One of our regular walks is 2.25 miles and if we don't get too distracted takes around 1 hour to complete.
One evening it took us nearly 3 hours!
This had nothing to do with Holly's fitness levels, but it did have everything to do with Holly and her wheels.
Most of the time when you walk a dog you are invisible to just about everyone except other dog walkers. Put the dog in a wheeled cart and suddenly you are highly visible and everyone wants to talk to you and make a fuss of Holly.
As I have said before Holly is not the most social dog around and is perfectly happy if strangers leave her alone. Her meet and greet skills were slowly improving with the wobbles but with the move to wheels they had to rapidly become perfect. Lots of treats and praise helped as did staying by her side and making sure she could make physical contact with me if she needed reassurance, especially when small children came running over to fling their arms round and hug the dog on wheels. Fortunately most children we meet have parents with them who would make them ask permission and greet Holly properly.
Holly has developed her own unique method of dealing with excess attention. She accepts pets and treats and the runs over their toes with her wheels. I am convinced its a conscious decision and action on her part because she never does it to the elderly, infirm or very small children.
I soon developed a short talk with variations depending on the age and dog awareness of who I am talking to. And after a few weeks the friends we walk with also knew the answers to most of the questions and would often surprise people at the end of the conversion when they told them that Holly wasn't their dog.
I find it very difficult to refuse to talk to people about Holly, if I can educate and increase awareness then its good. So if I need to quickly go to the shops then Holly has to stay at home. People who always say hello and stop for a chat when I have Holly with me don't even recognise me when I am alone.
Friday 29 November 2013
Sleeping at low levels
Holly and the cats have always been free to choose where they sleep. There are several dog beds scattered throughout the house plus a few cat beds, sleeping mats and blankets. It does vary a little depending on the temperature but Holly usually sleeps on the bed next to me.
As her awareness of where her back legs were reduced I worried about that she would roll over in the night, fall off the bed and injure herself.
I am not sure exactly when but at some point early in 2013 I decided that to save me sleeping with half an ear open for what Holly was doing, the most sensible solution was to get rid of the bed. The base was dismantled and stored in the spare room and the mattress placed on the floor. Now I could sleep soundly again in the knowledge that even if she did roll off the furthest she would fall was around 6 inches.
It took a little bit of getting used to. The alarm clock was still on the bedside table now a couple of feet above my head and if I was half asleep and swung my legs out of bed I would bash my feet and ankles on the floor.
The biggest danger however is from the cats. They play rough and at high speed. Now that the bed is on the floor they just run over it at full tilt rather than go round or slow down as they jump up. After one deep scratch caused by one of them using claws on my scalp to gain traction (resulting in a few choice words from me) I keep their nails clipped, they are indoor cats so don't need them for self-defence.
The folks at work are used to my animal induced injuries but i try to keep them to a minimum. I've had a black eye from Holly's skull hitting the bridge of my nose at high speed when she bounced a bit too enthusiastically in anticipation of a walk at the precise moment I bent down to tie my shoe laces and several scratches from the cats the most embarrassing of which ran diagonally across my face. I got a few funny looks from people on the bus, but not as many as I got in the few days after walking through wet bracken and stirring up a cloud of carnivorous midges. On that occasion I looked like I had some really contagious disease and nobody would sit next to me, so there was some small silver lining to the seriously itchy bites.
As her awareness of where her back legs were reduced I worried about that she would roll over in the night, fall off the bed and injure herself.
I am not sure exactly when but at some point early in 2013 I decided that to save me sleeping with half an ear open for what Holly was doing, the most sensible solution was to get rid of the bed. The base was dismantled and stored in the spare room and the mattress placed on the floor. Now I could sleep soundly again in the knowledge that even if she did roll off the furthest she would fall was around 6 inches.
It took a little bit of getting used to. The alarm clock was still on the bedside table now a couple of feet above my head and if I was half asleep and swung my legs out of bed I would bash my feet and ankles on the floor.
The biggest danger however is from the cats. They play rough and at high speed. Now that the bed is on the floor they just run over it at full tilt rather than go round or slow down as they jump up. After one deep scratch caused by one of them using claws on my scalp to gain traction (resulting in a few choice words from me) I keep their nails clipped, they are indoor cats so don't need them for self-defence.
The folks at work are used to my animal induced injuries but i try to keep them to a minimum. I've had a black eye from Holly's skull hitting the bridge of my nose at high speed when she bounced a bit too enthusiastically in anticipation of a walk at the precise moment I bent down to tie my shoe laces and several scratches from the cats the most embarrassing of which ran diagonally across my face. I got a few funny looks from people on the bus, but not as many as I got in the few days after walking through wet bracken and stirring up a cloud of carnivorous midges. On that occasion I looked like I had some really contagious disease and nobody would sit next to me, so there was some small silver lining to the seriously itchy bites.
Thursday 28 November 2013
To quote a lemming "Let's Go"!
After a day or two of adjusting, tweaking, fitting and general practicing Holly and I were ready for a trial walk in the wheels. I decided a lap of the small local park was the ideal practice ground so off we went.
There were some instructions that came with the cart on adjusting it, and also some on how to get your dog used to using the wheels. They suggested that until it had got used to the wheels that you walked your dog on a lead, so I hunted out the 6 foot lead that we had used when she was a puppy.
The first wheeled walk was slow and full of adjustments and a very steep learning curve for us both. OK, mostly for me.
The second wheeled walk was even slower, and despite the rattling of a box full of yummy treats Holly refused to go at a pace above a plod, her ears were down, her head was down and her tail was tucked firmly between her legs. She was a perfect picture of misery. I started to wonder if I had done the right thing in getting her the wheels as she was obviously unhappy. But as we were out we would persevere with that walk and then I would have a serious think when we got home.
I never did have that think, about halfway round the park I worked out why she was miserable. I was following the instructions and walking her on a lead, she was not happy about being walked on a lead in a place that she usually is free to wander around and sniff what she wants when she wants. So I gave her a hug and a treat and unclipped her lead.
It was a magical transformation, her head came up, her ears came up, the tail wagged and she was off! She went up and down and round and round, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed as she got to grips with how the wheels handled.
We spent a week or so learning. We didn't go anywhere too adventurous but stuck with well trodden routes that we both knew and loved and took the opportunity to add some new phrases to the vocabulary. Things like "Step Out" for give the obstacle up ahead a wide-berth and "Line Up" on the approach to those metal contraptions put across paths to slow down bikers, pushchairs, wheel chairs and now Holly.
After that there was no stopping her, she was quite happy to walk anywhere and everywhere. I did find that after walking for 5 or 6 miles she did need a proper rest of about 30 minutes out of the wheels, but would then be ready for another 4 or 5 miles.
We walk regularly with a group of friends on a Saturday morning, they soon developed nervous twitches at the sound of a pair of wheels rattling towards them at high speed. It was a case of get out of the way or get run over. But they insist that she comes with us whenever possible and are more than happy to assist with lifting her over stlyes, freeing her from the tangle of brambles, ivy and other creeping plant-life after she has been through the woods and setting her back upright when she takes a corner too fast or hits a rock at the wrong angle and tips over.
