CDRM

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littlen

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Or degenerative mylopathy?


Has anyone had any personal experiences of the above?
I have seen many dogs go off the back end at work but have never really gone through it from start to finish and am not sure exactly what to expect? I have asked our vets and know the medical side of it but am just looking for some personal experiences if thats okay.

Has anyone had a dog with CDRM, how quickly was it after diagnosis that loss of the back legs happened and is there anything you found helped?
Did you keep them right until the end or concider pts sooner?

Just wondering as my gorgeous GSD was diagnosed a few weeks ago after some suspicians and I cant find anything that will give me a time scale or anything like that. Vet has suggested it is very variable and can be years or just a month?
He was x rayed and had a number of tests and they found quite bad arthritis but think CDRM is also in the mix.

He is already very slightly ataxic (crosses back legs a little and is wobbly) but still manages to run on occasion. He does not pick up his back feet properly and drags them ever so slightly so his back nails are very short. His back legs also are pretty delayed when doing the 'knuckle test' (not sure what else to call it) and so we are pretty sure it is this.

Any advice would be appreciated at the moment as I am pretty gutted :(
 
If you stick CDRM into the search box up there you should find a few posts.

It affects different dogs at different speeds.

We kept one too long, about two years, she got bad at ten and wasn't given sleep until 12.
The next one developed it slowly with the knuckle scraping, but she was PTS at 14 the day and the hour we saw she was struggling to get her hind legs off the ground, she'd already been through so much and enjoyed a fantastic, active life and she was not a dog we could have subjected to the indignity of dragging herself around or wheeling herself on a cart.
I don't think it is fair to expect a large weight-bearing dog to struggle and it is very upsetting for them if they cannot toilet themselves.

As with a lot of things, you'll probably know yourself/he will tell you in his own way when the time is right.

Hope you have a good while yet with him left.
 
Thanks CC, he is only 8 so no in a way it makes it worse as I feel as though he has been robbed of a good few years, normally I dont see them with this until they are at least 10 and I wasnt expecting it so early :(
 
Really just to repeat what CC says. I have had far too much experience of CDRM:( but the speed it progresses affects each dog differently. As a very loose generalisation I think mine have gone about 2 years from when I have first seen signs to making the decision to pts. Buffy has had spondylosis for a while, which has some similar symptoms to CDRM but I am now pretty sure she she is displaying signs of CDRM. She had been happily walking a couple of miles a day but was really beginning to struggle so I made the decision to cut the exercise right back, and sadly I do think this has led to an increase in the CDRM symptoms. She has occasional leg crossing, and is scuffing her nails, but is still coping fine with pottering about the fields and short walks. I have never let mine get to the point where they are not able to get to their feet and need wheels to get about, but I know others who have and in all fairness their dogs seemed okay, I think that is a very personal decision.
As I am sure you know, steady lead exercise is the best way to keep the symptoms under control, hopefully if you can keep him comfortable with his arthritis you will be able to have him for a good while yet.
 
MurphysMinder said:
Really just to repeat what CC says. I have had far too much experience of CDRM:( but the speed it progresses affects each dog differently. As a very loose generalisation I think mine have gone about 2 years from when I have first seen signs to making the decision to pts. Buffy has had spondylosis for a while, which has some similar symptoms to CDRM but I am now pretty sure she she is displaying signs of CDRM. She had been happily walking a couple of miles a day but was really beginning to struggle so I made the decision to cut the exercise right back, and sadly I do think this has led to an increase in the CDRM symptoms. She has occasional leg crossing, and is scuffing her nails, but is still coping fine with pottering about the fields and short walks. I have never let mine get to the point where they are not able to get to their feet and need wheels to get about, but I know others who have and in all fairness their dogs seemed okay, I think that is a very personal decision.
As I am sure you know, steady lead exercise is the best way to keep the symptoms under control, hopefully if you can keep him comfortable with his arthritis you will be able to have him for a good while yet.
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MM she sounds very much like mine. Like buffy he also has spondulosis and has been having treatment such as being on glucosamine and prevnicox but I noticed he was scraping the nuckles and crossing the legs, at first I thought it was the spondulosis but apparently not.
He has always had a strange gait, from being a young dog and it crossed by mind it could be HD but after Xrays his hips are clean and its his spine. I suppose it shows that no matter how much testing is done there is always something.
He is a very big strong dog and I hate to think of him immobile, especially as he spends his days on the farm I think it is cruel to have him watch the other dogs running and him being stuck, hence I wont let it get to that stage. For now he is capable of pottering about on our walks, out of choice he does not run etc but I dont think he is in pain. I mainly notice him struggling in smaller spaces as he cant turn tightly and also on hills he seems to drag his back feet. Its an awful thing for me to watch though as he dosent seem to notice it himself and seems confused as to why!!
 
The only "good" thing if you can call it that, about CDRM is that there is no pain, just as you say they seem puzzled that their legs won't do what they want. I have Buff on cartrophen injections for her spine, and since she started on them she doesn't appear to be in any pain from it, which is good, so we just take it day at a time.
 
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