My male dog might have DM - Page 2

I hope that your chiropractor will treat him!!! I know it helps Arco so much when he starts having trouble with his back legs or difficulty climbing on the furniture! He gets adjusted and then within minutes you can see how much better he is able to move!! Hope you have as much sucess as we have!!

I'll keep you posted!   My husband will stop by the office tomorrow and see if the chiro has made his decision.  I'll say a little prayer tonight. Have a great evening...

Hi Frisko,

In 2004 I lost my GSD Missy to DM .... horrible disease .... but please know .. it is not painful for him,  just very painful for you and your family to see. If it is DM, read everything you can on the disease there are plenty of things you can do to slow down the progression of the disease but unfortunately no cure.  Clemmons research is your best bet.  When he is standing up does his back end sway a little? I did see that you said his tail is still okay... I still exercised my Missy it made a huge difference, the combination of the meds and exercise is the reason she lasted   ... the more they lay around the worse it is for them, so don't let him do that and don't feel bad about the exercise. It's almost like you have to trick the disease, I used to carry around a thick towel to hold her back end up when walking her and to assist in getting up the few stairs to we have to get into the house. 

Your Baby Boy will be in my prayers, please keep us posted !

Lisa

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear about your Missy. How long did Missy live after being diagnosed? At what point did you have to let her go- how bad did she get? Did you put her in a cart? I am just curious...dreading the future for my girl, Shelby, with DM. Shelby is just dragging her hind foot some at this point. To watch her move you'd think nothing was wrong with her.  It's not until you walk next to her on the pavement that you hear the nails of her left hind foot lightly scrape, on and off. She still trots (beautifully I might add) with no dragging at all. I'm doing everything I can for her, but I know that there is no cure :(
The best,
char

We've got fantastic news!  My husband's chiro will treat our Frisko boy.  The first appointment is Monday at 11:30.  Can't wait to see the results.  To answer Lisa's question: no his back doesn't sway for now.  So I think we're at the beginning of the disease so let's hope the chiro can slow down the disease.  And yes we read Dr. Clemmons suggestions, my husband even wrote to him and Dr. Clemmons replied to us very quickly.

So sorry to hear about your Missy girl.  May she rest in peace!

Take care

Our 9 year old female was diagnosed with early onset DM.  We started out going to a neurologist when we noticed she was "off" and the vet couldn't pin point it.  We opted to not have the mylegram and MRI done since that could cause more issues that what she already have like another post stated.  She does receive accupuncture and is on Acetylcystein and Amincaproic Acid.  We are fortunate in that we have a rehab facility 30 minutes from us.  Unfortunately, it's out of our price range given the prognosis of the disease.  It was about $500+ for 5 weeks of hydrotherapy 2x per week.  If you do the math - that could get very expensive...very quickly.  The therapist did give us exercises to do so that is more ecomically feasible.  Everyone who sees her move instantly think it's her hips.  I wish that were the case...at least I could have surgery to remedy that issue.  She has had her hips and elbows x-rayed and they came back OFA good.  It's just a hearbreaking disease to watch the slow progression and deterioration.  I wish you the best.

My Loki's back hunched, not swayed and he was always a straight backed dog.  He lost muscle tone in his abdomen shortly before the end (the abdomen gets a characteristic look and feel, you'll know it when you see it).  I have friends who had dogs with DM and they all lived long good quality lives.  Loki was just unfortunate to get the aggressive form and from first signs to the end was about 10 months even with the acupuncture, swimming, and supplements.  As for DM being without pain, I was told by my vet (one of Dr Clemmon's proteges) that no one is sure there is no pain since the myelin sheath around the spinal cord is being destryed and dogs don't say whether they are in pain.  You need to monitor your dogs heart rate and respirations because that will tell you if they are in pain (faster heart rate, panting).  We had Loki on pain meds toward the end just in case.  This is a picture of him the day before we took him to be euthanized, he had become unable to support his back end a few days before.  That night he began to use accessory muscles to breathe.  I am only sharing this pic with you to give you an idea of where bad is. If your dog is not anywhere near this point, you have a long time yet to spend with them.  Remember they can tell if you are upset so be upbeat for your dog's sake.  I am so sorry this is happening to your dog. Starrchar, how is your girl doing?

Oh Mindhunt ... your picture just brought back so many memories ..  so sorry .. 

Char ...
 My beautiful girl was on steroids and pain meds for some time, I know they did damage to other organs but it helped the DM tremendously in the beginning along with the exercise , she lasted 1 yr. as for knowing when it is time ... you will know ..  when she was having bowel movements while laying down and not even feeling it was just awful .. I'm not talking about the mess it made ..I didn't care .. I'm talking about the fact that she wanted to get up when I was cleaning her up but she just couldn't do it, her breathing became labored , I would laydown with her at night and just stare at her face to face ..She broke my heart.. I did not use a cart for her I used a towel to walk her .. I put booties on her back paws stop the scraping but it just gets to a point where there is really nothing you can do.. don't worry you will know when it is time to let them go . My vet came to my house, that was in August of 2004 , it took me some time to get another GSD I waited almost 2 yrs because I was soooo afraid .. but I had GSD's all my life and couldn't imagine not having another one around, I got Nikki in March of 2006 from Jagermeister Shepherds in NJ ( Carlos Rojas ) My house was just so empty I could not take it anymore...  she is a wonderful dog .. she goes everywhere with me and she is loved by all..
Please keep me posted with Shelby .. is that her in your avatar ?  she is a therapy dog?? she is beautiful and will be in my prayers !
Are you going to try a chiro like Frisko? what about acupunture?


Lisa