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As a result of this gait impairment, falling is a concern in patients with ataxia. [3] Truncal ataxia affects the muscles closer to the body such as the trunk, shoulder girdle and hip girdle. It is involved in gait stability. [3] Truncal ataxia is different from appendicular ataxia. Appendicular ataxia affects the movements of the arms and legs.
Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements, that indicates dysfunction of parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum.
Gait abnormality is a deviation from normal walking ().Watching a patient walk is an important part of the neurological examination. Normal gait requires that many systems, including strength, sensation and coordination, function in an integrated fashion.
The injury affects the tail of the dog, causing it to be painful at or near its base. Limber tail can be recognized by a very flaccid tail, or a tail that is held horizontally for approximately 10 cm, and then drops vertically. The condition is also more pronounced in dogs that wag their tails a lot. Some dogs may also pant or shake.
Symptoms such as weakness, ataxia, and dragging of the toes start in the rear legs. Dogs often have a crouching stance with a downward flexed neck. The disease progresses to the front legs, but the symptoms are less severe. Neck pain is sometimes seen. Symptoms are usually gradual in onset, but may progress rapidly following trauma. [6]
Eventually, the dog is alternatively flexing and extending each rear leg in a dancing motion. Dancing Doberman disease progresses over a few years to rear leg weakness and muscle atrophy. No treatment is known, but most dogs retain the ability to walk and it is painless. [7] Diabetes neuropathy is more common in cats
Symptoms of cerebellar abiotrophy include ataxia or lack of balance, an awkward wide-legged stance, a head tremor (intention tremor) (in dogs, body tremors also occur), hyperreactivity, lack of menace reflex, stiff or high-stepping gait, coarse or jerky head bob when in motion (or, in very young animals, when attempting to nurse), apparent lack ...
Athetosis is a symptom primarily caused by the marbling, or degeneration of the basal ganglia. [citation needed] This degeneration is most commonly caused by complications at birth or by Huntington's disease, in addition to rare cases in which the damage may also arise later in life due to stroke or trauma.