Myasthenia gravis is an immune-mediated neuromuscular disease in dogs causing profound muscle weakness and requiring careful long-term management.
Dogs with myasthenia gravis experience profound fatigue that worsens with activity. Even simple acts like eating or walking can become exhausting. Aspiration pneumonia from megaesophagus is life-threatening and a leading cause of death. Feeding dogs in an upright position using specialized chairs reduces aspiration risk significantly. Owners must learn to recognize early signs of respiratory distress. Quality of life can be maintained with careful management, but the disease places high demands on both the dog and caregiver. Pain from muscle weakness is less prominent than fatigue, but affected dogs clearly struggle and benefit from reduced exercise demands and environmental modifications.