Clinical and pathologic features of ceroid lipofuscinosis in two Australian cattle dogs

A lysosomal storage disease was diagnosed in 2 Australian Cattle Dog siblings, using light and electron microscopic evaluation. Both dogs developed clinical signs of disease at about 1 year of age. Vision and motor function deteriorated over several months; by 2 years of age, the dogs were blind and had progressive ataxia. Cytoplasmic inclusions with ultrastructural patterns characteristic of ceroid lipofuscin were observed in most neurons examined and in the cells of several other parenchymatous tissues. Biochemical studies, including determination of lysosomal enzyme activities, excluded several other lysosomal storage diseases. In these dogs, the clinical and pathologic features of the disease were similar to those of the juvenile subtype of ceroid lipofuscinosis (Batten disease) in human beings.