This rather odd looking fellow is, yes, our boy with a fused jaw, Travis. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago after he "escaped" again from the dog yard and went zooming around the ranch at 90 miles an hour. I forgot I hadn’t posted it on the blog and re-discovered it tonight.
His jaw is fused from a rare muscle disease called masticatory myositis. (Go ahead, say it fast three times.) As a result, Travis can’t even open his mouth to pant. So after he’s had a really good work-out, this is what he looks like. In this photo he is actually breathing rapidly through his cheeks because there’s a gap between his upper and lower jaw in one place (this is also where he can get his tongue out to slurp his food). I just didn’t capture the "poof" part when he was breathing out.
When this happens he ends up with this clown-like look, along with the funky pulled-back-ears thing. His head is pointy because the jaw disease also affects the muscles on the top and sides of the head that are used to close the jaw. (Interesting tidbit: There are different muscles to open the jaw.) What people usually first notice about Travis is his pointy head, but then we have to explain that’s really not his main issue, it’s the jaw.
Because panting is the primary way dogs cool off when they get hot, we really have to be careful with Travis in the summertime. Of course he doesn’t realize he can’t cool off by panting, so he’s at risk for overheating because he never slows down. On hot summer days we keep him indoors a lot, even though he’d much rather be racing around outside.
So not being able to pant is mostly a summer problem. Being pointy headed … well, that’s a year-round problem.
(Click on photo for larger image.)
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