Has anyone dealt with this in their GSD? One of my co-workers has just had his 6 year old GSD bitch diagnosed as being affected by DM. Any "success" stories?

I have not seen this in any of my dogs at such a young age. I have seen it in dogs older than 10 years. The only thing we did that seemed to give the dog another couple of years was to megadose GRAND FLEX the glucosamin powder that we sell. It got an OZ a day on his meat and after 4 or 5 weeks we saw a differance. This very well may not work with every dog but it worked for us.

My male was diagnosed at 7, I've seen 2 other dogs that were around 8 yrs old. Dr. Clemmons at the Univ. of Fl, gainesville has a flash test to confirm DM as well as a regimen you can start them on. It was too much medicines for my dog. Unfortunately there is no cure. We take it day by day with our old guy. He will be 10 in January. He stablizes for a few months, deteriorates, then stablizes.

A woman named Marjorie has supported alot of research on the subject. Her site is here: Flash

Research on DM at UF (as well as list of supplements)

UF

Apparently DM can appear anywhere from 5 to 14 yrs. Good luck!

This is merely my PERSONAL opinion about DM. I truly believe it is vaccinated related. They believe it's an autoimmune disease which the body attacks the spinal sheath. Tell your friend to NEVER vaccinate her dog again. Again this is my opinion and not a medical fact. I have seen several dogs with the disease and it's not fun to watch. Dr. Clemmons has the dogs on antioxidnets which is great but you have to be faithful to the program and realize it's a long term thing with the meds. It's not going to "cure" it over night and it may not help at all but it's something I would most definately try.

I actually have to agree with you. Vishnu has always suffered from allergies which is immune based as well ever since we got him at 2 yrs old. He hasn't been vaccinated in over 2 yrs now. My county requires rabies unless waived. My vet does a letter for me each year to waive him from the requirement so I can still purchase his county tag. County just keeps it on file. I am not about to further compromise his system further.

with this info in mind, what vax protocol would be recomended for my boy? he's 7 mo., had DHLLP at 8 & 12 wks (the 12 wk vax REALLY knocked him out), rabies at 7 mo (no prob).

but my state requires a follow-up on the rabies at 1 yr from the initial (then 3 yrs). and should i insist on blood titers next yr when his DHLLP comes due again? what do you guys do about this?

He is taking her tomorrow to Oklahoma State University for a CT scan to rule out a blood clot or tumor and to talk about a myelogram. Fingers crossed.

He has gotten a near positive diagnosis of myasthenia gravis! She has mega-esophagus, which is apparently almost conclusive with the other signs. Secondary to the ME, she also has some aspiration pneumonia. They gave her an injection of Tensilon and her symptoms went away almost immediately (short-term of course). At any rate, she is in intensive care at OSU, but her prognosis is fair. THIS CAME ON LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER VACCINATION!!!!!!

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He is taking her tomorrow to Oklahoma State University for a CT scan to rule out a blood clot or tumor and to talk about a myelogram. Fingers crossed.

This is a very good (IMO) discussion of Degenerative Myelopathy, but it's brief:
http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/DM_Web/Funding.htm

This one is more in-depth:
http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/dm/#cause

and one of ME, which commonly generates aspiration pnemonia:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_megaesophagus.html

It's a genetic marker that makes a dog susceptible to DM, but because altered immunity seems to be a (or the) trigger in Degenerative Myelopathy, I too would say that vaccination reactions could certainly be a factor.

I'm not a health professional, so what I say has nothing but research behind it.

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with this info in mind, what vax protocol would be recomended for my boy? he's 7 mo., had DHLLP at 8 & 12 wks (the 12 wk vax REALLY knocked him out), rabies at 7 mo (no prob).

but my state requires a follow-up on the rabies at 1 yr from the initial (then 3 yrs). and should i insist on blood titers next yr when his DHLLP comes due again? what do you guys do about this?

The Parvo-Distemper shots (at 8 and 12 weeks or so) are it, for many vets now following an updated protocol. Rabies is something that we have to follow legal requirements for, but killed vaccine is (IMO) a better choice.

As far as "due next year" -- you mean an annual booster? My vote is NO. This is also the vote of all recent research. The dog cannot become more immune. Boosters are (IMO) an extremely bad generic practice. Nothing I have ever read supports annual boosters as a general practice for all dogs.

This is your dog. No one can force boosters on you (only rabies shots).

From Leerburg.com:
You can’t make an animal MORE immune to a disease by vaccinating them over and over- no matter what a Vet tells you.

Dr Jean Dodds: "This schedule is the one I recommend and should NOT be interpreted to mean that other protocols recommended by a veterinarian would be less satisfactory. It's a matter of professional judgement and choice." For breeds or families of dogs susceptible to or effected with immune dysfunction, immune-mediated disease, immune-reactions associated with vaccinations, or autoimmune endocrine disease (e.g., thyroiditis, Addison's or Cushing's disease, diabetes, etc.), the following protocol is recommended:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Age of Pups / Vaccine Type

MLV=modified-live virus

9 weeks MLV Distemper/Parvovirus only (e.g. Intervet Progard Puppy)


12 weeks MLV Distemper/Parvovirus only (e.g. Intervet Progard Puppy)


24 weeks or older , if allowable by law Killed Rabies Vaccine END
from http://www.leerburg.com/vaccinosis.htm

I'd never give a booster to a dog who had a reaction to the puppy shots.

I'm not a health professional.