# Degenerative Myelopathy



## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

My 10.5y female GSD was just diagnosed with Degenerataive Myelopathy. I have been reading quite a bit on it, but most of what's out there is the same basic medical information. What I can't find is personal experiences. If you have dealt with this, what is the progression of the disease, time frame, what helps and what doesn't etc. I would appreciate any in put. I am much more concerned with quality, not quantity of time right now.


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

My personal experience is that i had a shep who got it at 8yrs old by the age of 9yrs i was ready to put her down her walking was horrible , her backend would NOT co operate and was very wobbly .i stopped taking her on walks , 
I did alot of research and talked to my dogs chiropracter about it , she talked about a diet change that she has heard sucess with diet change, 
I looked it up , i ended up putting her on Urban WOLF homeade diet, ( this was in the fall) , she had no walks all winter, and by the spring she seemed back to almost normal , I started her up with leash walks and even tually bush walks with my pack , she did great, 
she was never perfect but not bad either, we did alot of swimming, 
AND she lived to 14yrs old!!! 
all i did was change diet , and she saw the chiro monthly , 
i have talked to a friend who has a rottie with it , she just changed diet to raw, dog is doing incredible 
what do you feed?


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

I feed Royal Canine. What is in the Urban Wolf diet.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Kate, my first Thunder (GSD/Dane) got it in his 9th yr. With him he progressed fast. Just a couple of months from first walking on his back knuckles till we had to put him down.
Fortunately for him, the vet said there was no pain involved.
This was 20+ yrs ago. Hopefully they have made advancements.
Give Anna a hug for me! She's been a fighter.


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## Shade Whitesel (Aug 18, 2010)

Kate, my first Sch 3 Jesse was diagnosed with caudal equina and then a couple months later with degenerative myelopathy. For him, it progressed really quickly and he went from a sch 3 in May to pretty lame but happy in Nov to not walking in Dec. I noticed a huge loss in function after the vet gave him rabies and distemper vaccines in Nov and I could kick myself for allowing that. I didn't feed raw at the time. I gave him monthly chiro appointments but what really hindered him (and me) was being incontinent and huge (he was 95 pounds and not fat).
Recently a client with a gsd reported really good results with swim therapy. She credited it with keeping muscle tone and allowing her dog better quality of life later on.
Good luck.


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## Jeanne Meldrim (Mar 27, 2008)

I know this sounds silly, but are you sure it is DM? I see so many people on message boards saying their dog was diagnosed with DM, but often it is just from a vet's observation rather than going through actual testing. One of my dogs had the symptoms of DM and when I brought her to a neurologist and had an MRI done, it was actually degenerating discs that were causing her problem, not DM. The neurologist told me that very few dogs that people think have DM actually do. He said that DM moves very quickly and the dogs die within a few months. Dogs with other problems like degenerating discs will live much longer. The treatments for DM and other problems are very different, so it is important that the proper testing is done to make sure what the dog has. As Bob said, dogs with DM don't feel pain, but dogs with other issues will, so you need to know what you are dealing with so the dog will not suffer unnecessarily.


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## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

I cant even pronounce it, good luck though


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Jeanne said;
"dogs with DM don't feel pain, but dogs with other issues will, so you need to know what you are dealing with so the dog will not suffer unnecessarily."

One of the test done on my dog was testing for pain in the back legs. Feet and toes in particular. There was none!
That was pretty much why it never seemed to bother him when he was standing on his rear knuckles. 
I never noticed him in physical pain but he was an outside dog and seemed lost once he couldn't handle even a couple of stairs anymore. he just seemed stressed with his limitations. 
I didn't let him suffer through that for long.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi Kate, I would contact Dr. Joan Coates at Mizzou's vet school. She's a neurologist and one of the top researchers in the country into DM. Let me know if you need any details. Degenerative myelopathy is awful and I've seen several dogs with it, including working GSDs. Now that we have a genetic test for it, I hope more GSD breeders test for it.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Jeanne Meldrim said:


> I know this sounds silly, but are you sure it is DM? I see so many people on message boards saying their dog was diagnosed with DM, but often it is just from a vet's observation rather than going through actual testing. One of my dogs had the symptoms of DM and when I brought her to a neurologist and had an MRI done, it was actually degenerating discs that were causing her problem, not DM. The neurologist told me that very few dogs that people think have DM actually do. He said that DM moves very quickly and the dogs die within a few months. Dogs with other problems like degenerating discs will live much longer. The treatments for DM and other problems are very different, so it is important that the proper testing is done to make sure what the dog has. As Bob said, dogs with DM don't feel pain, but dogs with other issues will, so you need to know what you are dealing with so the dog will not suffer unnecessarily.


