Degenerative Myelopathy-The Reality

 In all of my blog posts regarding Athena I have described Athena's journey.
There is a difference between reading/hearing about it and living it or experiencing it.

This video is 24 minutes or so. It's essentially chronicling Athena's life from adoption to her battle with DM.   
This is what she lived & how she was until the end.

Pupdate: Athena Marie August 14 2020

 In April 2014 I began this blog as a way to chronicle Athena's road to recovery for those who wanted to know how she was doing.  

It began right after adoption day when we brought her home with infections & a weak legs from living in cramped & unhealthy conditions in the mill she lived in.

As time went on this page evolved to including Duchess, Peryn, Lada, & Now Volos.  Also as Athena's disease started to manifest itself and progress, I've updated as time went on. 

It's with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Athena has been released from her current prison, her body.  SHe now runs free with her older pack siblings and no longer requires a cart.

Over the past few months I had noticed a slow decline in her physcial and mental states.  She has exhibited most of the late stage symptoms and if a decision was not made, would enter the crisis stage.

Two weekends ago we were able to take her to the new Dog Farm where she ran, explored, and had a great time with her pack.

Last Friday she went to day care and had a fabulous time running all over. 

Since then she has been unable to hold herself up in the cart.  Yesterday she attended day care for the final time.  She went in a wagon vs a cart.   

She's been spoiled big time the past few weeks.  We sent out a notice to family & friends indicating that if they wanted to see her one last time, they better come and see her. 

She's had visitors come love upon her and last night one of her BFFs Mom & human brother came and she got to eat a full cupcake to herself as well as get loved on. 

The worst part of all this is that she's mentally alert & present.  When she's up and getting attention or around her siblings, she's very responsive.   We have to keep reminding ourselves it's her body that failed her.   She no longer has the quality of life she used to. 

She was spoiled rotten these past few days and we know she left this world surrounded by love. Yesterday Daycare & human snacks. Today for lunch was McDonalds.  We loved on her as much as we could before the appointment. 

We are heartbroken, yet relieved.   She no longer has to watch from the sidelines.  

Below the photos is some DM information .

Below I'm leaving some info  to Degenerative Myelopathy for your reading up on this horrible disease. A link at the top takes you to a page with a number of Different links to more detailed DM information.

F Y I - Athena lived approximately 2.5+ years after initial symptoms began presenting themselves. 

Quick DM information

Afflicts dogs in their older years. It is a progressive condition affecting the spinal cord causing the dog to become paraplegic after six months to one year. 

The disease ultimately reaches the brain stem and cranial nerves and, since there is no cure, it leads to death.

The onset of this condition is typically when the dog is between eight and 14 years old. 

The long-term prognosis is poor and most animals are euthanized within 6 months to 3 years of diagnosis as the disease progresses. 

When they can no longer walk and a cart is not an option, end of life care or euthanasia should be considered.

Early Stages

Progressive weakness of the hind limbs

Worn nails

Difficulty rising

Stumbling

Knuckling of the toes

Scuffing hind feet

Wearing of the inner digits of the rear paws

Loss of muscle in the rear legs

Tremors of the rear legs

Late Stages

Persistent early stages

Urinary and fecal incontinence

Eventual front leg weakness from compensatory strain

Mental stress and anxiety

Pressure sores on boney prominences

Inability to rise

Muscle atrophy

Poor hygiene - soiled appearance

Pneumonia

Depression

Infection/sepsis

Constipation

Organ failure

Crisis — Seek Vet immediately

Difficulty breathing

Prolonged seizures

Uncontrollable vomiting/diarrhea

Sudden collapse

Profuse bleeding — internal or external

Crying/whining from pain

Pupdate July 8

Hey.   Time flies when you're having fun!  (NOT) 

Getting right to it....

