Trouble walking

Max had been doing so well but for the past few days he has been really struggling. This seems to have coincided with the rapid drop in temperature so I wonder if this is connected. He has been wearing his nice warm jumper and cuddling up to his snugglesafe and we have been doing physio as often as we can. I am also making sure he stretches his legs regularly too and we have a couple of short walks a day.
He also has a very large lump on his side which the vet described last week as sinister. It started off as a small fatty lump and the vet checked it out as soon as we found it and said it was nothing to worry about. It has grown rapidly though and is now very hard. It's all been making me think that Max may not be around for much longer so I am cherishing every day.

Feeling frisky

Max enjoying his ball on rope over at the rec yesterday lunchtime.

Mole hills

The rec where we go walking has a bit of a mole problem which is always highlighted in the local parish council meetings. Max doesn't mind. In fact, he loves sniffing them and always looks forward to finding nice fresh ones.

Incontinence

Dogs with CDRM can become incontinent but luckily Max has never left any puddles in the house. However, he has become increasingly bowel incontinent which makes me wary of taking him to other people's houses.
It only happens first thing in the morning after I've let him out in the garden to go to the toilet. A few times he went after I had shut the back door and I thought he just didn't realise that he hadn't finished. Even though I now leave the back door open I still find that he goes in the kitchen so he obviously doesn't know that he needs to go. I have to now make sure I shut him out in the garden so that he does not come back in the house until he has been.
If you have a dog with CDRM I would be interested to know if this is something you have found too as I have only read about urinary incontinence.

Read all about it...

You can read all about Max's life with CDRM in the December issue of Dogs Today, on sale 6 November.

A new addition...

Here is Max with my brother's new Cavalier King Charles puppy, Sonny. Sonny is very lively and Max can only take him in small doses but both managed to stay still long enough for a family photo.

Easier eating

Meal times are much less of a balancing act for Max now he has a raised feeding bowl. He is much more stable on his back legs when he doesn't have to bend forward get his food.

A very good day

Wow! We've just got back from the vet and I can't quite believe it. Max has improved. I thought he seemed better recently, more stable, and I saw him cocking his leg a few times which had to be a leap in the right direction. The vet was obviously stunned by his improvement since last month. She bent his back feet under into the knuckling position and he corrected them almost straight away. At last month's check he was very slow with one and I don't think he even managed to correct the other one himself.
The vet won't be able to explain the improvement because, as far as she knows Max has just been on vivitonin and L-Carnitine which, if anything, could only slow progression of the disease, but I know why and I have Jim Colla to thank. I'm sure it is down to the physiotherapy we have been doing two or three times a day as often as we can manage. The change in just a month is unbelievable. It has really given me a boost and the time consuming physio sessions are definitely paying off.
The vitamin B complex and high strength vitamin C turned up today so they will be added to Max's arsenal of pills and potions and I'll let you know how we get on. I think a nice walk is in order this weekend....

New vitamins

I've found some research on CDRM by Dr Clemmons, professor of neurology at the University of Florida's Veterinary School. As well as high doses of vitamin E, he also recommends 500mg vitamin C twice a day and also a high strength vitamin B complex twice a day.
I've ordered these extra vitamins to try with Max although, with the postal strike, who knows when they will turn up. The post these days is even slower than Max.

Out and about

At the weekend I really noticed a difference in Max. On Saturday we went to Snettisham Park where he ignored a whole host of different farm animals. He had a great sniff around though and even cocked his leg which marked a huge step forward in his progress. He gave up cocking his leg quite a few weeks ago.





On Sunday it was a lovely sunny morning so we went to Holt Country Park for a walk. Well... Max started off walking and then decided to break into a jog. Couldn't believe it but we didn't let him over do it. I put this improvement down to the physio, it really seems to have made him more stable on his back legs.

Physiotherapy

With the kind permission of Jim Colla, here are the details of the exercises for dogs with CDRM. Jim kept his GSD Sabre walking for nearly another three years by doing the following exercises five or six times a day.

Hip Flexers
This is simply slipping one hand beneath the top of the hip to support it. If the dog's left leg is being worked on your left hand would be slipped between the dog's belly and hip so that the left hand is supporting the hip bone at the joint with the next bone. The right hand then holds the leg at the ankle/paw area and the leg is straightened out backwards to it's full extent. Do this three or four time.

Hip Abductors
This is a very important exercise. It is strengthening the muscle that keeps the leg straight. With one hand under the hip, supporting the hip bone and the other supporting the leg below the knee, lift the hip slightly upwards and away from the body until a slight resistance is felt. You will see that there is a traingular section of the dog's skin that is being stretched by this action (do not overdo the pressure) and hold that position while you count to five. Release and repeat five times. The dog's paw should be down near the floor when you are doing this. It is only the hip that you wish to lift away.

Back
Starting at the base of the ears, work your fingers gently down each side of the spine as though gently massaging the spine.

