SRMA

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:40 am

Can anyone tell me the symptoms of SRMA please, does the dog run a temperature? A friends dog (not a beardie) is poorly with unexplained illness so just wanted to check symptoms.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:51 am

Jacquie, I think that the symptoms can differ for each dog. Flynn was 6 months when he started with it, he went from a healthy, bouncy young pup to not wanting to do much at all Sad

He hung his head, instead of holding it upright, he was violently sick (although he loved his food and still ate regardless of throwing it up) and he had a continual high temperature. His walking was not very good as he tried to limp on all 4 legs. The vet gave me a good indication of whether the neck/head is affected by, putting the palm of your hand under the dogs chin (fingers towards the throat) and gently lift the heel of your hand, this will lift the dogs head upwards, if there is any resistance (it is painful for the dog) then his neck/head is affected.
There are several people on here who have had dogs with SRMA, Sandie with Doris, Barbs with Wills, and Julie with Sirius (I think that there are others as well).
Hope this helps
Sue xxx

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:15 pm

Thanks Sue, that's very helpful. I did a quick google and it appears it usually affects young dogs under 2 years of age so as this is an older dog probably not that then. I wonder about the viral meningitis though, might look into that.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:26 pm

Jacquie, Doris was older, and I've heard of others as well, so don't rule it out yet. They have to have a test done (spinal tap) and that will confirm if it is or not. The best of luck xxx

Senior Friend Joined: 07 Aug 2010 Posts: 138

High temperature, neck stiffness, intense pain - especially around the neck and ears and general body stiffness can be some of the symptoms of SRMA although some of them can also be symptoms of IMPA (Immediated Polyarthritis).

What are your friend’s dog’s symptoms? If she thinks it could be an autoimmune disease she can always join CIMDAsupport here: http://cimda.co.uk/ They have lots of information on the site. Or she could contact Jo Tucker at cimda@aslog.co.uk

Friend for Life Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 19306

Doris was over 2 and she had a high temperature, stiff neck. She lay in her bed and didn't move an inch Crying or Very sad

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:36 pm

Thanks all. Beardielady it's me that thought about meningitis not his owner. He is lethargic, very depressed, not eating has a temperature and isn't able to do things like jump on the sofa. I thought about meningitis as he will eat some cooked chicken if he is hand fed so I was thinking about neck pain. Grasping at straws really just trying to get an idea of what could be wrong, vet didn't know and likened it to flu in humans Confused

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:50 pm

Jacquie, can he bark?, one thing we noticed about Flynn was that he stopped barking xxx

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:57 pm

The Hairies wrote:

Jacquie, can he bark?, one thing we noticed about Flynn was that he stopped barking xxx

Thanks Sue, I'll ask her.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:04 pm

Wills was 11 when he developed a form of immune mediated meningitis, although it wasn't strictly speaking SRMA. As Sue said, symptoms with these sort of problems can vary a lot. Whilst it wouldn't be conclusive, I'm sure Jo Tucker would take a look at blood results to see if there are any pointers towards an AI condition. Hard decision to put particularly an older dog through spinal tap procedure, but that was how Wills was diagnosed in the end. Hope your friend gets some answers for her dog soon, it's always such a worry having a sick dog, but even worse when you don't know what you're dealing with xx.

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 9:14 pm

Thanks Barbs this boy is 12 so from your experience it doesn't rule it out.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:26 pm

Our freddie was lethargic, loss of appetite and would not jump on anything and generally under the weather and panting. The vets took a while to diagnose auto immune polyarthritis as his syptoms were coming and going but a joint tap and blood test confirmed this and he was put on steroids and recovered He was 7 at the time he became ill ........we think a tick bite may have caused it .
Has the dog had any vaccinations or any medications recently that could have caused a problem

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:25 pm

Thanks for the info I'm glad Freddie recovered well. It seems after more specialised blood tests that it's the liver that is affected, they don't know what has caused it but after fluid therapy Webster is a little better and has managed to eat some cat food. He's going home today on meds, one of which is a low dose steroid Confused

with a return visit on Monday.