A syndrome is a set of symptoms that occur together, in other words, a symptom complex. Symptoms of neck pain syndrome in Deerhounds include:
- Grunting, yelping, or crying out when laying down, getting up, shifting
- positions, stretching, or bending down to eat or drink. An affected dog may be reluctant to eat or drink at all, unless the bowl is elevated sufficiently.
- Reluctance to bend the neck. An affected dog often holds his neck rigidly extended straight in front, parallel to the ground. To avoid bending his neck sideways, a dog will follow a moving object with only his eyes or turn his whole body to keep the object in view, instead of turning his head to follow it. He’ll back out of a tight spot, instead of bending his neck or body to turn around.
- Pain when the neck is bent. Sometimes any attempt to move the dog’s head to the side or up and down elicits pain. Some dogs resist even having their head touched, their mouth opened, or their ears examined. In extreme cases, dogs will refuse to eat even from an elevated bowl because chewing is too painful.
- Fever. After a few episodes, I could detect this in my own dog without recourse to a thermometer, just by noting his bright red gums and hot ears.
- Episodic course, with alternating painful and normal periods. Pain and fever tend to come and go on their own, regardless of any treatment or the lack thereof.
- Young age. The typical neck pain sufferer is a younger hound. According to the Health Survey, the average age of the first pain episode is about 4 years old, and males are affected more often than females.