Balance
With your dog standing, position his back legs so they are nice and square then gently push him on the right-hand side of his back leg over towards his left leg. What you are aiming to make him do is reposition his leg himself. You can also achieve this by gently swaying him from side to side causing him to have to transfer his weight from one leg to the other to keep from falling over.

With your dog standing, lift his rear leg off the ground to make him stand on his left leg for a few seconds. Do this five times.

With your dog sitting, lift alternate front legs off the ground.

Passive movements
Do all the joints in the back legs. Working down the leg there are four joints. Hip, then hip to first leg joint, then ankle then paw. The hip has already been done so supporting the hip, stretch the upper leg back as far as it will go and hold for a few seconds. Then as far forwards as it will go for a few seconds.

Do this five times then move down the leg to the next joint remembering always to hold the leg above the joint you wish to work on. So if you were flexing the paw you would be holding the leg between the ankle and the paw.

Tail rolling
This is just taking the base of the tail and slowly wagging it both in the hanging down position and then as though the dog were wagging it when it is held high. This helps the dog balance.

A good day

I think the physio I have been doing with Max is strengthening his legs as he seemed much more sturdy on his walk today. I've decided to take short movies of him every so often so I can monitor his progression. Here are the ones from today...

A slow day

These photos were take a couple of weeks ago at Wells. Max was having a slow day and wasn't interested in much of a paddle. We stayed just long enough to sniff a few sand castles and get some fuss from a couple of holiday makers.

A new beach

Sand is great for Max's bad legs and last weekend we tried out a new beach at Brancaster. The weather was glorious!

DNA heritage test

Max is having a canine DNA heritage test done and it is very exciting! Due to scientific advances, DNA can now be taken from a mongrel dog and it can tell you what breeds make up your mutt.
I have always wondered about his ancestry and it looks like I need wonder no longer. The test involves simply swabbing the inside of Max's mouth and when the results come back it will give each breed found in him as a percentage.
I have my own predictions and it would be great to see how close I am. There is definitely GSD and collie I reckon but there could be others. From certain angles he has the look of a Saluki or a Corgi about him too.
I can't wait to find out the results....

Camping fun

Max had a fun weekend camping in a camper van called Dougal when we went to Devon. He had a great time on Woolacombe beach in the sun and did a bit of walking around Lynton and Lynmouth (and even went in the Victorian cliff railway).

Office life

Feeling perky

Max had a check up at the vet today. Doesn't look like the CDRM has got any worse so we are going to carry on with the Vivitonin and L-Carnitine. Vet said that we could notice an improvement but it is more likely that the best we can hope for is to keep him as he is for as long as possible. He certainly has perked up since he has been on the Vivitonin. When we have been out at lunchtime recently Max has dropped his ball for it to be thrown. He can't run after it so I just knock it towards him with my foot but it's enough excitement to get his tail wagging.
Next check up in 4 weeks and he'll also have his Cartrophen injection for his arthritis then. On the plus side, the vet said that his arthritis does not seem very bad and is probably not hurting him. Also he has a very strong heart and pulse. His heart rate is half what it should be for a dog of his age but, as he is showing no symptoms of this, it is likely he is just super fit!

These boots were made for draggin'

As Max struggles to pick his feet up when he walks his claws have been worn down from being dragged along the pavement. To prevent them getting sore he now wears a fetching pair of boots on his back feet when we go out. It took a little while for him to get used to them but he doesn't mind wearing them at all.

CDRM

Max has been diagnosed with CDRM which means that he is going to lose the use of his back legs. The degeneration of the nerves in the spinal cord is most commonly associated with the GSD and other big breeds but smaller dogs can have it too. The cause is unknown and there is no treatment to reverse the effects.There are things which can help to slow down the progression of the disease and the rate of progression varies greatly from one dog to another.
For some time Max has had problems with his back legs being wobbly and he has not always been aware of what his feet are doing. At first I thought this was a symptom of his arthritis but CDRM is a completely separate condition.
Max has already been put on to Vivitonin to help his circulation and an amino acid supplement to help the muscles in his back legs. We are also going to try a high dose of vitamin E and also blackcurrant seed oil.
We have also started to make preparations for his worsening condition by buying stair gates, putting mats down on slippery floors, using boots for his back feet which now drag when he walks and we have looked into rear harnesses for when he struggles to get up on his own.
Although he can not walk very far these days it is important to keep his exercise regular. He is no longer able to run after toys so we take him to interesting sniffing spots instead. Last night we watched the sun go down at Warham Camp.

1st July 2007

On a beautiful Sunday evening we went for a walk from Baconsthorpe to Baconsthorpe Castle and back again. On the way back Max got a bit lost in the long grass.

Max's new bed

Just woken up

Cat love

Max finds the cat flap

Down on the farm

Max spent an afternoon with the animals from the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, Norfolk. All of the animals were there because they had been rescued from cruel situations. I think they appreciated a visit from Max, even though he was generally uninterested in them.

Where's my dinner?...

A day on the broads

Max loves boat trips and on a sunny Sunday in May he enjoyed a day on the Norfolk Broads. He didn't get over excited and try to jump in the water, he just dozed with the sun on his face.