One of our first walks was in the woods at Newmillar Dam, Holly thoroughly enjoyed herself.
The sign said Dogs must be on a lead, it didn't say anything about holding onto the lead
(I did, but the photo opportunity was just too good to miss)
There were some instructions that came with the cart on adjusting it, and also some on how to get your dog used to using the wheels. They suggested that until it had got used to the wheels that you walked your dog on a lead, so I hunted out the 6 foot lead that we had used when she was a puppy.
The first wheeled walk was slow and full of adjustments and a very steep learning curve for us both. OK, mostly for me.
The second wheeled walk was even slower, and despite the rattling of a box full of yummy treats Holly refused to go at a pace above a plod, her ears were down, her head was down and her tail was tucked firmly between her legs. She was a perfect picture of misery. I started to wonder if I had done the right thing in getting her the wheels as she was obviously unhappy. But as we were out we would persevere with that walk and then I would have a serious think when we got home.
I never did have that think, about halfway round the park I worked out why she was miserable. I was following the instructions and walking her on a lead, she was not happy about being walked on a lead in a place that she usually is free to wander around and sniff what she wants when she wants. So I gave her a hug and a treat and unclipped her lead.
It was a magical transformation, her head came up, her ears came up, the tail wagged and she was off! She went up and down and round and round, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed as she got to grips with how the wheels handled.
We spent a week or so learning. We didn't go anywhere too adventurous but stuck with well trodden routes that we both knew and loved and took the opportunity to add some new phrases to the vocabulary. Things like "Step Out" for give the obstacle up ahead a wide-berth and "Line Up" on the approach to those metal contraptions put across paths to slow down bikers, pushchairs, wheel chairs and now Holly.
After that there was no stopping her, she was quite happy to walk anywhere and everywhere. I did find that after walking for 5 or 6 miles she did need a proper rest of about 30 minutes out of the wheels, but would then be ready for another 4 or 5 miles.
We walk regularly with a group of friends on a Saturday morning, they soon developed nervous twitches at the sound of a pair of wheels rattling towards them at high speed. It was a case of get out of the way or get run over. But they insist that she comes with us whenever possible and are more than happy to assist with lifting her over stlyes, freeing her from the tangle of brambles, ivy and other creeping plant-life after she has been through the woods and setting her back upright when she takes a corner too fast or hits a rock at the wrong angle and tips over.
One of our first walks was in the woods at Newmillar Dam, Holly thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Mud wasn't a problem
She didn't always stick to the path either!
On a later walk to the Sculpture Park she showed me that she was using her brain, the path went through a wall, she looked at and through the gap and then walked up a bit further to the big wide open gate and used that.
Evaluating the route
The sign said Dogs must be on a lead, it didn't say anything about holding onto the lead
(I did, but the photo opportunity was just too good to miss)
Tuesday 26 November 2013
Wheels
After much reading I not only decided that a wheeled cart was the best next step for Holly but I found a fairly local company that made them. Local in this case was 75 miles away near Bridlington, but as I had only found three UK based manufacturers this wasn't too bad, they were still in Yorkshire, even if it was a different riding.
I sent a great long email off to them with lots and lots of questions, covering everything you could imagine and a lot of other strange things as well. One of the odder questions was Would I need to carry a puncture repair kit with me on walks? The answers came back very quickly and the answer to the puncture repair kit was no, the wheels were solid, similar to those found on wheelie bins.
One Sunday afternoon my Dad and I spent an hour or so measuring and re-measuring and weighing Holly. There were instructions on the website about what measurements you needed to take, so we measured everything in both metric and imperial, twice for each measurement. we then converted metric to imperial and vice-versa to check we had everything right. Can you tell we both have science/engineering backgrounds? We decided against subjecting Holly to being picked up and held as we wobbled on the bathroom scales. So she and I took a trip to the local pet supermarket where they have some scales that she could stand on, she also got a bad of exceedingly smelly dried tripe treats and a new squeaky toy for being a good girl.
The next day I filled in the order form and sent it off. Ten days later a huge box arrived in the post.
The cats were thrilled with the box and after I cut a few extra holes in it spent many happy hours each day playing in, on and around the box before it eventually could stand the strain no more and collapsed (Olaf weighs in at around 5.5Kg and Linus at about 6.5Kg).
While the cats were occupied with the box Holly and I were busy adjusting straps and practicing getting her into and out of the wheeled cart in the warm and (more importantly) dry kitchen before we went out for a walk.
As well as the wheels I also got her some boots to protect her feet as she was occasionally dragging them when the wobble wasn't enough to fall over but too much for a normal step forwards.
The wheels came from Dog-Mobile https://www.dogmobile-online.com/
The boots are Grip-Trex All Terrain Boots and were ordered from http://www.caninespirit.co.uk/
I actually ended up getting 3 pairs of boots (and socks), one pair for wearing, one pair drying after being washed at the end of that days walks, and one pair being re-coated.
Because she dragged her feet the boots started to wear, so after dropping the canine spirit people an email I took their advise and bought some Shoe Goo to give the boots a protective coat. Once again I found a local supplier who was a little concerned with how much Shoe Goo I bought until I showed him a photo of Holly in her wheels and a pair of boots before and after a walk. I use http://www.division24.co.uk/ who are just a few miles away.
I sent a great long email off to them with lots and lots of questions, covering everything you could imagine and a lot of other strange things as well. One of the odder questions was Would I need to carry a puncture repair kit with me on walks? The answers came back very quickly and the answer to the puncture repair kit was no, the wheels were solid, similar to those found on wheelie bins.
One Sunday afternoon my Dad and I spent an hour or so measuring and re-measuring and weighing Holly. There were instructions on the website about what measurements you needed to take, so we measured everything in both metric and imperial, twice for each measurement. we then converted metric to imperial and vice-versa to check we had everything right. Can you tell we both have science/engineering backgrounds? We decided against subjecting Holly to being picked up and held as we wobbled on the bathroom scales. So she and I took a trip to the local pet supermarket where they have some scales that she could stand on, she also got a bad of exceedingly smelly dried tripe treats and a new squeaky toy for being a good girl.
The next day I filled in the order form and sent it off. Ten days later a huge box arrived in the post.
The cats were thrilled with the box and after I cut a few extra holes in it spent many happy hours each day playing in, on and around the box before it eventually could stand the strain no more and collapsed (Olaf weighs in at around 5.5Kg and Linus at about 6.5Kg).
While the cats were occupied with the box Holly and I were busy adjusting straps and practicing getting her into and out of the wheeled cart in the warm and (more importantly) dry kitchen before we went out for a walk.
As well as the wheels I also got her some boots to protect her feet as she was occasionally dragging them when the wobble wasn't enough to fall over but too much for a normal step forwards.
The wheels came from Dog-Mobile https://www.dogmobile-online.com/
The boots are Grip-Trex All Terrain Boots and were ordered from http://www.caninespirit.co.uk/
I actually ended up getting 3 pairs of boots (and socks), one pair for wearing, one pair drying after being washed at the end of that days walks, and one pair being re-coated.
