it makes sense to me to just watch him carefully and get on with our lives. Let's hope he stays happy and his only symptom is a strange lookin' head!
 
Biff

Biff

Boxer Insane
I agree with your decision not to stress him (and your bank account :LOL:) out with tests. If he is fine and unaffected by it all, best leave alone IMO

....and hey, he might look even cuter with a funny shaped head ! :)

(((Hugs)))
 
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