As I previously mentioned there isn’t a lot of research in the veterinary field looking specifically at canine rehabilitation, mostly due to cost and due to the fact that this is still a relatively new field. However, more and more research have been done more recently, and one of the areas looked at is treatment for degenerative myelopathy.

Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive disease of the spinal cord that acts in a very similar way to ALS in humans. As a matter of fact, the veterinary department at the University of Missouri – who does most of the research in this field – recently announced that they have received a grant from the NIH to explore a potential drug therapy that is also being tested for patients with ALS. DM causes a slow degeneration of the white matter leading to gradual weakness of the hind limbs and progressing to urinary/fecal incontinence and to the front limbs. There is a lot from a rehab perspective that can be done to assist with these patients, ranging from therapeutic exercises, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, assistance devices (carts, harness, slings, etc), and family/owner education regarding care (pressure ulcers, incontinence, etc) and progression of the disease. I will likely write more on these topics in the future, but today I will focus on the research article.

For this study the researchers evaluated whether mean survival rate was affected by a controlled physiotherapy program. They found that the dogs who received intensive physiotherapy had a significant longer survival time (mean 255 days), compared to 130 days for those who received moderate physiotherapy and 55 days for those who received no therapy. Also, the dogs who received physiotherapy were able to remain ambulatory for longer when compared to those who received no therapy.

This is a really great article that emphasizes the need of canine PT for those patients. However, if you have a dog diagnosed with DM or know someone who does a few rule of thumbs apply: don’t over do it  (begin slow and do short sets instead of long ones) and do not exercise or walk to fatigue as this can worsen the condition. Also, if possible I highly recommend a consult with a canine veterinary clinician with these cases due to the need of a multi-modal approach to the care that can change as the disease progresses.

~TheK9PT

Francisco Maia, PT, DPT, CCRT