At the vet

Early last week I noticed Athena was having a hard time. She wasn't doing well in her cart--barely held herself up or was moving very slowly.  Additionally she was wetting the bed.  Not like she had, she was SOAKING the beds. Regularly. She was peeing a lot as well.  We began to suspect a UTI.   UTI's are common in dogs with DM, especially in this stage.    Took her to the vet and sure enough, She was put on an anti-biotic and man oh man, do those things work quickly. We noticed the difference a day and a half after she started on them.

zoom zoom zoom

Yesterday after work we all went downstairs to play.  I was down there an hour and a half with the kiddoes.  Athena was having a blast.   Zooming (well as fast as she can these days) all around with Peryn & Lada.  She wasn't having any issues holding herself up or running.  She was doing fabulous.   No sign of slowing down at all yesterday.  

We try to keep her occupied when we can.  Now that the weather is better, we try to spend some time outdoors with her or allow her more time in her cart to play.    I can see the depression getting to her some days.    


When i took Peryn to his vet appointment in May/June (Hard to remember when at this point), the vet had pointed out Peryn's broken canines.   He had broken the tips off all 4 and the vet indicated we would need to do Xrays in order to determine if the pulp was showing in any.    I put that on hold a bit, because of everything going on.

A few weeks ago I noticed he had broken down one of his canines even more.   I knew it was time to take him in to get them looked at.     SO on Monday we did just that.   Peryn went to get some x-rays and depending what they found would determine our next course of actions. 

The vet indicated none of the pulp was showing and we could leave the teeth alone.  He had about a mm left of enamel before the pulp.
HOWEVER--- I see this dog play.   I see him with his balls, his tugs, his bones, and his siblings.   This was something that would eventually happen.  The question was when?   And once that happened, how long before he could get it taken care of before infection?    It was a preemptive strike to have all four removed.   

I loved his canines and his teefs, but I had to look at the greater scheme of things. He's healing nicely (was super hyper during yesterday's play). It was cute seeing his tongue sway side to side since his canines no longer framed it in place.  Additionally watching him trying to figure out how to properly hold a ball now...adorable.   Dude of course figured it out and was munching on one ball while chasing the others while we played.    Resilient!

Volos and Lada are doing well.    Volos is starting to really bloom with day care.   He's really coming out of his shell.    He's such a big goof.      He really is just a very very happy dog. 
He LOVES playing downstairs when Peryn is down there. Now they don't necessarily play together (although they may bark back and forth at one another), but they are down there at the same time.   Peryn playing with his herding ball and Volos with his smaller balls at the bottom of the stairs. 

Volos is getting in on fetch more and more.   He has so much energy and seriously is a very happy dog.  

Volos and Lada

 Lada is Lada.  Same as always.

Everyone but Athena went with us to one of my BFFs house this past weekend.   Peryn & Lada swam...Volos got loved on.   It was quite a fun family time.   Wish Athena could come with us, but in this heat (we spent most of our time outdoors) and how long we were there....it wouldn't have been good for her.     
She gets extra loving each day to make up for the times we have to leave her.

4th of July.  Peryn & Volos are not fans of the fireworks. They did pretty well as we had our speakers up loud to drown out the intensity of the booms.   They actually freak out more during storms, so I say we did good.

At my friends house

Peryn in the pool

Lada enjoying the duck raft

Volos and his balls

Bye Bye June

at play care

In the world of the pups, time is flying!     

I was just re-reading what we posted last time and it feels like a lifetime ago.   

When we brought home Volos all those months ago, I never thought this house would turn anymore crazy than what the cattle dogs already made it.  I was so wrong. 

The past few weeks have been INSANE!    Volos, once petrified and awkward on stairs, regularly flies up and down them with Peryn.    They all go NUTTS when they want to play.   Lada and Peryn were bad, but Volos makes it insanity.   

He and Peryn spend their free time running up and down the stairs barking at one another and playing.   It seriously is crazy.   For 2 dogs that don't seem like BFFs, they sure love heading downstairs to play.   
   


Part of me is grateful as Peryn isn't bugging me as much now that he has a partner downstairs with him, but Volos is sooooo LARGE.   

hanging out together

Larger than life in his enthusiasm and energy. He's large-in size and soo uncoordinated.   He really is a 1 dog wrecking ball.   

