Degenerative myelopathy - Page 8

If the DM doesn't affect a dog during their lifetime, then that means it was not a health factor. If all dogs lived to be twenty, the DM rate would probably be higher, but so would the cancer rate. In fact more dogs get cancer that kills them at a young age than DM.

I guess if I hadn't had 3 friends with DM dogs (diagnosed at autoposy and tested at risk) I might have a different opinion too. They went through hell with their dogs trying all sorts of supplements, exercise programs, stem cell. carts, harnesses, wagons. None of these dog were that old. I think the oldest was 9 when the symptoms first started.  One of the dogs was bred by a well known ASL breeder who ended up producing  2 or 3 other dogs with assumed DM.  She refused to test at first, but decided to  test after the 3rd DM diagnosis. I'm not sure if they were autopsied or not. All of them had the same grandsire, a German import owned by another breeder, never tested as far as I know.

It's just a very sad thing for anyone to have to deal with. If I were breeding, I would do everything I could to not produce an at risk.

A different opinion than what?

The added value of DM testing.

and if my grandmother had *baseball equipment* (bat and  balls) she would have been my grandfather, but she didnt, so she wasnt...

Agree with Blitzen;  once you have seen it and/or been through it  --  well I never want t be there again.  It is one of the most devastating diseases I think I have ever seen and to watch the dogs try to maneouver with it is heartbreaking to say the least.  If there is even a remote possibility that testing can help us with even earlier diagnosis for these dogs then I think if you are a responsible breeder you would want to do the testing.  Nan

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I saw a little boy get squashed by a steam roller, I never want to see that again, either. I saw a dog die from heartworms, before there was a cure or preventative, I never want to see that again, either. For heartworm, there is a preventative and cure, still dogs suffer from heartworm. There is no cure for DM, there is no preventative, the test is not fool proof. Doesn't mean I want to see dogs get it. I'm one of the lucky ones, l guess, because I never saw a dog with DM in six decades, until two months ago. A friend has a dog diagnosed potentially with DM. The dog is fifteen years old, none of the parents, grand parents or siblings ever had itand they werent tested as the test didn't exist back then. Guess the one the breeder still has that was diagnosed is the unlucky lightning strike. But he's getting around well, considering his advanced age.

Can anyone post a dog diagnosed at autopsy with DM from exclusively East German line? Not looking for line fight but I have never had someone post a ped from the East line. I have heard rumor only it does not appear to be on the major radar yet from within this line. With 10 pages and lots of views perhaps some can now..