Degenerative myelopathy

S

Shann

Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
5,250
So I just got the news that my 7 year old Ridgeback probably has degenerative myelopathy and it basically is like doggie Lou Gehrig's disease. I guess that it is fairly common in Ridgebacks (meaning that there are a few breeds with a much higher than normal incidence of it)

Apparently, there is no cure and no hope.

I'd like to know if there are any alternative therapies out there to either slow down the process or to improver her quality of life.

I know that a many many people have worse things on their plate, but my dogs are one of the few sources of happiness that I have. I cannot justify or afford spending thousands of dollars on a fool's chase, but would like to do whatever I can.
 
Mongo is a vet here. I'm sure he'll jump in when he sees this thread. I'm sorry about your dog, I hope it works out OK.
 
Thanks for the support guys. My wife and I are struggling with getting an MRI done to rule out anything else. I don't know if its any good to spend 2000 to have them say yep, for sure she's gonna die. On the other hand, if its something surgically reparable, I'd hate not to at least try.



ttt for the weekend in case anybody knows about this
 
I have a 4 year old Ridgie as my sole companion and I know how amazing this breed are but I also still owe over $3,500 to the vet for treatment received treating my late Border Collie for Diabetes.

It was worth it to me to take on the debt because the Border Collie still had a good quality of life right through to the day she died. So it was quality of life which helped me make my decision to keep her alive despite the cost.

I will do some research on degenerative myelopathy in the meantime as well.
 
Shann, PM me here... my email is down. I need to know a little bit more, i.e. what is your dog doing? How quick is it progressing? What diagnostics have already been done? Degenerative myelopathy is hard to diagnose antemortem. Most important thing you can do is make sure your dog is not overweight.
 
Modern veterinary care is quite wonderful. But the problem is that dogs just don't understand the concept of illness and treatment.

In the wild, if you get sick, you either get better fast or you die or you become prey and are killed. That's what they know of illness.

Repeated trips to the vet, surgery, shots, drugs, feeling bad, they view these as some sort of punishment. So, sometimes it is best to just end the situation on a happy note... happy, at least, for the dog.

By the way, I cared for a wonderful Ridgeback for a year while her owners were out of the country, so I know what great dogs they are.
 
Shann, I saw that you emailed me... I cannot open it because my work pooter is F'd. PM me here. Hopefully my work pooter will be up and running soon, just don't know when.
 
Mongo said:
Shann, I saw that you emailed me... I cannot open it because my work pooter is F'd. PM me here. Hopefully my work pooter will be up and running soon, just don't know when.
Click to expand...



Thanks. I know this sounds dumb, but how do you PM someone?:o
 
I too believe you have to be a paying member to PM but you can go to the member's homepage and leave a message on their 'wall' and thus have a conversation with them via that means.
 
Shann, as SOON as I get my work computer back and working correctly, I'll holler back at ya. I'm going nuts, AND driving my employees absolutely crazy in the mean time.
 
Mongo said:
Shann, as SOON as I get my work computer back and working correctly, I'll holler back at ya. I'm going nuts, AND driving my employees absolutely crazy in the mean time.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. I'm sorry I didn't PM you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top