DM

Neurological Disorders Resources. Treatment and care for pets having pain or trouble walking or standing due to spinal injuries or neurological disorders like IVDD, FCE and DM.
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sharoncohen
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DM

Post by sharoncohen »

Hi, my 14 year old Shepherd was recently diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy & is paralyzed in her back legs. I bought a help em up harness which is great, & borrowed a wheelchair from a friend. Crystal really seemed to like the wheelchair at first but is now balking at going out in it. She is becoming incontinent & I’m washing a lot of Pee pads and bedding. I’m lucky I’m retired & get to spend a lot of time with her. She sleeps a lot & is still eating but seems depressed. Any suggestions on how to keep her spirits up? And mine?
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CarolC
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Re: DM

Post by CarolC »

Hi sharencohen,

:gang:

Your post reminded me of someone else with a DM shepherd and a similar harness. Have you seen the videos by raksha76? Her dog is named Blondie. She did a couple of videos demonstrating expressing her dog's bladder. I don't know if you have started expressing yet. Basically, you squeeze the dog's abdomen to cause her to empty her bladder. This will eliminate or reduce the leaking and dribbling. Here are a couple of her videos. You can see that she does it without having to remove the harness! :smart:





She has other videos about Blondie as well. Her method of expressing Blondie's bladder is to just use pressure from the dog resting on her knee. There are many other ways to express. Here is an article and if you scroll down to the end there are lots of videos showing different methods.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16027

My best tip would be, it is very important to keep the skin dry, especially with a large dog. I think I would try expressing 3x a day, and for some dogs that is enough to keep them dry between expresses. If she is still dribbling between times, then I could consider also using a diaper.

If she wets the bedding enough times, sooner or later she is likely to develop a sore on her hip because urine tends to migrate to the low spot in the bed, which is usually under the hip, and it creates skin irritation from a urine scald or urine burn. This is how you can develop what some people call a pressure sore, but in truth it started from a urine burn which happened to occur in a pressure area (the hip). They are much easier to prevent than to heal. This is why expressing and diapering are worth the trouble, to protect her skin.

Something else that is a possibility is to use special bedding designed to keep the dog dryer. Two options are whelping pads or Palace fleece. The idea is that urine will pass through. Normal disposable potty pads are not absorbent enough and a dog lying on a wet potty pad is a wet dog. You are using the washable pads. Are they the kind they use in hospitals? Those are better and more absorbent that disposables. But even better might be to have the dog on the whelping pad or Palace fleece, with the potty pad beneath that. Here is a link with more info.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=20473&p=104044#p104044

I wonder why she does not like to use her cart now? Do you have any ideas or theories about that? That's so strange when she was fine with it before. Is it possible she is developing some weakness in her front legs? Sometimes DM dogs will graduate from a 2-wheel cart to a 4-wheel (quad) cart. Some brands of 2-wheel carts can be retrofitted by adding front wheels. If you are not sure about your cart, perhaps you can look up the brand and see if they offer extensions or front wheels or whatever the manufacturer refers to them as. Either that, or call their 800 number and just ask. I'm not sure she needs front support, it's just one possibility. My golden retriever had a 4-wheel cart and to be honest, he couldn't really walk in it with his age and weakness, but he enjoyed being able to stand up at least.

It is hard to find something to be cheerful about when your dog has a progressive condition. About all you can do is be very glad you are doing the best you can for her. It is a lot of adjustment as her condition changes. One of our moderators here had a DM dog and wrote a book about caring for DM. Her dog was a Corgi, so smaller than yours, but she did amazing things, even taking all her dogs camping.

https://corgiaid.org/wp/cart/corgis-on-wheels/

People say you have to take care of yourself. What they don't realize is that when you are doing daily lifting (and if you are like I was, not young and with a dog you can't lift) it gradually takes a toll on you physically, even if you are super careful and do every lift correctly. When I was caring for my down golden retriever, I was very conscious of how I was lifting, because I knew if I blew my back there would be nobody to care for him. I never did blow a disk, but the months of lifting caused other injuries I was unaware were happening, and afterward I ended up going to professional PT for my back.

I would only suggest that if you are trying to keep your spirits up, part of it is the situation that your dog who you love has a progressive condition. But part of it may also be that your body is taking some wear and tear, and perhaps you are screening it out and ignoring it because you are more centered on her. Right now in the middle of this pandemic it is harder to do some things that might help, such as go swimming, go for a massage, etc. Taking Aleve really did help me. I wish I had started taking it sooner.

You did not mention whether she is also beginning to have issues with number two. There are ways you can get your dog to empty the bowel at a time and place of your choosing. Here is a link that shows some techniques. It makes life easier for both of you if she isn't doodling in her bed.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18586

Hope something here helps. Her name is Crystal. Is she by chance a white GSD like Blondie? :D
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critters
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Re: DM

Post by critters »

:welcome:
sharoncohen
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Re: DM

Post by sharoncohen »

Thank you for all the useful information. My Crystal is a German Shepherd but she’s a rescue with the typical brown and black coloring. Her birthday is today & she is 14 years old 🥰
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CarolC
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Re: DM

Post by CarolC »

Happy birthday to your baby!
:cake: :5balloons: :present: :hearts:
sharoncohen
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Re: DM

Post by sharoncohen »

Thank you!!!
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critters
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Re: DM

Post by critters »

Happy birthday to Crystal! :wub:
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