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Egenerative Spinal Myelopathy

by rcvvmd - January 16, 2010

Hi Dr. Marsden, et al! I have a general question: has anyone had luck using herbs/formulas for canine degenerative spinal myelopathy? I have a case to see next week and she is interested in supplemental and herbal options. She's had 1 round of acupuncture and may continue ( I haven't done acupuncture) - no change so far. She is a 7 y.o Boxer confirmed case via DNA testing/CSF. I would think antioxidants, bioflavinoids just to try to slow progression, and not sure where to go from there.

Thanks for any ideas.

Robin Valentine

by naturevet

January 17, 2010

Hi Robin,

We don't succeed all the time with these cases, but probably most. Often enough that I question the diagnosis on many of them anyway. So, short answer, yes, you could fully expect some success and we would welcome the opportunity to help you. The list of differentials is extensive - Damp Heat, Qi deficiency, Yin deficiency, Qi deficiency leading to Blood stasis, Kidney deficiency... - so do your best with it, but maybe plan on sending the owner out the door with the antioxidants you mention and getting back to us with the particulars so we can recommend a formula she can pick up later. Unless of course it's really obvious to you.

If you do bring it back here, then we can help most if you provide pulse, tongue and point data (which points improved the pulse, and what did you do to achieve that - tonify or sedate?).

Lastly, if there is anyone around who does chiropractic, you might want to arrange that as well.

All the best,

Steve

by healthyoptions

January 18, 2010

i have found alpha lipoic acid to be very helpful with DM, also hypericum perforatum 30c and mylein sheath 12x.
myelin sheath is hard to find and can be obtained from professional complemenatry heath fomulas in porland or.
andrea

by rcvvmd

January 19, 2010

Thanks Steve and Andrea! I'll let you know more when I see her, hopefully this week.

Andrea, with the myelin sheath 12x, can you tell me more about how this may help? My knowledge of homeopathy is limited. By giving myelin as a homeopathic, wouldn't we be stimulating the patient to then react/ act against it (more than it already is)?

Thanks!
Robin

by healthyoptions

January 19, 2010

this is a Sarcode, they are restorative and assist in the rebuilding of organ cells. supporting the myelin sheath apprear to forestall some of the degeneration caused by inflamation. my initial introduction to this came from pj broadfoot. i believe it is referenced in the homotoxicolgy section of Integrating Complementary Medicine into Veterinary Practice. alpha lipoic acid is also effective. dosage of ala needs to be quite low as dogs do not metabolize it in the same way as humans and too much can be damaging.

andrea

by rcvvmd

January 20, 2010

Thanks!

What is your ALA dose range in dogs>? I would have thought DHA would be good. I'll look into the myeln sheath; thanks again!

Robin V.

by healthyoptions

January 20, 2010

many people do use DHA, some believe that pregnalone is more effective. dosage should be no more that 50mg intially sid and then bid for a large dog, less for smaller dogs.
as far as ala is concerned the dosing reference i have is no more that 200mg daily for a large dog. that reference is from the manual of natural veterinary medicnine, wynn and marsden.
andrea

by rcvvmd

January 25, 2010

re. DHA dose, I give about 5x that just in daily fish oil capsules to my lg. dogs! ARe we talking about the Omega 3 FA? I dose it by the EPA content per cap for my pts, too... and there is a lot more than 50mg in the good caps.

Any ideas?

Thanks! She cancelled last week....

Robin Valentine

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