Is it Degenerative Myelopathy? Need more advise. - Page 3

I lost a dog two years ago to DM. he was able to live more than 6 months past the norm due to his laser therapy (there is actually a study going on now regarding this). My vets and those at the Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania were rather surprised at how well he did even up till the end. I strongly suggest having a regular treatment program of laser therapy using a Class lV laser. There are Class lll lasers out there but because they are so low, you do not get the penetration that you do with a IV and to get the joules into the tissue that you need it takes a substantially longer treatment session. There was just an article in the Whole Dog Journal regarding laser therapy. Also, there is a study that should be coming out soon from Dr. Juanita Anders (I think she is in Baltimore) that shows that a Class IV regime actually repaired nerve damage in rabbits. I have read this study and it is impressive. The government supported this study and it was done in the hopes of finding a way to help all the soldiers coming back with nerve damage. 

My 4 year old GSD has been retired from schutzhund due to disk damage in his shoulders. His MRI shows that he has 5 disks that are dried up. He has been receiving laser therapy on a regular basis. Although he is noticeably ataxic in the rear his mobility and activity level is still high and we have been able to keep him off pain meds, steroids, and other pharmaceuticals by having him lasered every other week. It has addressed any pain or discomfort and kept the inflammation down. He will probably be receiving treatment for the rest of his life but we are able to lengthen the time between treatments as we continue.

You might want to check out www.companiontherapylaser.com for information or www.litecure.com for the human equivalent. It may not be the panacea you hope for but it may help with the quality of life.

Good luck with your furry friend

Laser therapy is similar to acupuncture.

My Shelby got both acupuncture and laser therapy regularly. It definitely helped her feel better. I can't say whether or not it slowed down the DM progression. We also tried stem cell therapy, Dr. Clemmons protocol, PT, regular massages, special diet and we kept her mentally stimulated so that she still enjoyed life. What helped her last as long as she did? I don't known the answer to that. 

The vet's office where I took Shelby is predominately a rehab practice and the clients i have spoken to who had laser therapy and acupuncture done on their dog all felt it made a difference. 

This is the company where I take Luka for Hydrotherapy (really amazing company!!): http://animalhydrotherapy.co.za/
And this is the page where they talk about one of their services - Photizo Light Therapy
Is this the same as Lazer light therapy? Not sure. Any advise?
http://animalhydrotherapy.co.za/photizo_light_therapy.htm
 

Do any of you perhaps know of any spinal exercises i can do with Luka, Or maybe spinal massages. Ive scanned through so many pages on google, but i only find info on Human spine issues.

The reason im asking is because I’ve read that, massage therapy to the spinal cord might help in the re generation of the nerves (this is also important for dogs with DM or IVDD). I even heard that doing pulling exercises with the dog's tail, will also help re establish the nerves. Here is what someone on another web page said regarding this:

"​This may sound silly, but 'tail pulls'. Grab your dog firmly at the base of the tail, and pull. Hold for ten seconds, release slowly, and repeat five times. Do this a few times a day. Doing so stimulates the nerve 'juices' in their spinal cord, and wakes up the neurones. By repeating the steps a few times, it creates 'ripples' in the spine of the dog, which rejuvenated 'dead' or weak spots. Also when petting your dog, 'rake' your fingers along their spinal cord, making sure to move positions to not keep only stimulating one spot. This also greatly helps keep everything in the dogs spine to be sensitive and cells alive. These are both life long exercises to do with/for your dog. I just learnt so much after recently having a paralyzed dog. After 2 weeks she was walking!! We used a natural vet, who practiced Chinese medicine therapy, including acupuncture and lazed therapy, and taught us really simple rehabilitation and lifelong tips for keeping her spine healthy. I also found a product online called Nzymes which has also very much contributed to her quick recovery. Check if your city has a natural healing vet, it works!"

Im trying to do as much research on treatments and physical exercises as possible. Its clear that Luka only has a herniated disc due to disk compression, and this obviously causes a pinching in the nerves which leads to the slight lameness in this hind legs. I massage his hind legs every night and do "range of motion" exercises with him just to keep his leg muscles and joints healthy. I realize that it is not that important to do these exercises because Luka CAN walk, but, ive kept him healthy for 11 years by doing the little bit of extra effort, so i dont want to stop now. I realize that the signs Luka is showing, are not related to DM, BUT, i do feel that the info and comments i receive on this forum, can help other people as well who's dogs do infact have DM.


 

I would NEVER grab the base of the dogs tail and pull! You could break the tail or do damage to the spine!!!! YIKES!!!!!

 

I can remember with my dog that had spinal arthritis the massage therapist would pull his tail very gently while he was lying on his side. She said it helped to stretch his spine. In addition she would massage his tail. She taught me to do it too.  I wouldn't do anything without talking to the neurologist. 

Massaging a tail I understand, but pulling on it??? eek...... I was told that could do damage to the spine. I will have to ask DR C about that...

I did check with Dr Clemmons- . He indicated to me that dog's tails are attached to the sacral joint and pulling  a dog's tail will dislocate the tail from the sacral joint.