It is looking like my friend of 10 years has Denenerative Myopathy.
Some sources refer to it as Multiple Sclerosis that dogs get. I am told from the first noticible symptoms, to a quality of life not worth living, is about 6 months.
Some people will go with the dog cart option, but since I have a short legged, 10 year old Corgi, I really don’t see that as much of an option.
I was wondering if anyone else had a dog who had this disease, and what I might expect as the symptoms get worse. I am so afraid I won’t know when it is time for me let her go, for her own sake.
Here is my sweet girl last Christamas, being a good sport for a picture:
Thanks whiterabbit. Before I met Sadie, I didn’t know what a “scritch” was. But now I know exactly what you mean, she taught me well.
I will be sure to tell her some are from you.
The good thing about this ( if you have to find something good) is that she feels no pain. She really doesn’t seem to notice the loss of movement in her hind end yet. She is so low to ground normally, that when her back legs give out from under her, she just keeps going. I really don’t think she even notices it yet.
Given the choice, I would much rather have this be harder on me, than her. I hope that will continue to be the case.
Low to the ground is not a problem. There are lots of types of wheelie carts out there for dogs ranging from inexpensive to very expensive. When my dachshund Tasha had back issues I used a wheelie cart as part of her rehab, and it only cost me $60 custom made. (It’s not pretty, but it got the job done.) Talk to your vet about the wheelie cart option.
Too late for edit, but I found the link to the folks I bought Tasha’s cart from. I chose them because of cost. It was only $60 total with shipping, and I didn’t want to waste a whole lot of money if she wouldn’t use it or couldn’t use it. Turns out she only needed it for a few weeks, so it was a good decision for me. You can try it and see it is something you’d want to invest a little more money in for something better.
Good luck and scritches for your baby.
I’ve had two Greyhounds have it, both times when they were 11-12 years old. Poor Dapper was getting wobbly, and one day he fell down some stairs, breaking his front leg and needing to be euthanized. Poor Patrick was steadily getting more wobbly and had trouble trying to poop. I figured it was best for him to have him euthanized before he really deteriorated. Dapper and Patrick were such sweet dogs. Degenerative myelopathy is really a diagnosis of exclusion–it can’t be diagnosed until all other possibilities have been ruled out.
Sounds like somebody needs to join Corgi-L. It’s a mailing list for corgi owners, Pems and Cardis, and there’s plenty of chat about DM and all kinds of other conditions specific to corgis, as well as sheddingsheddingshedding and the usual “aren’t they cute” you’ll get on any dog group.
I just searched the archives for “DM” + “cart” and found lots of hits. Quite a few people have found success with K-9 carts, and the bottom of their web page shows a corgi with a cart.
Also, if money is a problem, you may be able to get a cart on loan from CorgiAid, which lends donated carts. That last link has a list of cart manufacturers with links to their sites.
DM is not at all uncommon in corgis and you will find lots of help and support in Corgi-L (and the Disabled Dachshund Society would welcome you too). It is not a death sentence. Please PM me if you want to.
What are the symptoms of degenerative myelopathy? I’m having trouble finding a succinct summary. It sounds like something my sister’s kitten had. She adopted the kitten when it was just a few months old and still had that clumsiness that young animals do. But as she grew older, she was still very clumsy, and when she was about nine months old my sister took her to the vet to get it checked out. I don’t think she was ever definitively diagnosed - some of the tests were very expensive and wouldn’t have helped the situation anyway. But the cat had a degenerative neurological disease that caused her to gradually lose control of her body: her head and body would move constantly, unless she was asleep or totally relaxed; after several months (six sounds about right) she couldn’t walk more than a few steps without falling down and had difficulty eating and relieving herself. My sister and her boyfriend would carry the cat to the litter box or food dishes, as needed. Otherwise, she stayed curled up on the couch or in someone’s lap. It was my sister’s first pet and it broke her heart to put it down, but eventually they did, when the cat refused to eat.
Sorry to hear about your sister’s kitten. There may be something similar to DM in cats, but I am not familar with it. Here is a general description for dogs. So far only a few breeds can be adequately diagnosed for it, but more research is being done. I have been talking with my vet and we plan to help with the research and studies anyway we can. That won’t really help my dog, but perhaps her participation can help future dogs for prevention and treatment options.
Actually, IME the time course for DM is impossible to predict. My gf’s dog has had signs slowly progressing for the last 2 years or so. I have seen other dogs progress rapidly. Each case is unique. Some plateau for a while and live many years.
One certainty is that there is no real treatment, other than maintaining a normal body weight and addressing any musculoskeletal problems as they arise.
The veterinary school in Gainesville, Florida is where the most cutting edge research is being done.
I’m not in clinical practice, but in vet school and during my residency, we learned about a feline parvoviral infection that affects very young kittens or even kittens in utero. It results in the cerebellum not growing properly, which can result in the signs of clumsiness you describe. Of course, I can’t say for sure that this is what your sister’s kitten had.
Feline Panleukopenia virus causes cerebellar hypoplasia to developing feline feti when in utero exposure occurs. It is a relatively common clinical finding.