At day care they tend to hang out near each other when just chilling and don't fight--Volos has even slowly started to open up to attention from other dogs.  Before we know it, it'll be like Duchess.   Once a loner to a playful big thing. 

Volos FINALLY got on the couch!! Well, he had help the first 2 times and he had no issues any time after.    He was wanting attention from Mommy and she assisted getting him up on the couch. HE LOVED IT.   He was able to lie there and relax while getting loving from Mommy.   

Handsome brothers

Now we just indicate we want him up and he jumps up for cuddles.    I finally have my cuddle dog!  Lada is not pleased that he is getting more attention, but as long as she can plop herself down on the other side of me--she'll deal.

Invisible Fence. They all got it down, but Peryn will test the limits at times.  Especially if a ball is involved. He's pretty good and coming back in, but he still will go over the line. 
Lada and Volos are good and there are no worries there. 

Running around play care

chatting it up with a buddy

Athena is doing ok.  The weakness in her front legs is a bit more noticeable, but she still has some great days. Now that the weather is nicer and I'm working from home, she has had a few days outside with her siblings after work.   
She really is happiest when she is with them.   She still gets some time downstairs, but I try to keep it more to outside.  She enjoys outdoors more than in doors..especially with all the walkers. 

She goes to day care at least once a week for a max of 3 
hours.  It depends on how she was the day before and how she was throughout the day (usually Fridays).   We try not to over due it too much.    She loves it.    

She's hanging on & still has a fighting spirit.  We still see the signs of decline in how she holds (or doesn't) hold herself while in her cart as well as when she barks.  There is a weakness there that you can just hear.   

She still loves to eat and play--so as long as that is still there-- she'll be sticking around.      We really really are thankful to have had her for as long as we have.  We didn't think she'd be with us going into July.  

Two Happy Puppers

Isn't he handsome

Athena...get outta her way!

Pupdate: June 8 2020

Another pupdate here.   It's been about 2 weeks since we last posted and a bunch of things have happened with our Pack.   SO let's get to it.


Peryn & Volos -  I don't remember if I indicated that the two of the have a somewhat adversarial relationship.   It escalated again last week and the fur was flying.    At this point in time, Volos is the continuing problem.   Peryn has taken to giving him a wide berth when they aren't playing.    Volos growls almost every time Peryn is in his line of site.   We're working on curtailing that.   


Volos-- he's our little klepto.  If he sees it and wants it, it's taken. He loves to take my shoes. In fact, I just today noticed a hole in them.   Mind you this is after I retrieved

both pair from his stash.  He has no shame, if he can reach it --it becomes his.     It's funny and annoying. 
He tends to pull on the laces of our shoes, making them close up real tight.  The hole...not sure if it was him or me.     

He still loves playing with his toys.   He spends his mornings in Rich's office, rolling his  Wobble Wag Giggle Ball (WWGBall from here on out).  He plays with the stuffed toys and barks.  He's such a freaking happy dog.     

He's a regular at play care now and that's a work in progress.   He also regularly runs down the stairs now to go play with the other two. Is favorite thing to do is to collect the smaller balls and hoard them.      Such a silly boy.

Peryn is Peryn. Still loves heading for the basement to play with his herding ball.   He will be down there whether or not he has company.    Ball is life with him.     When Volos comes down and tries to play with the herding ball, Peryn backs off to let him.      

Peryn has taken on some mannerisms that Duchess had.   He didn't do some of the stuff before, but now that she is gone he does.   

And speaking of Duchess..... don't think for one second that we don't think about her. We miss her so much.   That girl was one of a kind.

Lada-- Little girl is just like always.  She's still possessive of Mommy. Still loves to play with tennis balls. Loves playing with her big brother.   Loves lying with Sissy.     She's also proven herself to be such a good girl.   Still a bit psycho at times, but more protective and better behaved.

