# Mouth Cramp?



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Something very odd happens to Henry sometimes..It is difficult to explain, I will do my best.

Sometimes one side of his muzzle/lip will cramp. Often it happens after yawning, other times out of nowhere. It is NOT a seizure. He paws at his muzzle/lip to try and get it "unstuck". I usually give him a little massage and it goes away.

To help you picture this, it looks similar to snarled lips. It only happens to one side of his face and his teeth are showing, etc.

I was so worried the first time this happened - I took him to the vet. Nothing was stuck in his mouth and the vet said she has never seen this before. She was not worried at all.

Has anyone else had this happen?


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## SnorPuddel (Jul 8, 2010)

I am sorry but I have not ever had any experience with this


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Could it be Masticatory Muscle Myositis? This is a rare form of autoimmune disorder. Was this dog recently vaccinated? You want to get on top of this because the muscles can atrophy to the point where the dog will not be able to open his mouth.

Masticatory muscle myositis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

cbrand said:


> Could it be Masticatory Muscle Myositis? This is a rare form of autoimmune disorder. Was this dog recently vaccinated? You want to get on top of this because the muscles can atrophy to the point where the dog will not be able to open his mouth.
> 
> Masticatory muscle myositis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Yikes!! That looks scary!! He was not vaccinated anytime close to when this began happening. I really think it is just a muscle spasm from yawning too big :doh:

His symptoms do not really match those of Masticatory Muscle Myositis - but I will bring it up with the vet just to be safe!!

Thanks for making me aware of this, Cbrand!


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## SnorPuddel (Jul 8, 2010)

cbrand said:


> Could it be Masticatory Muscle Myositis? This is a rare form of autoimmune disorder. Was this dog recently vaccinated? You want to get on top of this because the muscles can atrophy to the point where the dog will not be able to open his mouth.
> 
> Masticatory muscle myositis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


You are so right, with Masticatory Muscle Myositis. 
I have a friend who got 2 parti brothers from a less than stellar breeder, the boys have had a slew of problems and one did have MMM. The sad thing is that the "breeder" repeated the breeding even after knowing the problems the boys have. One had genetic entropian, and the other had entropian due to the MMM. The one that had MMM also had a pronounced occipital crest, he did recover, they both did.
There is a blood test for MMM, you should ask for it.
My friend noticed it when the he was having a hard time eating his food, she feeds raw. The pronounced occipital crest happened almost overnight.


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