Because she dragged her feet the boots started to wear, so after dropping the canine spirit people an email I took their advise and bought some Shoe Goo to give the boots a protective coat. Once again I found a local supplier who was a little concerned with how much Shoe Goo I bought until I showed him a photo of Holly in her wheels and a pair of boots before and after a walk. I use http://www.division24.co.uk/ who are just a few miles away.
When 0.75 miles is too far
As we got into January 2013 Holly's wobbles got wobblier again. The cats were due at the vets for their anual MOT and boosters and Holly came along for a check-up. The vet noticed her back right leg was lacking in control especially on the smooth lino floor.
He suggested that if is she was happily accepting the use of a scarf to offer support then she would probably adapt very quickly to the use of a wheeled cart. This would not only give her her independany mobility back but also prevent her spine from curving and becoming damaged as she twisted to try and gain some sort of balance as she walked.
So once more we left the vets with plenty of things to think about. Apart from the wobbly legs she had been pronounced healthy and had been more than happy to hoover up as many treats as she could persuade the nurses and receptionist to dispense.
She was having good days and bad days, on a good day we could walk for three or four miles. On one particularly bad day just after the visit to the vets she struggled to make it round the little local park, a total distance of three quarters of a mile.
That evening I switched on the computer and started to do some research into wheeled carts.
He suggested that if is she was happily accepting the use of a scarf to offer support then she would probably adapt very quickly to the use of a wheeled cart. This would not only give her her independany mobility back but also prevent her spine from curving and becoming damaged as she twisted to try and gain some sort of balance as she walked.
So once more we left the vets with plenty of things to think about. Apart from the wobbly legs she had been pronounced healthy and had been more than happy to hoover up as many treats as she could persuade the nurses and receptionist to dispense.
She was having good days and bad days, on a good day we could walk for three or four miles. On one particularly bad day just after the visit to the vets she struggled to make it round the little local park, a total distance of three quarters of a mile.
That evening I switched on the computer and started to do some research into wheeled carts.
Monday 25 November 2013
Weebles Wobble, unfortunately holly isn't a weeble
After having a week off walking Holly started to get seriously wobbly, it wasn't helped by some rather nasty cold and icy weather that made it hard to walk in a straight line when all your limbs were under your control.
Poor old Holly-dog's back legs really had no idea what they doing or where they were going. Just to add to her woes her legs developed pauses. She would lift a leg to take a step and the leg wouldn't go back down. Sometimes the other leg would work it out and she would hop along on three legs for a few steps until the 'frozen' leg decided to join in the walking again. And sometimes she would fall over.
It was painful to watch and hard work to explain to all the people who kept stopping me to tell me that my dog was limping/walking on 3 legs/ had fallen over. I started to be wary of where and when we walked as I was afraid that someone was going to accuse me of animal cruelty and call the RSPCA or Police.
On more than one occasion the scarf I was wearing ended up being used as a make-shift sling to offer Holly a safety net and stop her crash landing on the ground. The first couple of times she wasn't really sure about this, but she then twigged what I was doing and if she started to get wobbly while we were out she would stop and wait for me to come and offer support.
After a few weeks of walking away from people, some swimming when the lake wasn't frozen, and some massage sessions her serious wobbles reduced enough for me to be happy walking her around people again. We still got stopped by the very observant out there who could see that something was wrong, but these were the people who when told it was cdm would ask how long, how she was coping and how I was coping all while offering all manner of treats to Holly.
Holly has never been a highly social dog, the people and animals that she knows, she knows well and she really isn't that bothered about getting to know anyone or anything else. But as she now became more and more a wobbly dog (as one lady put it "her back end has had one too many pina colada's") people started to want to make a fuss of her. It didn't take her long for the labrador side to come to the fore and work out that dog walkers usually had treats and were generous in dishing them out to a wobbly dog with a pair of big brown eyes.
I have no proof that the week off walking while I was ill kick started the serious decline, but it just seemed to be a bit too coincidental. The scientist side of me insists that coincidence is not evidence, but concedes that with one dog and one timeline it's impossible to gather valid statistical data. The over-protective dog owner side claims there is no other sensible explanation. But until the Doctor turns up with his Tardis and lets me go back and try December 2012 again the best I can say is that it was probably a contributing factor.
Poor old Holly-dog's back legs really had no idea what they doing or where they were going. Just to add to her woes her legs developed pauses. She would lift a leg to take a step and the leg wouldn't go back down. Sometimes the other leg would work it out and she would hop along on three legs for a few steps until the 'frozen' leg decided to join in the walking again. And sometimes she would fall over.
It was painful to watch and hard work to explain to all the people who kept stopping me to tell me that my dog was limping/walking on 3 legs/ had fallen over. I started to be wary of where and when we walked as I was afraid that someone was going to accuse me of animal cruelty and call the RSPCA or Police.
On more than one occasion the scarf I was wearing ended up being used as a make-shift sling to offer Holly a safety net and stop her crash landing on the ground. The first couple of times she wasn't really sure about this, but she then twigged what I was doing and if she started to get wobbly while we were out she would stop and wait for me to come and offer support.
After a few weeks of walking away from people, some swimming when the lake wasn't frozen, and some massage sessions her serious wobbles reduced enough for me to be happy walking her around people again. We still got stopped by the very observant out there who could see that something was wrong, but these were the people who when told it was cdm would ask how long, how she was coping and how I was coping all while offering all manner of treats to Holly.
Holly has never been a highly social dog, the people and animals that she knows, she knows well and she really isn't that bothered about getting to know anyone or anything else. But as she now became more and more a wobbly dog (as one lady put it "her back end has had one too many pina colada's") people started to want to make a fuss of her. It didn't take her long for the labrador side to come to the fore and work out that dog walkers usually had treats and were generous in dishing them out to a wobbly dog with a pair of big brown eyes.
I have no proof that the week off walking while I was ill kick started the serious decline, but it just seemed to be a bit too coincidental. The scientist side of me insists that coincidence is not evidence, but concedes that with one dog and one timeline it's impossible to gather valid statistical data. The over-protective dog owner side claims there is no other sensible explanation. But until the Doctor turns up with his Tardis and lets me go back and try December 2012 again the best I can say is that it was probably a contributing factor.
Sunday 17 November 2013
Holly refuses to go walkies
I have a fantastic group of friends, family and neighbours who have all offered to help with Holly and the cats should I need it.
So in early December 2012 when I came down with a bad dose of flu it was time to take people up on the offer.
There was just one problem, Holly wouldn't go!
She wouldn't even leave the house for friends and neighbours. My Dad got her to go the furthest, a whole quarter of a mile, apparantly at that point she had had a breath of fresh air, sniffed a few interesting smells and then put on the brakes and refused to take another step forwards however much my Dad pleaded, persuaded and even tried demanding. As soon as he asked her if she wanted to go back home she apparently whipped round and set off at a break-neck speed that almost pulled him off his feet.
