A Word from the Publisher
Windsor has rehabilitated and helped find a home for over a dozen of them. Some of them so-called 'hopeless' cases.
You may hear him refer to his 'ailment' or his 'predicament'. He even might tell you that he has spent the last seven month in a wheelchair. But he will not tell you the nature of his disease. He does not believe that he is 'diseased' because, he says, he feels just fine.
“If I feel at ease, why am I 'diseased'?”, is the question he used to ask me most often.
Therefore, it is up to me to give you a brief background on his affliction.
King Windsor suffers from Degenerative Myelopathy. This insidious disease afflicts many of the large dog breeds, specifically German Shepherds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Belgian Sheepdogs, Old English Sheepdogs, Weimaraners, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Boxers, Labs and possibly the Great Pyrenees. There are other breeds also at risk of getting this illness.
Degenerative Myelopathy is considered a “progressive disease involving the spinal cord. It is thought to be an inflammatory, autoimmune disease, variable in its presentation and course, in which the immune system attacks the dog’s central nervous system. This attack leads to a loss of insulation around the nerve fibers (myelin) and of nerve fibers (axons).” (Marjorie Zimmerman)
Simply put, the disease breaks down the 'insulation' around the nerve fibers. That creates 'shorts' in the circuitry leading from the brain to the nerve endings in the limbs. When the insulating material on your power cord breaks down shorts between the two leads result. There will be sparks, erratic power and eventually a complete loss of power to the load.
This will happen to your dog with myelopathy. First, you will notice that he has trouble getting up or lying down, difficulties with balance and a loss of strength in his hind legs. There will be loss of muscle mass. Eventually, your dog will walk like a drunken sailor, staggering and falling. Exercising him more does not prevent loss of muscle mass – it just makes him feel more frustrated.
I tried all kinds of 'remedies' including diet. Nothing had a significant lasting effect. Windsor liked acupuncture. It calmed him down, strengthened his entire system, even appeared to give him improved control – for a day, rarely more. In other words, it did not really work.
No, it will not get better. It will only get worse. Though this insidious disease normally starts in the hind legs, it will progress forward, up the lower back towards the chest area and the front limbs. The dog will eventually end up completely paralyzed. Some dogs retain a little head movement.
What quality of life is that?
I noticed the first signs of degenerative myelopathy in Windsor about one year ago. At that time I did not know the nature of Windsor's affliction. He always had a hard time getting up from his bed or the couch. He also had difficulties climbing up stairs. He coped with the problem by using his front legs to pull himself up, step by step.
But a year ago I noticed that every time I used insecticide spray to keep fleas out, control mosquitos and flies, Windsor's had not only difficulties getting up but also found it hard to keep his balance. I cut out the insecticide and within 24 hours or so the 'drunken sailor' symptoms went away.
We managed to identify “pyrethrum” as the culprit. It is a very effective insecticide naturally found in chrysanthemums. It is also quite common in pet and household insecticides. By hindsight the causalities are quite clear: Pyrethrum affects the nervous system of insects. That makes it an excellent pest control agent. Unfortunately, it also acts on the nervous system of mammals. It can destroy or seriously damage nerve tissue.
Thus, if you happen to own a dog with a latent affinity for nerve damage, you should really not use insecticides with pyrethrum as active ingredient.
Though Windsor recovered from exposure to the insecticide, his latent myelopathy accelerated. By early July of last year, I had to use a sling to support his hind quarters. He still could move his hind legs but they did no longer bear his weight. Two months later he was completely down, unable to get up or to move on his own – other than dragging himself across the floor with his front legs. He became quite an efficient 'dragger'. When there was need for speed, he even managed a hop to propel himself forward.
Despite his illness Windsor insisted to go with me to animal shelters and rescue kennels to help evaluate other dogs for rehabilitation.
This is how he materialized his first wheel chair. It came to him as a gift in recognition of his contributions to the rehabilitation and rescue of numerous other dogs.
This wheelchair literally saved Windsor's life. It gave him freedom again, a new, bright world and the ability to go where before he could no longer go.
But most importantly and vital to him, he could saunter up to women again, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and say:
“Hi, my name is Windsor. Have you ever petted a Boxer in a wheel chair before?”
His success rate is phenomenal!
But I am digressing. Please read more about degenerative myelopathy, the absence of effective treatments and a new and promising development in the battle against it right here and soon.
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