Clinical and pathological observations in English cocker spaniels with primary metabolic vitamin E deficiency and retinal pigment epithelial dystrophy.

PubMed ID: 14509574

Author(s): McLellan GJ, Cappello R, Mayhew IG, Elks R, Lybaert P, Watté C, Bedford PG. Clinical and pathological observations in English cocker spaniels with primary metabolic vitamin E deficiency and retinal pigment epithelial dystrophy. Vet Rec. 2003 Sep 6;153(10):287-92. PMID 14509574

Journal: The Veterinary Record, Volume 153, Issue 10, Sep 2003

Fifteen English cocker spaniels with confirmed vitamin E deficiency were examined physically, ophthalmologically and neurologically. Eleven of them had clinical signs of neurological dysfunction which included ataxia, proprioceptive deficits, abnormal spinal reflexes and muscle weakness. In the two dogs examined histopathologically there was central neuronal fibre degeneration with prominent neuroaxonal dystrophy, particularly within the sensory relay nuclei of the brainstem, and one of the dogs had severe intestinal lipofuscinosis.