She knew I was poorly and nothing and nobody was going to keep her away from my side.
That, unfortunately, was the end of the early morning walks. Once I was well enough to go back to work I tried to get up and go out first thing but I was completely exhausted after being ill and found that if I did get up and go walking first thing in the morning I would fall asleep at work later in the day. So much as I was loathed to we had to stop the early morning walks until my health improved.
But now that I was better she would go out with other people, so the work day routine changed again and she now got a mid-morning walk with whoever was available to help out.
So in early December 2012 when I came down with a bad dose of flu it was time to take people up on the offer.
There was just one problem, Holly wouldn't go!
She wouldn't even leave the house for friends and neighbours. My Dad got her to go the furthest, a whole quarter of a mile, apparantly at that point she had had a breath of fresh air, sniffed a few interesting smells and then put on the brakes and refused to take another step forwards however much my Dad pleaded, persuaded and even tried demanding. As soon as he asked her if she wanted to go back home she apparently whipped round and set off at a break-neck speed that almost pulled him off his feet.
She knew I was poorly and nothing and nobody was going to keep her away from my side.
That, unfortunately, was the end of the early morning walks. Once I was well enough to go back to work I tried to get up and go out first thing but I was completely exhausted after being ill and found that if I did get up and go walking first thing in the morning I would fall asleep at work later in the day. So much as I was loathed to we had to stop the early morning walks until my health improved.
But now that I was better she would go out with other people, so the work day routine changed again and she now got a mid-morning walk with whoever was available to help out.
Going Swimming
As well as walking another suggestion for keeping Holly moving was swimming.
I investigated hydrotherapy pools in the area and decided against them. Holly loves water and swimming but because of her age and the cdm there were so many rules and conditions that would apply to using the hydrotherapy pool. But there were three that really made the use of a pool not suitable for her.
The first one was that she would have to wear a life-jacket. She will grudgingly wear a harness on the occasions that we go places where she needs to be on a lead all the time and I think that attaching it to a harness is easier for the whole day than having it on her collar. So I was not convinced about a life-jacket.
Second one was she would need to be attended by the physiotherapists, well Holly has never been too keen on people she doesn't know and generally just gives them a wide berth and ignores them.
Thirdly I would not be allowed in there with her as it would be classed as a medical therapy session and not a fun swim session. While Holly doesnt really like strangers she certainly won't go with them and leave me behind. She knows all the people at the vets and they still have problems getting her to go with them so a group of strange physiotherapists are going to have no chance at all.
So when I thought about those three things and added them to the fact that a 15 minute session plus parking charges was going to be around £30, I decided to abandon that route.
We stuck with going to a local watersports and wildlife park where they have two lakes, one for wildlife and one for watersports. Parking is 60p for 2 hours and Holly could run, paddle and swim as much or as little as she wanted and if the weather ever got warm enough I could paddle with her. She knows the turns the car makes to get here, and many other places as well, and every time we approach she starts to sing with anticipation of a good walk with space to run and the opportunity for a paddle or swim and occasionally the option of sharing an ice-cream at the end of the walk.
I investigated hydrotherapy pools in the area and decided against them. Holly loves water and swimming but because of her age and the cdm there were so many rules and conditions that would apply to using the hydrotherapy pool. But there were three that really made the use of a pool not suitable for her.
The first one was that she would have to wear a life-jacket. She will grudgingly wear a harness on the occasions that we go places where she needs to be on a lead all the time and I think that attaching it to a harness is easier for the whole day than having it on her collar. So I was not convinced about a life-jacket.
Second one was she would need to be attended by the physiotherapists, well Holly has never been too keen on people she doesn't know and generally just gives them a wide berth and ignores them.
Thirdly I would not be allowed in there with her as it would be classed as a medical therapy session and not a fun swim session. While Holly doesnt really like strangers she certainly won't go with them and leave me behind. She knows all the people at the vets and they still have problems getting her to go with them so a group of strange physiotherapists are going to have no chance at all.
So when I thought about those three things and added them to the fact that a 15 minute session plus parking charges was going to be around £30, I decided to abandon that route.
We stuck with going to a local watersports and wildlife park where they have two lakes, one for wildlife and one for watersports. Parking is 60p for 2 hours and Holly could run, paddle and swim as much or as little as she wanted and if the weather ever got warm enough I could paddle with her. She knows the turns the car makes to get here, and many other places as well, and every time we approach she starts to sing with anticipation of a good walk with space to run and the opportunity for a paddle or swim and occasionally the option of sharing an ice-cream at the end of the walk.
looking across the watersports lake towards home
Milestones
18 months sounds a long time away when you first think about it, but the first real marker is 1 year and that arrived far too quickly, and 6 months doesnt sound like much time at all.
I knew that Holly would continue to decline and possibly from here on it would be at a greater pace, so I set a few mental milestones for us to get to.
The first one was Christmas, then her 11th Birthday in early March followed by Easter in late March and finally the 18 month mark on 4th April 2013.
I did briefly allow myself to think that maybe she might just make it to my birthday in May.
So having made it to one year we headded off on the next 6 months wondering what would happen and how far through it we would get.
I knew that Holly would continue to decline and possibly from here on it would be at a greater pace, so I set a few mental milestones for us to get to.
The first one was Christmas, then her 11th Birthday in early March followed by Easter in late March and finally the 18 month mark on 4th April 2013.
I did briefly allow myself to think that maybe she might just make it to my birthday in May.
So having made it to one year we headded off on the next 6 months wondering what would happen and how far through it we would get.
Meet the Menagerie
I've spent a few postings talking about the hairy beasts that live with me, so I thought it was time I introduced them properly.
Holly
I don't agree with giving animals as gifts. However, having said that, Holly was my birthday present to myself, she was 7.5 weeks old when she came to live with me 4 days before my birthday. She came from a rescue run by a friend and all that was known was that Mum was a Labrador Cross. After seeing Holly grow up I think that mum was some kind of Labrador Lurcher cross and Dad was probably a German Shepherd. She has the Labrador love of food and all things wet and muddy, the Running dog love of speed and the German shepherd colouring, herding instinct, intelligence, stamina and pig-headed loyalty and devotion, I don't think it's right to say that she is my dog, I think that I am her human. She is never far from my side and will do whatever she can to get back to me if we are seperated. She always knows when it's a work day or if I am going to one of the few places she can't come with me to and on these days is not velcro'd to my side as I get ready but retreats to my bed to re-arrange the duvet and wait for my return.
We were out walking with a friend and stopped to use the public facilities. I attached Holly to the railings with her lead and went inside. My friend came out first and thought it would be helpful if he un-tied her so we could start walking as soon as I came out. Holly had other ideas and dragged him across the pavement and would have pulled him into the toilets had he not let go of the lead.
I often describe Holly as an all-terrain all-weather dog. In the 11.5 years of her life with me there have only been three occasions when she has declined a walk due to the weather. On one of those times we made it all the way to the top of the drive before she looked at me and turned back to home, well it was hailing sideways at great speed!