Athena!   Girl is still going strong.  2.5 years in and she's still got spirit.  That being said, there is a slow decline that we are noticing. The muscles around her lungs are getting weaker. We can hear it in her barks.  Some days they are wheezy and weak and others a lot stronger.    Her front legs are definitely declining.  She only seems to be able to hold herself up when she's running in her cart. If she's stopped, she tends to bow forward. 

She still goes to play care for a few hours once a week. It all depends on the days leading up to and the day of.  

Unfortunately the depression that accompanies the later stages of the disease is also noticeable.   Throughout most of the illness, she's had a pretty happy attitude.  She  never seemed to let it get her down.  As of late i see it.  It's heartbreaking and it mostly happens the days the dogs are at play care.   It's heart breaking.  

But what isn't heart breaking is that she's still here with us. We really didn't think she'd still be here at this time of year.  She took such a drastic turn in January, we thought at that rate she'd be gone in a few months.   She sure showed us.  

We have been wanting to get Invisible Fence for the yard for some time. We're not allowed traditional fences, so we decided we would invest in IF.   The biggest hold up has been the lot next to us. We wanted to wait until that lot was built before we got it installed.  The lot was sold when we moved in 10 months ago, but it wasn't until last month that they began building. 

Now that they're working on the inside, we got the IF installed.  We're on week 2 and this is how it goes on the training:

Athena--no collar.

Lada-- This smart little cookie got it.  She's 98% trained.   Such a good girl.   Discovered it while playing fetch with the chuck it over the weekend.  She knows what the boundaries are and what will happen. She won't chase a ball that rolls over the line.     
The real test would be her reaction to the animals she sees like the deer from a few weeks ago.    We have yet to test it against her prey drive.   Otherwise she's pretty much good to go.

Volos--Yeah he's what they consider a Self trainer.  His history and his reaction to the correction indicates he may have had some correction training in the past.    He gets buzzed once--training is over. He wants inside. Know what else doesn't help--he's not a fan of the heat.   
First dog I have ever had that does NOT want to be outside in the sun.       So trying to train him has been a chore.   
They are going to give him an additional warning beep to alert him so he has time to react before correction.   

We'll keep you posted.

Peryn. Peryn. Peryn.  Have I ever told you he's stubborn? Well his breed is stubborn and hardy.   One thing we learned about the breed and their hardiness was they could be injured and you wouldn't know. They're just built that way..tough. They are meant to work with cattle so they need to have thick skins.

Those of you who have met Peryn have seen his reaction to ball.   He has laser focus and it's all about the ball. Those two factors together have made training a bit tough. 

He's heard the beep. He's heard the correction. Yet he doesn't give a damn.    Today we went to train with distractions (IE BALL).   Dude is so laser focused on the ball, he didn't feel the correction.   The training correction did nothing--he totally ignored it. The up one level, which we did at first, did nothing when he was focused on something like getting to the ball.    The next setting--gets his attention.   SO we've had to start over to get him aware of the boundaries so he can learn to avoid them.     
Small progress, but progress none-the-less.     
Stubborn fool.

Athena & Lada

Volos plotting to take the bone

We're all having fun

Volos & Athena in the bedroom

Be Careful What you Wish For.....

Hanging out with the girls

Can you believe it's the end of May already?   Volos has been with us for 4 months and this dog is unrecognizable. 

I just re-read day 3 & day 4 entries about him and just had to laugh.    Don't know who that dog was, but it sure is heck not Volos.     

Now, not all has been rosy and Peryn & Volos did get into recently that required Peryn seeing the vet because of an injury.   It's been touch and go with their getting along, however new circumstances may actually change that.

So, I used to comment how when I worked in my office, Volos wouldn't come in to lay with the rest of the pups.   Then eventually it happened.  

I used to wish Volos would be a bit more playful. He would sneak a toy here or there, but wasn't really all that playful.   Then he discovered the wonders of his Wobble Wag Giggle Ball.  That dog is insane over that ball.    It is his most favorite thing.    Additionally, he loves collecting toys.   
Yaay--another wish fulfilled.

We went for months not hearing a peep out of him.  He barks now.  Yay!

