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For Luke the Shep. Beginners journey with Degenerative Myelopathy.

For Luke the Shep. Beginners journey with Degenerative Myelopathy. (The original posts I made in the DM group I joined is below - along with the DNA results)

This is a debilitating and incurable disease. It's costly and heartbreaking. Here is a link to what DM is: CLICK HERE

Degenerative myelopathy (DM), also known as chronic degenerative radiculomyelopathy (CDRM), is a disease affecting the spinal cord, resulting in slowly progressive hind limb weakness and paralysis. The symptoms result from degeneration of the white matter of the spinal cord. DM is similar to some of the forms of human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

My hope is to form a group that can help fundraise for people who cannot afford treatments or equipment that is needed to keep their beloved pets happy and give quality of life for as long as possible.

Hello. Well we have had two full day vet appointments, blood work, X-rays and we had our first appointment with a neurologist.

He doesn’t have cushings or Lyme. 3 specialists looked at his X-rays, the abnormality or spot on vertebrae is nothing. Blood work for myelopathy test has been sent to University of Missouri and has come back positive, or "affected" for the gene.(see below)

The Neurologist has informed us that even though we thought it was just his right back leg and paw knuckling and loss of feeling, there is also loss of feeling presenting in left side, but predominantly showing in right side. It is suggested now an MRI. He is schedule for that on Monday March 1, 2021.

He is licking his back right paw a lot. He is super smart, once something happens he corrects himself. He knows he slips coming in, so he stops and lets us help in back slider. He is such a happy good boy. All the staff said they loved him. We are now preparing for MRI, but I’m worried about anesthesia.

He now slips and falls coming in and out of the house, but he is able to run and "hop" in the backyard. He is able to go for walks, but now we have to get him a booty because he is knuckling to the point where he bleeds due to dragging his paw - so obviously we need to protect him. He knows something is up and doesn't even try to go up the stairs any more. When he comes on the couch he jumps and drags the right leg and paw. WE now have steps to the bed.

Sorry for rambling. Gratuitous pic of my handsome boy Luke.

First post on the DM group I joined:

My boy Luke has been diagnosed with DM symptoms and checks off all the boxes, his blood work is officially being sent off. He spent a day at our vet , X-rays show signs of arthritis and an abnormality on his middle back, but DM is what all are thinking. But I keep searching for answers. I’ve never seen anything progress so fast. One day fine now everyday getting a bit worse. He has loss of feeling in is leg. His tail wag is noticeably different. We put treads on stairs, a rug and runners in the house. His poor back paw knuckles and drags, when he gets up he slips, but outside he is so happy. He can still do walks. Jumping on couch or stairs I noticed he doesn’t use or quite make it with his back leg. We put a gate on stairs for safety, he even notices a difference. He hesitates to get on his favorite perch to look outside, hard for him to get up and he has fallen several times. He has a Cushings test Monday and a neurologist meeting Tuesday. We are going to do a CBD regimen, exercise, massage and get a compression brace for back leg. I’m open to any tips? He survived being dumped in Hartford, parvovirus, he has bouts of pancreatitis so, we are careful of food, he takes dosuqin. He’s only 9. I’m heartbroken.

SECOND POST
I wanted to give an update today on my boy Luke. I am grateful for this invite to this group and have read many posts and gone through information provided. I am deeply touched by all stories and I'm inspired by so many of you.

Luke update: First THANK YOU for all of the information, emails and texts. It is greatly appreciated and I was invited to a great support group for degenerative myelopathy.

Here's where we are so far.

Monday he will go for another round of testing and spend another day at the vets for a cushings test and tummy scan for his spleen and I will ask about Lyme disease. He's already had X-rays and other blood tests. Tuesday he goes to a neurologist for further investigation on a couple of things found on x-rays and will either have or we will schedule an MRI. (Please follow me on Ebay where I'll be selling everything we own) Luke had what is becoming a normal day today. He ran outside, he has a new run that is a hop not using his back right leg. But he ran! He went for a walk! He had some trouble getting on his favorite perch in the living room to look out his window, so he gave up. ( Thats the picture you see, I know he knows whats going on. I feel helpless.) He can get on the couch, but his leg sort of drags with him. He had two slip and falls today that broke my heart, but he appears to not be in any pain. He is having moments where I'm not sure if he is zoning out or confused, just stab me in the heart. He will start CBD and turmeric paste this week. I've also been informed that goats milk works wonders. He can no longer go down the stairs unless he is monitored - so gates are up. We added a huge area rug to living room. We will do whatever we need to for this boy.#LuketheShep

Luke tested AFFECTED/AT RISK
Brief explanation of results;
NORMALdogsdo not have the mutation commonly known to cause thedevelopment ofDM and can safely be bred to a dog with any test result.
CARRIERare far less likely to develop DM, but we have confirmed DM in a very few carrier dogs. They may be used carefully in breeding programs to keep their good qualities while reducing risk of DM in future generations.
AFFECTEDdogs areAT RISKfor developing DM at some point in their lifetime. Not all AFFECTED/AT RISK dogs develop observable clinical symptoms. At present we do not a way to predict when clinical symptoms may appear. Additional research is underway to help determine these details.
Dogs testing NORMAL or CARRIER who exhibit symptoms suggestive of DM should have additional diagnostics done to determine the possible underlying cause of observed symptoms.
Additional information and discussion of results and breeding considerations can be found in the DEGENERATIVE MYELOPATHY section of our website,www.CanineGeneticDiseases.net.

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