Linus
When I got my first house I adopted a pair of 8 year old cats, shortly before the last house move I lost one of them to an intestinal tumour, so in a fit of total and absolute lack of common-sense I got a kitten to keep the remaining (now 13 years old) cat company. I had never had much to do with kittens before, only puppies. I imagined them to be very similar. I now know they are not.
Linus is a cream-mitted ragdoll cat with no sense of danger, a huge ego and excessive energy. He loves Holly dearly and they can still be found curled up together almost 10 years down the line.
There were several theories about who Linus had been named after, the vet was undecided between Linus Pauling the scientist or Linus Torvalds the man behind Linux software. The neigbour over the road added Pope Linus (second pope c.67 - c.76) to the mix and I threw in Linus Van Pelt from the peanuts cartoons.
Olaf
After a few months of living with us it became clear that Linus needed a companion closer to his own age and energy levels so I went out with the intention of getting a 6 to 8 year old girl kitty who would still have the energy to play but would be mature enough to keep my old girl cat company. I came back with an 18 month old brain-damaged boy cat. Olaf is a seal bi-colour ragdoll who is very sweet, very loving but somewhat lacking in the brain department. It takes him a long time to learn something new, and if you try to teach him too many things too rapidly he will forget something he learnt earlier. But he has been living here for nearly 9.5 years now and has matured into a very happy and very vocal and chatty boy.
Olaf is the name of one of Snoopy's brothers in the peanuts cartoons.
Mono and Fluffy
Mono and Fluffy were the two original cats that I adopted when they were 8. Mono I lost in August 2003 to an intestinal tumour at the age of 13 and Fluffy in July 2008 to a cancerous growth in her throat, just a few months short of her 18th birthday.
Hannah
Me? I was born in the early to mid 1970's and according to the family I have been animal mad from the start. I spend my working days sorting out computers and users and my lunchtimes planning where to go and what to do on days off.
Holly
I don't agree with giving animals as gifts. However, having said that, Holly was my birthday present to myself, she was 7.5 weeks old when she came to live with me 4 days before my birthday. She came from a rescue run by a friend and all that was known was that Mum was a Labrador Cross. After seeing Holly grow up I think that mum was some kind of Labrador Lurcher cross and Dad was probably a German Shepherd. She has the Labrador love of food and all things wet and muddy, the Running dog love of speed and the German shepherd colouring, herding instinct, intelligence, stamina and pig-headed loyalty and devotion, I don't think it's right to say that she is my dog, I think that I am her human. She is never far from my side and will do whatever she can to get back to me if we are seperated. She always knows when it's a work day or if I am going to one of the few places she can't come with me to and on these days is not velcro'd to my side as I get ready but retreats to my bed to re-arrange the duvet and wait for my return.
We were out walking with a friend and stopped to use the public facilities. I attached Holly to the railings with her lead and went inside. My friend came out first and thought it would be helpful if he un-tied her so we could start walking as soon as I came out. Holly had other ideas and dragged him across the pavement and would have pulled him into the toilets had he not let go of the lead.
I often describe Holly as an all-terrain all-weather dog. In the 11.5 years of her life with me there have only been three occasions when she has declined a walk due to the weather. On one of those times we made it all the way to the top of the drive before she looked at me and turned back to home, well it was hailing sideways at great speed!
Holly believes for a walk to be great it needs to have water for her to paddle or swim in, mud to stomp through and space to run in, here she is looking unimpressed that I wasn't willing to wade through the flood waters on one of our favourite walks and insisted that we doubled back to take an alternative (drier) route
Linus
When I got my first house I adopted a pair of 8 year old cats, shortly before the last house move I lost one of them to an intestinal tumour, so in a fit of total and absolute lack of common-sense I got a kitten to keep the remaining (now 13 years old) cat company. I had never had much to do with kittens before, only puppies. I imagined them to be very similar. I now know they are not.
Linus is a cream-mitted ragdoll cat with no sense of danger, a huge ego and excessive energy. He loves Holly dearly and they can still be found curled up together almost 10 years down the line.
There were several theories about who Linus had been named after, the vet was undecided between Linus Pauling the scientist or Linus Torvalds the man behind Linux software. The neigbour over the road added Pope Linus (second pope c.67 - c.76) to the mix and I threw in Linus Van Pelt from the peanuts cartoons.
Linus demonstrates the art of sleeping (in the dog bed) as only a cat can.
Olaf
After a few months of living with us it became clear that Linus needed a companion closer to his own age and energy levels so I went out with the intention of getting a 6 to 8 year old girl kitty who would still have the energy to play but would be mature enough to keep my old girl cat company. I came back with an 18 month old brain-damaged boy cat. Olaf is a seal bi-colour ragdoll who is very sweet, very loving but somewhat lacking in the brain department. It takes him a long time to learn something new, and if you try to teach him too many things too rapidly he will forget something he learnt earlier. But he has been living here for nearly 9.5 years now and has matured into a very happy and very vocal and chatty boy.
Olaf is the name of one of Snoopy's brothers in the peanuts cartoons.
Olaf demonstrates thinking outside the box
Mono and Fluffy
Mono and Fluffy were the two original cats that I adopted when they were 8. Mono I lost in August 2003 to an intestinal tumour at the age of 13 and Fluffy in July 2008 to a cancerous growth in her throat, just a few months short of her 18th birthday.
Mono started the cat tradition of sleeping in the dog bed
Fluffy preferred a pile of paper
Hannah
Me? I was born in the early to mid 1970's and according to the family I have been animal mad from the start. I spend my working days sorting out computers and users and my lunchtimes planning where to go and what to do on days off.
1 year on
One year on and Holly is still fit and active, in addition to the wiggly catwalk sashay walk she drags her toenails on her back feet when we walk on soft surfaces like carpets or sand.
But from what I remembered about the first year everything seems OK. I did try to work out how far we had walked in that first year, but without an accurate record of where we had gone it was difficult. I do know that we were averaging 30 to 40 miles in a normal week when I was at work, plus more when I was on holiday. Even taking 35 miles a week as average across the year and multiplying that by 52 weeks, it still comes in at a staggering 1820miles. That probably explains why I had to buy a new pair of walking boots!
I do remember wondering at the 1 year post-diagnosis how long I would have left with Holly and starting to plan some milestones.
But from what I remembered about the first year everything seems OK. I did try to work out how far we had walked in that first year, but without an accurate record of where we had gone it was difficult. I do know that we were averaging 30 to 40 miles in a normal week when I was at work, plus more when I was on holiday. Even taking 35 miles a week as average across the year and multiplying that by 52 weeks, it still comes in at a staggering 1820miles. That probably explains why I had to buy a new pair of walking boots!
I do remember wondering at the 1 year post-diagnosis how long I would have left with Holly and starting to plan some milestones.
Sun-a-rise, she bring in the morning
Life continued in the new routine through the winter and into spring and early summer.
Or to put it another way, the snow turned to rain and the ice turned to mud, but we continued walking morning and evening. My mum and Dad had lost their dog and as the weather turned less inclement they would sometimes call round and collect Holly and take her out for a walk. Sometimes they would return her back home and leave a note to say they had taken her out. Sometimes I would get home and discover an absence of dog which meant they had taken her back to their house and I would have to go round and collect her.