Thanks to this stay at home/quarantine thing, I've been working from home every day since the end of March.    For awhile it was good. I would work from home and the days that there was no play care, they all slept until my lunch time or end of day.  (Or a conference call).     IT's been pretty good and funny that they know my schedule enough to start bugging me.   

Getting comfy in his sleep

WELLLLLL....   Volos has decided as of late that he'll sleep the first part of the morning and then around 9-10 am he becomes animated and playful.   When he plays, he barks.  He barks at his ball or whatever toy he's playing with.       So it'll start with him playing for a bit with his ball across the hall.   Then he gets up and comes over to me wanting me to play with him.     

This in turn, riles up Peryn & Lada and then we have 3 hyper dogs wanting to play.     It was cute the first few times...... NOT SO MUCH NOW.           

This has led us to begin working with the Play Care to get Volos used to them.   Last Friday, he went in for a few hours and then I picked him up to bring home.   

He went again for several hours on Thursday.  It was a slow day, so he was there for 6 hours.   He did very well.      Yesterday he went the whole day.       

Wanting him to start going to day care has a few motivations behind it.   First, it helps him socialize in a different setting with different people and dogs.        Secondly, it gets him out of the house and away from bugging me to death.   Thirdly, I had a hope.       When he went last week, it was when Peryn was stuck at home because of his injured paw.   He was at day care with only Lada. 

My hope was that this week with Peryn returning, they might bond. I saw it with the dogs when it was Duchess, Athena, Peryn & Lada..   They tended to bond  and hang out together at day care.   I think that is one reason that pack was the most bonded and got along so well.   They relied on one another all the time.   

Well, below you will find photos taken by the day care of yesterday's outcome.   Let's hope things stay that way!! 

Athena's doing well. Still full of life and energy.  Her body's been cooperating for the most part.   We really did not think she was going to last this long based on how things were going in January.     We're happily surprised.   We love this girl so much. 

Peryn & Lada are the same.   Hyper as always, but loving and trying to figure out how Volos fits in.

One thing that has truly helped is that Volos is now a regular in the basement.  They run down, he often times is right behind them.       

He's often playing fetch down the stairs as well.    He really is such a happy dog and obviously knows he's part of the pack. He sleeping in the bedroom often and wanting to be in the middle of E V E R Y T H I N G.

This dog is definitely not the dog we brought home. 

Volos' admirer

Hanging out

Hanging out

Add caption

Brothers

The Family

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!

Pupdate April 18 2020

Pretty girl

There was no update last week.   What originally was going to be our saying Goodbye to Athena was put on hold.   Good news that she still has fight in her after having a couple bad weeks.   
She's had 2 good weeks so far. Even yesterday, while physically hard for her, she was still fighting.  

Her front legs slowly continue to decline.   It won't be too much longer before she can't hold herself up at all.  Not looking forward to that day.

But Athena fans, rest assured she's still with us and still playing with her siblings.

hangin in Momma's office

Peryn & Lada are doing well. Lada continues to bond & play with Volos.  Peryn & Volos continue to but heads. Peryn's been a bit of a butt head as of late with his siblings.   He also still loves heading downstairs to play with his herding ball.  He prefers us down there, but we are not necessary most days.

Lada has really blossomed as of late. She is the best little sister.  She loves on Athena quite often & cuddles with her on the bed in the office.  She plays with Volos often now too. The two of them get along well, which makes us happy.

Rough day

She's been much better than she was a month ago.   No more vomiting or lethargy.    She's been her happy little self.

I did notice that both Peryn & Lada were getting rather chunky in the middle.    All of my dogs have always been fit and healthy.  At first I chalked it up to their DNA as most ACDs tend to be stockier.     Then I realized Volos had filled out as well as Athena.  Athena's was wanted, the others not so much.
I had recently changed food (shortly before Duchess passed) in hopes that Duchess would like it.   Well, the rest of the dogs LOVED it.   So much so that they ate a lot of it and it was higher in calories/fat.     So back to the old stuff.   Need to trim these 2 up like they should be. 

