Canine Cerebellar Abiotrophy (CCA) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects a specific area of the brain known as the cerebellum. It is an autosomal-recessive genetic neurological disease causing degeneration of the cerebellum (Shearman et al, 2011). The general term for abiotrophy is defined as “degeneration or loss of function or vitality in an organism or in cells or tissues not due to any apparent injury.”(Merriam-Webster, 1828) This means that certain cells in the body lose function or die, but the cause is not completely known at this point. In cerebellar abiotrophy, the cells within the cerebellum begin to degenerate (Gumber et all, 2010).
This disease can be easily confused with canine hypoplasia but it is not the same. Canine hypoplasia…show more content… This is where all voluntary motor skills and coordination are produced. With this being said, if the Purkinje cells begin to degenerate, the canine will begin to lose these necessary motor skills (Gumber et all, 2010). Symptoms can include, but are not limited to, poor balance, a wide-base stance, high stepping gait and lack of awareness of feet (ataxia), and head/body tremors (Shearman et al, 2011). Some dogs will walk around with one of their foots knuckled over without noticing. This unawareness could eventually cause damage to the dog such as open sores, which could then lead to infection. Canine with abiotrophy may become unable to complete simple tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, and even standing without any support. Since other parts of the brain are not normally affected, most of these dogs with have normal mental alertness but just do not have control over their own body. These symptoms, depending on the breed, can be of any severity. Some dogs will only have mild cases and can live their whole life with abiotrophy and yet some breeds will slowly become severely handicapped and will not be capable of doing anything on their own. Most symptoms will begin to appear at the age of 2-3 months but it could be a later onset as
