Dog Discussions. Topic: Degenerative Myelopathy

Hello LeeAnne & Smokey,
What a lousy break!!!
Your vet has no doubt already overwhelmed you with professional advice on dm so I won’t
duplicate what he/she has said. I will, however, share with you some rambling personal thoughts as our 7 year old, male German Shepherd [Bear] had dm.

First off, try with all your might not to convey your sadness or frustration. Jessy will be baffled, frightened and frustrated by what is happening to her legs. You can imagine how you’d feel if one day your legs weren’t functioning like they always had heretofore. Jessy will be watching how you and Smokey react so a cheerful countenance will do much to reassure and give emotional support which I believe is critical in keeping her healthy. Our Bear would have good days and bad days and some days he’d eat with gusto and other days, not so much. I would make certain that rambunctious dogs and kids didn’t get too close to him as I never wanted him knocked off his pins.

I would make Bear eat laying down. He wasn’t crazy about this in the beginning but soon adapted. I did this to lessen the burden on his muscles and spine. I also laid down indoor/outdoor carpet everywhere that Bear walked to provide traction. I can’t stress this enough…carpet everything!!! I gated off all stairs and put a sheet of plywood down until I could have Joe build a ramp for the patio door exit. Note, tile floors, linoleum, wood floors are all too slippery…COVER them with carpet.

As you know, we’re a family of swimmers. We love water and are great believers in hydrotherapy for humans and canines alike. So, if possible, I’d get Jessy involved in canine hydrotherapy to exercise all muscles of her body. Physical activity seems to slow down the progression of dm and as a consequence the dog is able to maintain balance and the ability to walk for a longer length of time.

I found that keeping Bear harnessed while getting exercised was a good idea because I could help support him and also regulate activity. We sometimes used a second leash or a belly band placed under his hips while exercising which would relieve some of the stress on his legs.

We have a sloping back yard which was good because Bear had to use different muscles while exercising. I always gave him 1 day off to just sit and chew a bone.

Often, Bear did lose control of his bowels. Just clean it up and don’t let your face register any disapproval because Jessy will already be so mortified. I’d just hug Bear and tell him that I loved him and that we all have accidents…no big deal.

Lastly, I tried very hard to prevent Bear from walking on his knuckles. When he’d get excited he’d begin to do that GS trot and I’d see him begin to knuckle so I would ask him to sit and rest and then massage his back paw that he’d begin to drag which reminded him to “walk on that paw”. He seemed to understand. The reasoning behind my admonition is that if Jessy learns to knuckle…then she has lost an important part of her battle –to keep the hind leg muscles working. Of course, at some point, there will be consistent knuckling and that unfortunately means the leg has given up before the action is completed and true exercise becomes impossible. I’d massage his hind legs and spine daily. He enjoyed it and I believe it helped immensely. One day, however, towards the end, you will notice that Jessy’s hind quarters don’t feel the same. You’ll find that they are hard, almost board-like.

Someone earlier mention that dm is like MS. That is so true. The disease itself causes the myelin sheaths around the neurons within the spinal cord to disintegrate and thus the communication between the spinal cord and brain gets disrupted. DM’s progression can advance fairly quickly (months) or, as in our Bear’s case, the progression was slow and we had him for a little over three years before paralysis occurred and we sent him to the Bridge.

Know that we’re always here to help.

Sending good, healing thoughts and prayers to all of you,
Sara