VOLOS!
We have had a BUNCH of firsts to tell you about.    This guy has made great strides.  
 

At Daddy's feet

Dude has slept in our room, of course it was due to the storms, but he slept in our room.      He barks now.   He doesn't hesitate to be vocal when it warrants it.   The others barking- he joins in.  
Mommy down in the basement playing with the others, he barked from the top of the stairs.
Someone walking along the back trail, they all bark.     He doesn't over due it-thank goodness-- but he does let us hear his voice.

He has a favorite toy!    Since a few weeks in, he's taken to picking up things/toys and taking them with him.  He doesn't do much with them, but he does like picking up things.      

It was in Rich's office & occasionally when Volos was in there ready to get up, I would hear it make noise.   I thought it was a coincidence because it was right near where he laid.    Last week when she was done, moving onto another toy, Volos proceeded to roll it around, getting excited & proceeded to pick it up. He then carried it around in his mouth.   

His Ball

He's done this a number of times, getting really excited if someone rolls his ball.    He's adorable!

So for a long while when the ACDs get excited & fly down the stairs to the basement, Volos would run with them & stop at the top. He would excitedly wag his tail from the top of the stairs.   I knew eventually he'd get to the point where he would hate being left upstairs. 

Finally----the dude finally had enough.   This past week as I was downstairs with the pups & I started to hear his paws on the steps.   It went on for some time & before we knew it, he came excitedly around the corner to me.  
After seeing what all the fuss was about, he headed upstairs. Then not even 10 mins later, he was back down.      Now that he knows how to do stairs, he uses them.

The strength in his hind legs is building. He even got on his hindlegs to get to me sitting in the drivers seat after a shopping trip.   Dude is on a roll.

Hanging with Dad watching TV

He's out in the house with us 90% of the time.  Before we'd have to call him out to join us. He might stay with us, he might not.  He tends to be right in the middle of it with his siblings all the time now.   He's very much comfortable in his family.
He still LOVES car rides.  All he cares about it getting in the car, lying in the back seat, & sleeping.   He doesn't care about looking out the window or where we're going. That's all irrelevant.  He loves the car!   

In fact after driving around for a bit, after arriving home I left the car door open in the garage.  He stayed there until I eventually made him come back inside.    If he could, he'd stay in the car all the time I'm sure. 

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

As I mentioned earlier, he & Peryn are still 'at odds'.  They just have stand offs where neither will move & they just growl at one another. 

It's only escalated the one time, but I know another is coming.  I think if Volos would just give in & play with Peryn, most of the issues would disappear.   

We still have issues with Volos in spite of these great strides.  Trying to train him is turning out to be difficult.   He will not sit still or focus to try & teach him.     Raising a voice or trying to put his harness on leads to him "leaking'.    When he's outside he loves to visit the neighbors yards even though we've tried over & over to keep him in the yard. He'll listen & do what he's supposed to 9x, but the 10th he's off exploring. 

A big issue is that we do not have back stairs. Ideally we would let them out the back, watch them, & bring them back in.    No, we can't do that yet. We are in & out of the front door. He sees someone he wants to greet, forget it. 

Handsome!!

Another issue we had, but we've changed, was taking them ALL out at the same time.  Athena requires our focus so we may miss the cues he's about to explore.   We're now breaking up the outings to Athena only & the other 3 only.   

Peryn tries to reign him in. He will chase after him barking & nipping (doing what heelers do) trying to get him to come back home. 
We planned on getting Invisible Fence at this house, but had to put that on hold while we waited for the house next door to get built.  FINALLY 7 months later, it's started.     Coinciding with the Stimulus money, we've begun the process.     Another issue holding it up is the possible regrading of our yard.   In the back there is standing water that does not drain & little spots all over like that. Additionally there are spots where NOTHING grows. No grass, no weeds, nothing.        We need to find out when that can happen.   I was hoping they could do spots, but Rich wants them to do the whole thing.         

We're slowly getting there though!!

Who's a handsome boy?

Cheezburger!