One thing that did change on the early morning walks was the darkness, it slowly faded away and by late April and into early May we were seeing the sun rise as we were out and about.
The far-too-smart-for-it's-own-good phone has a camera on it, so my friends on facebook were now subject to excessive early morning postings of sunrise photos.
Or to put it another way, the snow turned to rain and the ice turned to mud, but we continued walking morning and evening. My mum and Dad had lost their dog and as the weather turned less inclement they would sometimes call round and collect Holly and take her out for a walk. Sometimes they would return her back home and leave a note to say they had taken her out. Sometimes I would get home and discover an absence of dog which meant they had taken her back to their house and I would have to go round and collect her.
One thing that did change on the early morning walks was the darkness, it slowly faded away and by late April and into early May we were seeing the sun rise as we were out and about.
The far-too-smart-for-it's-own-good phone has a camera on it, so my friends on facebook were now subject to excessive early morning postings of sunrise photos.
Holly with the sun rising behind her
Surgical Appliance Pink Sky over the local Church
Sunrise from the little park close to home
Walkies Part II
Hollys initial diagnosis had been at the start of October, it had taken us
nearly two months to adjust our getting up time so we were getting up and
walking between 5 and 6am on work day mornings.
It was now late November getting into early December and at that time of the day it is dark and cold. We kept moving at a brisk pace so the cold wasnt too much of a problem, especially when I dug out and remembered to wear scarf, hat and gloves.
I loved walking in the dark, Holly just loves walking regardless of time of day or weather. As we walked through the various parks, fields and paths we learnt a lot about the dark side of where we live.
At that time of day there are not very many other people out and about, certainly not very many people walking dogs so one day I was very surprised to see a large dog trotting across the park and looked round to see if I could see it's owner. As we got a bit closer it paused under a street lamp and I was amazed to see that it wasn't a dog at all, but a rather magnificent fox taking a short-cut through the park It spotted us and moved on. We see it occasionally, it always stops to look at us and then moves off.
We were also quite amazed at how many owls there are out and about at that time of the day, we usually heard them calling to one another and on a few rare occasions we have seen them silhouetted against the moon or a street lamp as they glide silently around.
When we started early morning walks I had recently got a new mobile phone and had joined the modern world and got a smart phone. A moon phase app and a night sky app were soon installed and on clear mornings we would keep a look out for the moon and try to identify the stars and not walk into too many things while walking around looking at the sky. On the subject of star-spotting, the moving ones that flicker and have red and green bits are aeroplanes, the fast moving one is the international space station and the one that hovers and occasionally floods the ground below with a beam of light is not a UFO, it's the local police helicopter.
Observations were also made on a slightly more urban theme, we learnt where the ambulance rapid responder cars would park up, that the window washer came to clean the windows of the local shops at 6.30am. We saw newspapers being delivered to the newsagents and could often smell tantalising, mouth watering odours from the local bakery.
We also got soaked in the rain, covered in snow and battered by the winds, but the early morning walks in the dark were thoroughly enjoyable and well worth getting out of bed for.
It was now late November getting into early December and at that time of the day it is dark and cold. We kept moving at a brisk pace so the cold wasnt too much of a problem, especially when I dug out and remembered to wear scarf, hat and gloves.
I loved walking in the dark, Holly just loves walking regardless of time of day or weather. As we walked through the various parks, fields and paths we learnt a lot about the dark side of where we live.
At that time of day there are not very many other people out and about, certainly not very many people walking dogs so one day I was very surprised to see a large dog trotting across the park and looked round to see if I could see it's owner. As we got a bit closer it paused under a street lamp and I was amazed to see that it wasn't a dog at all, but a rather magnificent fox taking a short-cut through the park It spotted us and moved on. We see it occasionally, it always stops to look at us and then moves off.
We were also quite amazed at how many owls there are out and about at that time of the day, we usually heard them calling to one another and on a few rare occasions we have seen them silhouetted against the moon or a street lamp as they glide silently around.
When we started early morning walks I had recently got a new mobile phone and had joined the modern world and got a smart phone. A moon phase app and a night sky app were soon installed and on clear mornings we would keep a look out for the moon and try to identify the stars and not walk into too many things while walking around looking at the sky. On the subject of star-spotting, the moving ones that flicker and have red and green bits are aeroplanes, the fast moving one is the international space station and the one that hovers and occasionally floods the ground below with a beam of light is not a UFO, it's the local police helicopter.
Observations were also made on a slightly more urban theme, we learnt where the ambulance rapid responder cars would park up, that the window washer came to clean the windows of the local shops at 6.30am. We saw newspapers being delivered to the newsagents and could often smell tantalising, mouth watering odours from the local bakery.
We also got soaked in the rain, covered in snow and battered by the winds, but the early morning walks in the dark were thoroughly enjoyable and well worth getting out of bed for.
Saturday 16 November 2013
Walkies!
So as well as supplements we were starting to increase our walks. Holly and I had always walked a lot but now it was time to start thinking about how far we were going and how often.
I was grumbling to a friend at work about maps and string and trying to work out distances. He told me about a website for runners that might be just what I was looking for, and it was. Map My Run is a great website and probably contains a lot of very good information that I don't use. What I do use it for is working out distance. You can call up a map and then draw your route on it. It them tells you the distance and, even better, it also maps the ups and downs!
So after a happy week or two where lunchtimes at work were spend interrogating the map my run website I now knew how far all our favourite walks were and had worked out some additional bits and alternative bits to up the distance. I was aiming for 4 to 5 miles over two walks on days I was at work and 7 to 10 miles plus on non-work days.
About 8 months prior to diagnosis Holly and I had taken up Geocaching which gave us plenty of inspiration about new and interesting places to go for a walk.
Non work days were nice and easy, we* would prepare a packup and gather our bits together and then set off on the bus and train or in the car and spend as much of the day as we wanted out and about in the countryside exploring and walking and generally enjoying ourselves.
* by "We" I mean I made the sandwiches, Holly would hoover up anything I dropped. I would gather waterproofs, drinks, walking boots, rucksack and all the other walking essentials, Holly would be no further than 2" away from me making excited noises all the time and generally being in constant danger of being stood on or tripped over.
Work days were a little bit more difficult. I needed to be out of the house at 06:45 so the morning routine at that point didnt involve a walk, just a trip round the garden and some mental and training exercises while I prepared breakfast, showered and made a packup. After a little thinking I started to adjust things gradually, a couple of weeks at a time.
For the first fortnight the alarm was set 15 minutes earlier and Holly got an extra 15 minutes of training.
The second fortnight and the alarm came forward by another 15 minutes, now we had an extra half hour and this was enough time to go for a lap round the little park near to where we live (according to map my run 0.75 miles round the perimiter).
The third fortnight and another 15 minutes, still a lap round the little park but now we started to vary our route there and back to bring the distance up to between 1 and 1.5 miles.
