Beginning Stage of Degenerative Myelopathy.<br />
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This is Blondie on Decemeber 9th 2010. This is what the early stages of Degenerative Myelopathy can looks like. Rear leg wekaness and difficulty arising after laying down. You may hear the toenails scraping as they walk and the toes may knuckle under. All this occurs without pain. In the early stages DM is often mistaken for Hip dysplasia or other diseases. it's important to rule out diseases such as Lyme Disease or Hip Dysplasia and other disease. Self Diagnosis is not recommend as many times the dog may have a curable condition. DM is quite rare.<br />
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Degenerative Myelopathy is spinal cord disease that is progressive in nature and, in the German Shepherd breed, is similar to Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. There is no cure and the disease progressively paralyzes first the rear legs and tail and then moves forward to take the front end. The GSD version of DM also involves sensory loss and the dog cannot feel anything when you touch their feet. Blondie has lost all sensation in her tail, and hind legs. While her nerves will give a little reflex reaction to external stimulation, she cannot feel it and won't turn to look when I perform those little tests on her. Degenerative Myelopathy is painless until the very final stage where it impacts the lung function and most dogs are euthanized before this stage is reached. The disease can be slowed with vitamins and mineral supplements but is not guarenteed to work in all dogs and it only slows the disease..It won't cure it. there is no cure at this time. For more information on Degenerative Myelopathy and tips on caring for a DM dog, please visit: http://www.mzjf.com/ http://dog2doc.com/neuro/DM_Web/DMofG...
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