then the next minute, I was shocked to see half of her face covered in blood. She apparently had scratched her left cheek raw, while I was busy talking to a client on the phone.
We took her to the veterinarian as soon as we could. The doctor suspected that it could have been a spider bite.
Since she was already in the clinic, we had the doctor check her up. We informed him that we've been noticing for quite some time now that she has been having difficulty getting up the stairs or jumping up in the car/on the bed and that one of her hind legs seems to curve inward while walking.
After reviewing a 6-month old X-ray from a previous check-up, the doctor shocked us with a term we've never heard before. He diagnosed Besi as having Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), (progressive rear limb weakness or paralysis), which is an auto immune disease where the immune system attacks the central nervous system. This is equivalent to the human disease Multiple Sclerosis. The attack leads to degeneration of the myelin sheath (insulation) and axons (nerve fibers). It has been reported in almost all large breeds of dogs with the disease appearing with relative frequency in the German Shepherd.
He advised that it is painless but will affect her body very quickly, thus she had only up to a few weeks to a few months to live. We were in total shocked and were naturally very sad.
We're hoping that with our love, constant exercise, and with the help of vitamins/medication, she will have more time with us on this earth.
Our Besi Give her a ball, and she's a happy dog,
even if the cone is not flattering to her figure.
1 comment:
this must be what our Yellow lab Molly ( who is 14 yrs old) is suffering from, she cant get up any longer and my mother is taking her today to have her put down. Whats worse is that the vet couldnt find it, and even if he did find it i've read that there is no cure for it only ways to help it progress slower. I hope you caught it in time to enjoy more time with besi, sadly we didnt catch it early enough. Good luck and much love to your pup. Im sorry if this comment has been a downer in anyway.
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