Product Description

Dog Narcolepsy Doberman Pinscher type

Dog narcolepsy Doberman Pinscher type is a disabling sleep disorder characterized by daytime sleepiness, sleep fragmentation, striking transitions from wakefulness into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and symptoms of abnormal REM sleep, such as cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations. Symptoms appear suddenly, and the recovery is spontanious as well. Sudden loss of muscle tone triggered mainly by positive emotions that share some physiological similarities with REM sleep atonia, called cataplexy is the most valuable clinical feature used to diagnose narcolepsy. Narcolepsy has been diagnosed in many breeds and has an established hereditary component. Predisposed breeds include the Labrador Retriever, Poodle, Dachshund and the Doberman Pinscher. Symptoms usually appear by 6 months of age. Small-breed dogs seem to be more severely affected.

References:

Hungs, M., Fan, J., Lin, L., Lin, X., Maki, R.A., and Mignot, E. (2001). Identification and Functional Analysis of Mutations in the Hypocretin (Orexin) Genes of Narcoleptic Canines. Genome Res. 11, 531–539.

Lin, L., Faraco, J., Li, R., Kadotani, H., Rogers, W., Lin, X., Qiu, X., de Jong, P.J., Nishino, S., and Mignot, E. (1999). The Sleep Disorder Canine Narcolepsy Is Caused by a Mutation in the Hypocretin (Orexin) Receptor 2 Gene. Cell 98, 365–376.