Vid of Jake :-)

[jakesmummy]

Here is Jake and holly walking in the woods on sunday it was suppose to be his last walk but he is still with me Jake has cdrm so you will see him fall but he is not in pain , ive talked on here about jake a lot and wanted to share one of my precious moments with him

[kita]

He can certainly move faster than my old boy!!!

My dog has periods of panting and sounding like he has something narrowing his throat, he has had these periods for a couple of years now and it comes and goes (he does it for a couple of weeks then it clears up). In fact last night I went past a friend and she said "sounds like that dog has emphasema". It does sound really bad sometimes and the first few times it really scared me as it sounds like a really bad asthma attack. I considered an x ray but decided against it as he is petrified of the vets and I think the visit would kill him.

I think as long as they are eating, asking to go out for walks and managing to sleep peacefully etc. then let them be. Jake is obviously still happy and alert. Remember he is the equivalent of about 95 in our years!! You would not expect to see a 90 year old jogging down the road would you?

Have you thought about a harness for Jake to help hold his back end up? This site has pictures (you can probably make one easily).

Walkabout Sling/Harness for Dogs & Cats-Hyperdrug

This article gives details of how to help them with physiotherapy:

Degenerative Myelopathy Member's Roster: Physiotherapy for DM Dogs. By James Colla

Sue

[LOVEGSD]

Aww what a sweetheart Jake is....I love the look to camera he gives and that he keeps coming back for a stroke from mum.

[GSDOWNER]

Originally Posted by jakesmummy

Here is Jake and holly walking in the woods on sunday it was suppose to be his last walk but he is still with me Jake has cdrm so you will see him fall but he is not in pain , ive talked on here about jake a lot and wanted to share one of my precious moments with him

I cried and sooooo smiled watching that video, very upsetting because there is naff all we can do.........................but smiled cos jakey looks sooooooo happy and so loves his mummy................... as kita said

as long as they are eating, asking to go out for walks and managing to sleep peacefully etc. then let them be.

I think jakey (jake) has got a load more walks yet

[Dillpot]

I am the Jim Colla mentioned on the degenerative Myelopathy site. I would be happy to send you the physio but -it will only help in the very early stage of the disease. I got the physio help simply because I had never heard of the illness, my Sabre was a big strong Ox of a dog and I refused to listen to the vets when they said what he had wrong with him. So Sabre began physio when he had just a slight limp and what he learnt from the exercises kept him walking unaided for 3 years while his back end just wasted, he still walked and died at 12. His Dad Prince also had the same stinking illness but having arthritis we could not do the physio so we got him wheels, as I now know the worst ones on the market, but I knew nothing about carts then. Now I make them and have done hundreds of GSD's and am always delighted to see them take off again they are just so happy to be mobile once more. If you go to my website

http://www.dogswheels.com

You will see some video clips of dogs I have done recently. There is a GSD with a woman who is also in a wheelchair. She has a bad limp due to arthritis so I went back and counterbalanced her wheels and Violet tells me she flies along now much to the amazement of other park users. Wheels work for GSD's but beware there are some terrible contraptions out there which cure the walking problem but cause chafing and are unstable at anything more than just a slow walk.

[kita]

I know you think because Jake has epilepsy that he may have a fit in the cart, but I really don't think that is likely to happen.

They are not in the carts all the time, I only put my girl in when she was out on a walk and if he happened to fit then you would be on hand to quickly take him out of the cart.

After watching the video I really think Jake could take off in a cart and you could have many happy months ahead of you.

He would certainly be able to go in the woods, my girl went virtually every where that she had previously gone.

It would be worth considering?

Sue

[Dillpot]

I must admit that I have never knowingly supplied a cart to a dog with epilepsy what I can say is that I have seen a dog panic when they have tipped the cart over, which is similar to a fit. They sometimes tip them over through taking absolute liberties ie; dragging them over a fallen tree or getting one wheel running along the top of a low wall!! he was named Jake too. The design we make allows the dog to shake the cart off if in difficulties. What you would have to avoid is anything that 'ties' the dog into the cart ie; Doggon or Deweys or the Dogmobile walking frame which employ a rear harness that is then suspended in a frame. These would be potentially difficult to get the dog out of if it was having a fit.