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Affected dogs are predominately:
- German Shepherd Dogs although other large breed dogs may be affected
- 6 years or older
- Males may be more commonly affected
In this condition the dog loses awareness of the position of his hind legs and feet.
Initially affected animals knuckle and scuff on their hind toes which often result in sores on the feet.
They have an unusual gait and typically have difficulty climbing up and down the stairs. Swaying of the hindquarters also occurs when the animal is turning.
Within several months, muscle wastage develops over the trunk and hindquarters. A degree of faecal and urinary incontinence may develop late in the disease. Eventually the patient cannot rise without assistance and would pull himself along with his front legs. Dogs maintained beyond this stage could show front limb signs.
It is important to note that pain or discomfort do not seem to be a feature of the disease.
Diagnosis
It is not possible to diagnose CDRM definitively.
Usually your vet will make a presumptive diagnosis based on typical history and symptoms.
Ideally, other potential causes of hind limb gait abnormalities should be ruled out. Those include:
- Disc disease
- Spinal tumours
- Hip dysplasia (You may check our video on the topic: “Hip Dysplasia: Symptoms and Diagnosis”)
- Cauda Equina Syndrome
Treatment
First it is important to understand that CDRM is a non treatable disease.
However, this is a slowly progressing condition and affected dogs may live a pretty normal life for several months or years if monitored properly.
The most important thing is to maintain regular exercise and optimal body weight in our patients. For that matter, it may be necessary to support that patient's back end during while exercising.
Then, your vet may prescribe some medications such as:
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin B
- Epsilon Amino Caproic Acid
The dose for Epsilon Amino Caproic Acid is 500mg, 3 times a day. It is believed that it slows the progression of the disease in about 50% of patients. An 8 weeks duration treatment trial followed by a neurological assessment by a vet will help evaluate the efficacy of the treatment in each individual dog. When it helps, the treatment should be continued life long. When it doesn't, then it may be discontinued.
Within several months unfortunately, CDRM usually leads to euthanasia of the patient.
Excellent piece on CDRM. If diagnosed early enough however, ie; at the slight limp stage, it is possible to keep the dog walking with initial physio therapy. One of my dogs, Sabre, continued walking for three years. A dog in the USA managed 4 and a half years. Urinary incontinence is not incontinence in the true meaning but an inability to operate the bladder leading to it filling and then overflowing. This can easily be dealt with. I had father and son with the same condition. No mention was made of wheels. Prince gained an extra year with wheels, albeit with hindsight the worst ones on the market. He too lived 3 years with CDRM. Since they died in 1999 I have dedicated myself to bringing mobility to these unfortunate dogs and have never had a failure with a GSD, and have dealt with hundreds of them. Beware however some wheels are atrocious and cause more problems that they solve. Go to www.dogswheels.com/id1.html and download the free pdf which describes all the various makes of wheels with pictures. Contact me via the site for a free DVD, the Phyiso excercises and an instruction sheet on dealing with incontinence plus any further help I can give.
I have an 11 yr old male rescue greyhound with this condition. I got Grover when he was 4 yr old and I believe he has had this disease for about the last 2 1/2 years. The video is so accurate. His upper body & mind are very much on the go...but his back end isn't always willing. He has poop accidents every day or so, but will still romp & run for a few minutes in the back yard. Although (prior to knowing what he had) we tried a few different medications, he currently does not take anything. He still eats, drinks, wants his treats and struggles to greet me when I get home. It is all this that it makes it so hard to determine when the time is right to say good-bye. I am hoping he will "let me know" when the time is right...because there are days that I look at him and my eyes tear up. Thank you for providing this website...I have found very little info on this disease. Some things just aren't fair...
Hi - my girlie of 14 years now has this along with CKD and colitis. It is heart breaking as the rest of the body is so willing and her mind is active - still wants to chase cats! She has days of very bad poos (liquid) where she explodes everywhere then fine for a few days - then she goes off her food. I am about to try the vitamin but I know that every day is a bonus so I give her lots of kisses and cuddles. I love her to bits but would not let her suffer.
Thanks for the video and your descriptive comments. We lost our Shepherd, Bronson, more than 7 years ago to this disease which was mirrored exactly in your description. The diagnosis for CDRM came from our vet after she did an x-ray of his hips. She knew (I think) partly because of the way Bronson reacted to the anesthesia (and probably also because of the x-ray.) I'm wondering if the anesthsia itself contributed in some way to the CDRM. We now have another German Shepherd Dog, Ditka. He's wonderful and I'm scared to death that he may present with the same disease when we anesthetize him to clean his teeth. Is there any evidence that anesthesia contributes to CDRM?
hi my dogs got c.d.r.m. please can someone help me where i can get Epsilon Amino Caproic Acid tablet in the uk i be very greatful.and thanks for the information and i so sorry about dexter
For help and information on CDRM please see my website www.spanna.net For products to help care for your dog with CDRM please see my website www.dogmobility.com
A very informative video on CDRM. It is a sad fact that too many GSD's are still getting this. I lost my GSD "Spanna" to this back in 2000.
Very good informative video, wish I could have seen something like this back in the Summer last year when my GSD Em was found to have CDRM. It is more advanced than Dexter in the video, but I am just about to try her out with a wheelchair in the hope that this will give her a few more months (years!).
I would like to say that if anybody that has a shepherd, please get them checked out for CDRM and anyother hip,muscle and joints on a regular basis. When Dexter passed away, the most painfull thing for me, was that I knew he was suffering at the back end, but he was so bright at the front end. I really would like to thank Julien Poublon for all he did with my Dexter. I also would like to say that as I have my own site for lost dogs and dogs in need, vetstoria have helped my members so very much with all the help and advice that they are giving. brillient site that will go a very long way. Justine
Thank you for putting my dear Dexter on your site, I just hope that this will help other dogs that have this disease. Thank you. Justine, Dexters mum, www.alfieslostdogs.com