Not silly at all. 

I had a GSD who was diagnosed with DM at 9 years old, he got around OK, wobbly especially around corners, got progressively worse until he had to be put down at 11 years old when he could no longer get up. My next GSD, when he was around 8 yrs old, my regular vet (same one) thought it was once again DM, but suggested I go to Neurosurgeon for follow up 2nd opinion. Glad I did, the dog had some broken discs, which produces many of the same symptoms as DM. The dog was surgically fixed and afterwards was about as good as new. 

For all we know, the GSD that was diagnosed with DM at 9, might not have had it at all. Also I am going by memory regarding how old the dogs were, so those are rough estimates.


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

Jeanne, it is not a silly question. I know that we can not have a 100% diagnosis without extensive testing, but all her symptoms, the timeline of the onset and progression point directly to DM. She also appears to have no pain with the loss of control. I am leary to subject her to a lot of stressful testing as I have read that stress can hasten the progression.

Maren, my vet is going to contact the U for me and get let me know what they suggest. 

Right now she can still walk fairly well and on good days can still run some, but I can see the deterioration over the last few weeks.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

One low stress way to see is to do a simple cheek swab collection that you send in to the vet school. Both my Malinois submitted blood for the research project when they were getting the background samples from other related breeds (both are negative), but the cheek swab is even easier and less invasive than even blood collection.


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## Jeanne Meldrim (Mar 27, 2008)

Kate Kueper said:


> Jeanne, it is not a silly question. I know that we can not have a 100% diagnosis without extensive testing, but all her symptoms, the timeline of the onset and progression point directly to DM. She also appears to have no pain with the loss of control. I am leary to subject her to a lot of stressful testing as I have read that stress can hasten the progression.
> 
> I'm very sorry that the symptoms are pointing to actual DM. I will preface this by saying I don't think much of the person that runs the site, but here is one where you will find loads of DM info and support: http://www.mzjf.com/main.htm


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

Kate Kueper said:


> My 10.5y female GSD was just diagnosed with Degenerataive Myelopathy. I have been reading quite a bit on it, but most of what's out there is the same basic medical information. What I can't find is personal experiences. If you have dealt with this, what is the progression of the disease, time frame, what helps and what doesn't etc. I would appreciate any in put. I am much more concerned with quality, not quantity of time right now.


One of my best friends had his K9 diagnosed with DM and it was very fast . Never saw a GSD hit harder then that dog . We thought maybe it was an injury due to that until they found the real cause . He was about 6 or 7 . Sorry to hear about your dog . Good luck . If those diets help I hope you update us . It would be good to know .


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

My vet knows Dr. Coats and spoke with her this morning. From speaking to her they are pretty sure this is what Anna has. However we are going to do the test. If she has the gene for DM, it will just confirm our thoughts, if she is clear, I will be heading to UMC for a full evaluation.

Thanks for the web site, I have seen her stuff around. Neither my vet nor Dr. Coates think much about the vitamin regiment, but exercise is a definite. Would be nice if it wasn't 7 degrees outside


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Kate:

Google Dr. R. M. Clemmons. I think the Jack Flash site may have his information. Its been years since I've looked at this. Have met several people who extended mobility with a homemade diet and the Clemmons routine and I used it with a dog with disc issues. One person I know wrapped the hocks which gave the dog awareness. Many western based vets/physicians don't believe in vitamin regimens but that is slowly but surely changing in people and dogs. Europe is waayyyyy ahead of the game.

Terrasita


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## Mary Buck (Apr 7, 2010)

Hi ..sorry about your dog. It's a bitch of a diagnosis . My dog was diagnosed at 9.....with the test. I started aggressive treatment that included gold bead implants. The beads are put along the accupuncture points and constantly stimulate the points. He is something of a miracle...coming up on his 14th birthday and up until two months ago was still mobile. He has been on raw diet since 8 weeks, got all the supplements and regular chiro and accupuncture. The other best therapy I found was warm water therapy pool. He goes weekly and is markedly better after a swim/massage . He has had a great quality of life post diagnosis, sadly thats coming to and end shortly.


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

Thanks for the responses. Blood has been sent to UMC for the DNA test, just waiting for the results.


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