Degenerative Myelopathy Symptoms - Page 3

Heaven's Gate is specifically meant for DM: http://www.mzjf.info/hgate/ Marjorie also developed the newer Breed Betterment Registry, which was promoted the other month in the GSDCA's Review. http://www.gsdbbr.org/ (It's about time something like this existed - I think should be mandatory to know the cause of death of all dogs - so many of those vaunted show dogs die so young, yet no admitting why, and they leave too many offspring.) No definitive statistics, but it could give an idea of where and how things are going.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Display&dopt=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=1641928&tool=ExternalSearch Here is a collection of useful scientific articles on the topic(link above). I have always wondered if these degenerative neuronal diseases have anything to do with the vaccination practices in the United states (too many, too frequent vaccines IMO). I do not know the comparative incidences of this disease in other countries where they vaccinate less. No doubt, the GSD is genetically prone for this but environmental factors need to be considered too (as triggers). I would like to hear from fellow portal members about their thoughts on this. Thanks.

Hi Rebel, Marg has spent so much time on this project. She really is a remarkable person, isn't she? If not for her unyielding efforts, I doubt we would have the Flash test, so named by Dr. Clemmons in honor of her dog, Flash. Jack Flash has passed on due to DM. He was the love of her life and her motivation to do something special for the breed that truly matters. She will make a difference. As a side note, some of us who have listed the causes of death for our GSD's have literally been threatened by the breeders of the dogs. Some asked Marg to remove their information, some of us were stubborn and refused to do that.

I have an appt on Thursday with a neuro dr in VA. I will keep my fingers crossed. Again, I truly appreciate the outpouring of information and help from everyone here- Theresa

That's ridiculous. I'm afraid it won't be just the direct breeders, either, but people who think this or that bloodline is "the bomb" - and it really is! I think too many people's heads are in the sand, too, and refuse to recognize the too-frequent problems in the GS. I'm glad Marj put out a general website to enter dogs with ANY or NO problems AND dead as well as LIVING dogs, not just DM. I'll be entering my current allergy-ridden German dog, and I'd like to get my sister's old allergy-ridden German dog in there too. I highly suspect that horrible, irritating, expensive, and laborious allergies are a real problem with German lines - "the defect that dare not speaketh its name". I want to enter my old dog in the general DB too - she was wonderful in every single way, but I suspect (way after the fact) she exhibited some seasonal *allergies*. She was old enough that it won't matter too much (too many American GS die suspiciously at 5yo, etc), but I'll put her postulated cause of death too (either enlarged or fluid-covered heart; all too late to determine specifics). I wish to enter her mostly because of the allergies, because of her German side (you'll see the comment below) which seems to correspond to our later experiences with a few purely German dogs.

I wish that everyone reading this would take a few minutes to list health information about their GSD's on Marj's website. My first GSD had inhalation allergies too. It does seem to be the dirty little secret of the GSD world. Maybe those who haven't had a dog with allergies consider it to be a non-issue and trivialize the condition. However, those of us who have lived with an allergic dog know better. It can even escalate to a lifethreatening situation as these dogs are immune suppressed and prone to a number of other diseases.

Blitzen, one time I had a female that scratched her ears continually until there was almost no hair. She also chewed into her foot pads at both ends until they became inflamed and infected, causing her to limp (she was ofa good hips and ofa normal elbows). The first vet dx'd "inhalation allergic reaction" and treated with anti-histamines. That didn't work. The proper dx tuned out to be mild pancreatic deficiency indicated by somewhat low TLI with asociated gut infection. She was successfully treated with a short term run of antibiodics for the intestines and then I supplemented her continually with pancreatic enzymes bought at a health food store (one pill per day with meals, opened and powder spread on food of 4x strength pancreatic from Twin Labs), along with using a lower protein, lower fat food such as nutro for older dogs, etc. This cleared up all the symptoms. I'm sure there are many GSD with "inhalation allergies" but this one turned out to have mild EPI as the root cause.

I didn't know that EPI could be a cause of atopy, Preston. Thanks, that's important information.

Dear Blitzen. Here is the way it played out for me regarding a bitch that I had. She presented with limping and general lameness in the rear which looked like HD or worse. Then she started scratching her ears until the hair came off of them. At first I was afraid she had spinal stenosis or degenerative myopathy. What I didn't catch right away was that she chewed the edege of her pads which developed a low grade infection which caused inflamation of the muscling in the rear legs. My vet caught this and felt it was due to what he often saw and called inhalation allergic reaction. Benadryl was Rx'd and didn't help. Then I had a TLI drawn and her score was low normal (borderline) for near EPI (exocrine Pancreatic Deficiency). I had a stool sample analyzed at a lab specializing in gastrointestinal problems and they found occult blood suggesting a related gut infection. A short course of antibiodics were prescribed which stopped the blood in her stool and healed her feet lesions, and all limping stopped. She stopped scratchingher ears and developed a better coat. I started sprinkling one opened capsule of panceatin on her food each day (Twin Labs 4X strength Pancreatin) and this helped her condition to the point of apparent normality, and there was then no limping and good movement again. Conclusion: low normal pancreatic enzymes can in some cases cause malabsorption, gut infections, and pad infections due to chewing, with skin and muscle inflamation as sequelae, and with subsequent limping and weakness from favoring in the limbs. TLI should be a must have screening test for the GSD.

Thanks for all the information, Preston. It takes a good diagnostician to recognize the subtle symptoms sometimes exhibited by our dogs. I doubt that many vets would have been able to correctly identify your bitch's underlying disease. Most assume all scratching mean allergies, they prescribe antihistamines which only help around 30% of dogs and then they take the next step to steroids. Your bitch is a success story because of your observations and your vet's abilities.