After the third fortnight the alarm came forward by 15 minutes one last time so we were now getting up a whole hour earlier than we had been. Some experimentation, and one or two mad-dashes, and we discovered how far we could go and soon had four different walks of upto 2.5 miles we could fit into that hour always making sure we were back home again by 6am for breakfast, shower and all the normal morning stuff before I left again to go to work and Holly retreated back to bed to re-arrange my duvet into a cosy nest just the right size for her and the cats to spend the day sleeping in and recharging their batteries ready for evening walkies and playtime.
I was grumbling to a friend at work about maps and string and trying to work out distances. He told me about a website for runners that might be just what I was looking for, and it was. Map My Run is a great website and probably contains a lot of very good information that I don't use. What I do use it for is working out distance. You can call up a map and then draw your route on it. It them tells you the distance and, even better, it also maps the ups and downs!
So after a happy week or two where lunchtimes at work were spend interrogating the map my run website I now knew how far all our favourite walks were and had worked out some additional bits and alternative bits to up the distance. I was aiming for 4 to 5 miles over two walks on days I was at work and 7 to 10 miles plus on non-work days.
About 8 months prior to diagnosis Holly and I had taken up Geocaching which gave us plenty of inspiration about new and interesting places to go for a walk.
Non work days were nice and easy, we* would prepare a packup and gather our bits together and then set off on the bus and train or in the car and spend as much of the day as we wanted out and about in the countryside exploring and walking and generally enjoying ourselves.
* by "We" I mean I made the sandwiches, Holly would hoover up anything I dropped. I would gather waterproofs, drinks, walking boots, rucksack and all the other walking essentials, Holly would be no further than 2" away from me making excited noises all the time and generally being in constant danger of being stood on or tripped over.
Work days were a little bit more difficult. I needed to be out of the house at 06:45 so the morning routine at that point didnt involve a walk, just a trip round the garden and some mental and training exercises while I prepared breakfast, showered and made a packup. After a little thinking I started to adjust things gradually, a couple of weeks at a time.
For the first fortnight the alarm was set 15 minutes earlier and Holly got an extra 15 minutes of training.
The second fortnight and the alarm came forward by another 15 minutes, now we had an extra half hour and this was enough time to go for a lap round the little park near to where we live (according to map my run 0.75 miles round the perimiter).
The third fortnight and another 15 minutes, still a lap round the little park but now we started to vary our route there and back to bring the distance up to between 1 and 1.5 miles.
After the third fortnight the alarm came forward by 15 minutes one last time so we were now getting up a whole hour earlier than we had been. Some experimentation, and one or two mad-dashes, and we discovered how far we could go and soon had four different walks of upto 2.5 miles we could fit into that hour always making sure we were back home again by 6am for breakfast, shower and all the normal morning stuff before I left again to go to work and Holly retreated back to bed to re-arrange my duvet into a cosy nest just the right size for her and the cats to spend the day sleeping in and recharging their batteries ready for evening walkies and playtime.
The First Few Weeks Post Diagnosis
I think it a fair summary to say that after Holly's diagnosis I spent a few days reading a lot about CDM online and walking round in a state of shock as the reality of what was going to happen.
I think the hardest part was the unknown, not knowing if Holly would still be with me in a few weeks, months or even years. Needless to say there were more than a few tears shed.
But the practical common sense side of me took over and some sensible decisions got made.
The first decision was about diet and supplements.
Holly has never been overweight but the advice from the vet was to loose a little weight, to deliberately take her to just underweight for her size. The theory here was that if she weighed less it was less weight to carry around and therefore we could keep her walking longer. As anyone who has anything to do with weight loss will tell you, gradual smooth loss is better than fast and rapid. So rather than start adjusting how much I fed her I decided we would see if upping the amount of exercise would do the trick. I will cover walkies in a later post.
As I said before there is a lot of information out there, its just a question of working out what is useful and relevant. Dietary supplements is one area that nobody seems to agree on.
I read my way through a lot of blogs, message boards and a few vetinary publications. For each supplement that was suggested I investigated what the supplement did and what its side effects were. For a lot of things I couldn't work out why it was being recommended as there didn't appear to be any effects or side effects related to the spine or neurological matters.
The current theory is that degeneration that causes cdm comes about by free radicles. So i chose three supplements based on this. Vitamin E is supposed to reduce free radicle production. Brewers Yeast which claims to mop up free radicles. And Omega 3 fish oil which is promoted as being good for all things brain related (and in my thinking the spinal chord is an extension of the brain).
After checking my reasoning with the vet we double checked her weight and worked out some maximum doses. I didn't start her on the maximum dose immediately, I started fairly low and increased it a little every 6 to 8 weeks.
I think the hardest part was the unknown, not knowing if Holly would still be with me in a few weeks, months or even years. Needless to say there were more than a few tears shed.
But the practical common sense side of me took over and some sensible decisions got made.
The first decision was about diet and supplements.
Holly has never been overweight but the advice from the vet was to loose a little weight, to deliberately take her to just underweight for her size. The theory here was that if she weighed less it was less weight to carry around and therefore we could keep her walking longer. As anyone who has anything to do with weight loss will tell you, gradual smooth loss is better than fast and rapid. So rather than start adjusting how much I fed her I decided we would see if upping the amount of exercise would do the trick. I will cover walkies in a later post.
As I said before there is a lot of information out there, its just a question of working out what is useful and relevant. Dietary supplements is one area that nobody seems to agree on.
I read my way through a lot of blogs, message boards and a few vetinary publications. For each supplement that was suggested I investigated what the supplement did and what its side effects were. For a lot of things I couldn't work out why it was being recommended as there didn't appear to be any effects or side effects related to the spine or neurological matters.
The current theory is that degeneration that causes cdm comes about by free radicles. So i chose three supplements based on this. Vitamin E is supposed to reduce free radicle production. Brewers Yeast which claims to mop up free radicles. And Omega 3 fish oil which is promoted as being good for all things brain related (and in my thinking the spinal chord is an extension of the brain).
After checking my reasoning with the vet we double checked her weight and worked out some maximum doses. I didn't start her on the maximum dose immediately, I started fairly low and increased it a little every 6 to 8 weeks.
Wednesday 13 November 2013
Getting to the diagnosis
In August 2011 I thought I saw Holly walking in a slightly odd way. It wasn't every day and it wasnt every step, but every so often I thought she kicked out her back right leg just a little bit in an odd way. I spent a week or so watching and becoming convinced that there was a slight odditiy to her gait. But only I could see this, she never seemed to do this when anyone else was watching. I gave her a thorough going over all down her spine and legs right down to the individual pads. I didn't find any obvious injury and got no pain reaction, in fact the only thing to happen was she chose the moment when my head was down by her hocks to relax and fart in my face!
She didn't appear to be in any pain but just for a little while we changed walkies, where possible we avoided hard surfaces and I tried to keep her mad flat-out galloping to a bare minimum. My theory was that if it was a pulled muscle then it would improve, it didn't.
