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Re: [pyrnet] Hing leg weakness in Pyrs

Hi Tom,

I don't want to overwhelm or unnecessarily frighten you with more nasty diseases that your girl might have, however, if there isn't any apparent pain associated with her weakness, it could also be DM. Many DM dogs will do a 'bunny hop' in the early stages of the disease (there are a number of other typical symptoms that a good neurologist can access; for a synopsis, see http://www.mzjf.com/signs.html). The only 'rule in' test is a gene test (however, I'm not sure of it's validity in any breed other than GSDs). I think a visit to as good a neurologist as you can find in your area would be worthwhile. We have a list of DM 'familiar' vets at http://www.mzjf.com/vets.html. They aren't all neurologists, however, they are vets that have worked with dogs that have DM.

One additional piece of advice, be forewarned, that DM is sometimes mis-diagnosed or used as a 'catch all' diagnosis, when no other 'rule-in' diseases are found.

Best of luck with you girl.

-- Bill

Tom McCulloch wrote:
A question on muscle strengthening treatments for big dogs. Our 11 1/2
year old female Pyr has hind leg weakness. She recently had her hips
X-rayed, but only minor arthritis was found, and no dysplasia or other
issues. She has now been on a regimen of Adequan for several weeks.
While this seems to help a little, occasionally she still has a hard
time getting out of a sitting or squatting position, and ends up hopping
until we can pick her up and stabilize her. Afterwards, she is OK
again, and able to walk up stairs and do her half-run/half-jog through
the backyard keeping us safe from the squirrels.

Does anyone know of other kinds of muscle builders that could help?  Are
there steroids that work in these cases?  Thanks for any information you
can provide.

Tom McCulloch 


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