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Houston is a male purebred Border Collie who was born August 23, 2012. He was only five weeks old when North Star got him and his three littermates from a farm in rural Michigan. Both parents lived on the farm and were obviously purebred Border Collies. Both had been trained to work cattle.
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At around nine weeks of age Houston began developing sores around his face, ears and tail. He was immediately taken to the vet and was tested for mange, ringworm, bacterial infections and anything else it could possibly be, but everything came back as negative. We tried different medications, special baths, changing his diet, more skin scrapings, cultures, you name it....we tried it. This went on for months but in spite of all our efforts we could not get his condition under control.
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Finally at our wits end, we took Houston to an animal dermatologist, Dr. Alondra Martin. Upon examination she felt it was highly likely that Houston had a hereditary disease called Dermatomyositis. But the only way to make certain was to surgically remove samples from the lesions and send them off to a laboratory for biopsy. The surgery was scheduled for the following week and Houston walked in like a little trooper and happily followed Dr. Martin into the back to be anesthesized and prepped for surgery.
Here is our boy in surgery......
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Here he is waking up in recovery......
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When the results came back Dr. Martin's diagnosis was confirmed, Houston did indeed have Dermatomyositis. This is a chronic disease, but Dr. Martin told me there were medications to help control the outbreaks....we just needed to figure out which ones and how much. Hopefully in time we would be able to give Houston a relatively "normal" life.
The good news is that Houston is now doing MUCH better and the medications he is on only cost around $30.00 per month and he gets them twice per day. He does need to avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight between the hours of 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM) as this may worsen his condition and he needs to be bathed regularly to help sooth his skin. But other than that he is happy, active, playful and an incredibly sweet puppy!
We feel that Houston is now ready for his forever home and will begin taking applications for him. Because he comes from herding bloodlines, previous Border Collie experience is a must and he will not be adopted to a home with children. His adopter must also be willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Houston's condition under control including finding and working with an animal dermatologist.
So if I haven't scared you away yet....please contact me at Toni@northstarbcrescue.org if you would like to find out more. If you will email me your phone number I will call you so we can discuss Houston before you have to take the time to fill out our application. I have grown extremely attached to this boy and I want the perfect fit for Houston AND the person/family adopting him.
If you are interested in adopting a dog from North Star, you must apply and be approved first. You can find our online application at http://www.northstarbcrescue.org.
Houston is being fostered near Kalamazoo, Michigan.
For more information about Dermatomyositis please read the article below:
Dermatomyositis (DM)
DM in Shelties and Collies should NOT be confused with Demodectic Mange. This is a totally separate disease.
First and Foremost, DM is not a death sentence. Nor is it a good reason to not adopt a dog who has it. Dogs with DM are just as sweet and loving as any other dog and just as deserving of a home. Often they are given up because of the owners lack of understanding the disease, or because an owner does not want a dog with scars on his face. It is so sad.
DM is NOT contagious, so no need to worry about people or about your other animals contracting this disease. Repeat: It is not contagious. Dermatomyositis is an inherited disorder that can cause skin lesions and in severe cases, affect the muscles of shelties and collies. DM primarily affects Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs, although is seen occasionally in other breeds.
DM is hereditary. Any dog with this disease should NOT be bred. All infected dogs should be spayed and neutered.
DM will usually begin on the head and ears and the front legs. The dog will have hair loss and a small lesion will appear. The lesions may have a white or yellow crust or they may appear to be an area of dry flaky skin or just a small bald spot. Dm outbreaks can be quite mild or very severe. If the outbreak is mild enough, some owners may not even notice the small patch of hair loss. But a more severe outbreak usually sends most pet owners to the vet's office. More than likely, the vet will do a scrape for mange, and discuss allergies and may try a wide range of things............all that will do nothing (if it is DM). Often the vet is left with no idea what is wrong with the dog, which sadly sends the owner of to yet another vet still seeking answers. Fortunately, many Internet users can get online and find pages like this one and get the answers they need.
Sadly, many vets have never heard of this disease, let alone seen or worked with it. Since it mainly appears in Shelties and Collies, it is not something vets have much chance to learn much about. This is not unusual or a sign of a bad vet, so please do not blame your vet for not recognizing it. Vets are required to learn diseases of all animals, and seldom see diseases that only occur in one or two breeds. Instead, please have your vet contact one of the DM experts listed on one of these websites. By enlightening your vet to this disease, you could save the next Sheltie or Collie owner from going through the frustration that you have.
Skin lesions occur in areas of trauma. The gums, tips of the ears, skin on the bridge of the nose and face, around and under the eyes, skin over the joints and toes of the limbs, and tip of the tail are common sites of involvement. Most often, and in this writers opinion, the very tip (end) of the tail is a pretty sure sign of DM. In true DM cases, I almost always find a bald tail-tip. Skin lesions can heal rapidly without treatment or persist and worsen with time. In dogs which don't heal rapidly, it can take months before the extent of the skin lesions is known.
Skin lesions are variable in size and are hairless, red, and scaly or crusty. In most dogs, the lesions are not itchy. The skin lesions seen in Dermatomyositis are not unique to this disease. Dogs with ringworm, bacterial skin infection, Demodectic mange, and discoid lupus, to name a few, can have similar lesions. No one can make the diagnosis of Dermatomyositis or exclude that diagnosis simply by looking at the dog. Diagnostic tests must be performed. Skin biopsies are very important especially if the dog or any of its relatives are to be used for breeding.
Diagnosis: The only way to diagnose DM is through a skin punch biopsy evaluated by a dermapathologist. The biopsy needs to be done on an active lesion. An active lesion need not be crusty, it may just be an area of hair loss. DM is probably often overlooked or misdiagnosed as allergies or Demodectic mange. There are a number of conditions that produce similar symptoms, which is why it is so important to do a biopsy. A positive skin scraping for Demodectic mange does not rule out DM, as it is possible for the dog to have both. Research is currently being done to try and identify the gene(s) responsible for DM. Once the gene(s) are identified, hopefully a DNA test can be developed.
Treatment: There is no cure for DM. The usual treatment is with steroids. Mild cases may clear up without treatment, but more severe cases may require long tern steroid use. "Clear up" however, just means going into remission. There is no cure for this disease.
DM legions will come and go. Stress seems to aggravate DM. Stress can be defined as having surgery, new family members, coming into season, illness, or prolonged fear (being a stray).
