Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive, incurable spinal cord disease in dogs that causes increasing paralysis and requires significant welfare management decisions.
DM presents welfare challenges that evolve as the disease progresses. Early stages involve loss of hindlimb coordination without pain, but affected dogs show frustration as mobility decreases and they can no longer perform natural behaviors (running, playing). As paralysis advances, dogs become incontinent — requiring full nursing care including bladder expression, turning, and wound management for pressure sores. These interventions, while caring, are stressful. Dogs in late-stage DM face the question of when quality of life has deteriorated sufficiently to justify euthanasia — a deeply difficult welfare decision that owners often face without adequate veterinary guidance on timing and criteria.