Management & MMM

It has been over a week now since Management was diagnosed with MMM. What is masticatory myositis? Masticatory muscle myositis (MMM) is an immune system disorder in which the dog’s immune system identifies the dog’s own muscle tissue as foreign and attacks it. The masticatory muscles are the muscles involved with chewing. MMM causes these muscles to become swollen and painful.

Prior to this, we were under the impression she had Degenerative Myelopathy. She had all the signs we previously saw in our first boxer, Buck. And the vet initially agreed. Now while DM sucks, there was a couple good things about it for us. One, we were experienced with how to take care of a DM dog. So we had all the equipment and knowledge to feel confident in giving the best care. Two, DM is not painful to the dog. So this diagnosis was a bit of a shock. And now after reading as much I can get my hands on in this short amount of time, our main concern is making sure Kona is not in any pain.

She has taken her first round of high dose steroids, which slows the progression of the disease. We haven’t seen a difference in her ability to move or anything. She still very much needs a harness to take her outside. She is on antibiotics for a bad eye and mouth infection. Her mouth has always been something we had to keep a watch on because she has only a few teeth. And that lends the mouth to being susceptible to infection. But we notice that antibiotics seem to wipe her out a bit. So we are waiting a few more days till she is off those to really try and gauge how she is really feeling. No signs of pain but again we are keeping a close eye.

I’ve been reaching out to people on social media in our dog follower community, talking to people with experience with MMM to get tips and help. In short, we are scrambling a bit to catch up with all this but the priority is Kona’s health and happiness. We do not want her to be in pain or suffer. She is very much being spoiled and treated like the little princess she is. And hoping we can get some more time in with her and manage this new disease with steroids.