Dog Discussions. Topic: Degenerative Myelopathy

I've not dealt with that disease (and hope not to) but one of my Dobes had Wobbler Syndrome. It's most common in Dobes and Danes but other dogs can get it, and even horses. The onset was acute when he was 9 (which is quite old for a Dobe). At the time, it wasn't all that common (and no real internet), so there wasn't a ton of info on it. Cornell and Penn were both doing the most research; I took him to Penn. He did not appear to have any pain, but he was paralyzed. Initially they were going to operate, but when they got him walking with prednisone, they said that they would not operate (the recovery time could be short or 6 months or longer). I spoke with the folks at Cornell and they said the same. I bought a harness to assist him with standing up. Once he was up, he was able to get around OK although of course not as steadily. I tried to keep him warm and make his life as much fun as possible. During the warm weather, he improved, but was unable to use any legs about a year after diagnosis near Christmas. They would not operate at the time as he was older and not in as good shape as he was a year prior, so I was left without any options (it was still hard to make that decision). Since his problem was in the neck, it affected all 4 legs, although he had much more difficulty getting up with his hind legs. A cart would probably not have helped him much; the new ones look great. It appears that wobblers may be caused by several different issues in the neck, and those plus timing (progressive vs acute) may affect the type of treatment as well as outcome. You may want to rule Wobblers out -- since both involve the spinal cord, there is some similarity (proprioception and dragging hind toes).

Today, there are a few alternatives that may produce a better outcome. His sire (not mine) died around 12 and his dam was with me until 14-1/2, really old for a Dobe. This is a link re: wobblers being treated with gold bead implants that I find amazing: http://www.thedoberman.com/SylviaNeckWrap.shtml

I would go the route you're going with the Chiro and accupuncture -- just spoke with a friend with a Dachsie who is having a lot of success with it.

Here's some DM & cart info: http://www.eddieswheels.com/html/dm.html

Looks like they have some good links, too:
http://www.eddieswheels.com/html/links.html

I wish you the best.

Sue