At the end of August I had a few days away and Holly went to stay with my parents, when I came back they had seen the odd gait. It was described by my Dad as a catwalk sashay that most models would kill for. so now I was sure it wasn't me imagining it it was time to go to the vet.
Reading this I know it seems like a long time between initial 'did I just see that?' and going to the vet, but if there had been any sign of pain she would have been there immediately. In reality it was probably only about 3 weeks.
My vet gave her spine, hips and legs the same poking and prodding that I had given them and turned up the same lack of pain and obvious injury. On a good note for the vet, she didn't relax when he examined her. He then did something that I think of as a tilt-hop test. He picked up on of her back legs so her foot was off the floor and then gently pushed so the weight of her hips moved out over the leg still on the floor in an attempt to tip her over. When he picked her right leg up and pushed she hopped on her left leg to keep her balance, this is normal. But when he lifted her left leg he could tilt her a lot further over before her right leg started to hop, this is not normal.
Four possibilities.
So early one morning I dropped a very unimpressed and unfed (the cause of the grumps) Holly off at the vets and set off to spend the day pottering in and out of second hand book shops and visiting friends.
As instructed in the middle of the afternoon I phoned for an update, Holly had had her X-rays and was coming round nicely and eating everything that was offered to her. That would be the Labrador part of her gene pool. The next bit however made me swallow fairly hard a couple of times, the vet wanted to see me to discuss the X-rays before I took her home. Gulp! I was given an appointment before the normal evening surgery. Gulp again!
So laiden down with just a few books I returned to the vets surgery and felt quite odd sitting in the waiting room without an animal with me.
I was given a bone-by-bone tour of the X-rays, the conclusion was that skeletally there was no problems, hips and everything were perfect. No sign of hip displaisia, arthiritis, injury or tumours. Which left just one diagnosis. Canine Degenerative Myelopathy.
I left with Holly and the information that there is no cure and no treatment, the warning that average from diagnosis is 18 months, the advise that walking, lots and lots of walking could probably help, and the knowledge that I could phone or visit for advice at any time and that I could do as much research as I wanted to and the vet would be happy to discuss and advise on any treatment or supplements that I thought would help. It was a lot to take in.
She didn't appear to be in any pain but just for a little while we changed walkies, where possible we avoided hard surfaces and I tried to keep her mad flat-out galloping to a bare minimum. My theory was that if it was a pulled muscle then it would improve, it didn't.
At the end of August I had a few days away and Holly went to stay with my parents, when I came back they had seen the odd gait. It was described by my Dad as a catwalk sashay that most models would kill for. so now I was sure it wasn't me imagining it it was time to go to the vet.
Reading this I know it seems like a long time between initial 'did I just see that?' and going to the vet, but if there had been any sign of pain she would have been there immediately. In reality it was probably only about 3 weeks.
My vet gave her spine, hips and legs the same poking and prodding that I had given them and turned up the same lack of pain and obvious injury. On a good note for the vet, she didn't relax when he examined her. He then did something that I think of as a tilt-hop test. He picked up on of her back legs so her foot was off the floor and then gently pushed so the weight of her hips moved out over the leg still on the floor in an attempt to tip her over. When he picked her right leg up and pushed she hopped on her left leg to keep her balance, this is normal. But when he lifted her left leg he could tilt her a lot further over before her right leg started to hop, this is not normal.
Four possibilities.
- An injury, possibly infected
- a Tumour or other growth on the spine
- Something wrong with her hips, Mum was a labrador cross and Dad is suspected to be a German Shepherd, both breeds known to have hip problems
- CDM
So early one morning I dropped a very unimpressed and unfed (the cause of the grumps) Holly off at the vets and set off to spend the day pottering in and out of second hand book shops and visiting friends.
As instructed in the middle of the afternoon I phoned for an update, Holly had had her X-rays and was coming round nicely and eating everything that was offered to her. That would be the Labrador part of her gene pool. The next bit however made me swallow fairly hard a couple of times, the vet wanted to see me to discuss the X-rays before I took her home. Gulp! I was given an appointment before the normal evening surgery. Gulp again!
So laiden down with just a few books I returned to the vets surgery and felt quite odd sitting in the waiting room without an animal with me.
I was given a bone-by-bone tour of the X-rays, the conclusion was that skeletally there was no problems, hips and everything were perfect. No sign of hip displaisia, arthiritis, injury or tumours. Which left just one diagnosis. Canine Degenerative Myelopathy.
I left with Holly and the information that there is no cure and no treatment, the warning that average from diagnosis is 18 months, the advise that walking, lots and lots of walking could probably help, and the knowledge that I could phone or visit for advice at any time and that I could do as much research as I wanted to and the vet would be happy to discuss and advise on any treatment or supplements that I thought would help. It was a lot to take in.
canine degenerative myelopathy
On 4th October 2011, aged 9.5, Holly was diagnosed with canine degenerative myelopathy. 18 months on from diagnosis I thought I should probably write down my experiences in case it helped anyone else.
So now two and a bit years from diagnosis I am finally getting started with the writing process.
This entry is just a little bit of information about the disease, further blog entries will cover diagnosis, action and decline.
According to good old Wikipedia
It goes on to say that
Which more or less confirmed my thoughts that Holly has a good chunk of Germas Shepherd in her.
A summary of the disease reads
As I write this Holly is sprawled across the floor close by flinging toys all over the place (an action that has sent the cats fleeing from the room in search of a safer place to snooze) and occasionally woofing at me when she has flung them all out of reach and is trying her luck to get me to gather them all back up for her. All things considered Holly is still a very happy and healthy girl with a great enthusiasm for going out and about, preferably somewhere muddy and wet.
So now two and a bit years from diagnosis I am finally getting started with the writing process.
This entry is just a little bit of information about the disease, further blog entries will cover diagnosis, action and decline.
According to good old Wikipedia
Canine degenerative myelopathy, also known as chronic degenerative radiculomyelopathy, is an incurable, progressive disease of the canine spinal cord that is similar in many ways to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
It goes on to say that
Onset is typically after the age of 7 years and it is seen most frequently in the German shepherd dog, Pembroke Welsh corgi, and boxer dog
Which more or less confirmed my thoughts that Holly has a good chunk of Germas Shepherd in her.
A summary of the disease reads
Progressive weakness and incoordination of the rear limbs are often the first signs seen in affected dogs, with progression over time to complete paralysis. Myelin is an insulating sheath around neurons in the spinal cord. One proposed cause of degenerative myelopathy is that the immune system attacks this sheath, breaking it down. This results in a loss of communication between nerves in lower body of the animal and the brain.CDM is a very depressing subject to read about and there is a lot of information out there in internet-land. As with all things some is good some is bad and some is just plain bizarre, the problem is working out which is which!
As I write this Holly is sprawled across the floor close by flinging toys all over the place (an action that has sent the cats fleeing from the room in search of a safer place to snooze) and occasionally woofing at me when she has flung them all out of reach and is trying her luck to get me to gather them all back up for her. All things considered Holly is still a very happy and healthy girl with a great enthusiasm for going out and about, preferably somewhere muddy and wet.
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