Degenerative Mylopathy, Stopped Eating

[aaron1948]

OUR DILEMMA. Any advice appreciated,

We think our 90lb, 11-year-old golden wolf/retriever mix--Sigourney--has rapid onset Degenerative Mylopathy. A week ago, 1 back leg started collapsing, then 3 days ago both legs started collapsing with other DM signs, such as back paws folding under, legs crossing, etc. This is aggravated by the fact that 2 years ago, both rear ACLs tore within a week. At that time, decided against surgery & started daily Metacam: scar tissue built up, arthritis started and has worsened. BUT she became able to walk again, and for the last year-and-a-half has had a good stability and a high quality life

But then, 3 days ago, with bioth legs collapsing, she also stopped eating, but will drink water sometimes. She has grown increasingly listless & mostly unresponsive. We added Tramadol for her increased pain. Starting yesterday, we had to lift her back legs for her to maneuver outside. And over night & today, she has stopped trying to get up.

Last night, we accepted that she may be dying. This morning we have been close to a decision to euthanize her at home, because she seems over the quality-of-life threshhold. But then I did some DM research.

OUR DILEMMA: Do we end it now, or do we hold out a little hope & try PT/Hydrotherapy, get a rear harness, & order booties. They key variable, I think, is the lack of eating factor & listlessness. Plus, the wolf in her will make her more stressed (non-aggressive fear of people) if we try to go the medical route.

[CarolC]

Hi aaron1948,

If you are able to call the vet out to the house for euthanasia, perhaps you could call the vet out to the house for an exam.

From what I know, DM does not have rapid onset, so this is more likely something else. It is possible it's a disk problem with enough pain that she doesn't want to move. You know how bad a back problem can hurt in the early phase, and dogs instinctively hide pain because they cannot afford to appear weak in a pack structure. It might be worth trying to see if they'll prescribe an anti-inflammatory and see if she perks up.

Here is some info that may help--only quoting part of it but it might be more useful to click the link being quoted and read the whole page:

Symptoms of Degenerative Myelopathy
Note: Degenerative Myelopathy has a slow onset and is NOT painful. If these early symptoms occur suddenly or if your dog is painful, you are most likely not dealing exclusively with DM. Make sure that your veterinarian, or a veterinary neurologist, examines your dog for other conditions that may involve the spine. DM does not come on suddenly. Other disorders such as disk disease, disk herniation, spinal cord tumors, and FCE (a “stroke” in the spinal cord) can also cause symptoms similar to DM, but with a much more rapid onset.

Very best wishes for you as you work through this situation with your dog.

[Bobbie]

Agreed- rapid onset is not DM as there is no such thing as rapid-onset DM. Sounds like a disk injury, or possibly spinal tumor, or any number of other things- but not DM.

Some of the possibilities are treatable- it may be worth a consult with a neurologist or at the minimum blood work to see if it could be an infectious disease (there are some that cause paralysis.) Hard to say if the not-eating is pain or is because something else is going on and the paralysis or weakness is a symptom of whatever it is.