Degenerative myelopathy is a progressive spinal cord disease in dogs causing gradual paralysis, with welfare management focused on maintaining quality of life through the disease course.
DM creates a slowly progressing welfare challenge that requires ongoing adaptation. In early stages, dogs may be largely unaffected beyond minor hindlimb weakness. As the disease progresses, mobility decreases, bladder and bowel control is lost, and eventually the thoracic limbs are affected. The key welfare question throughout is quality of life - dogs with DM can have excellent quality of life in earlier stages and reasonable quality of life with mobility aids in intermediate stages. When thoracic limb involvement compromises daily activities significantly, quality of life declines to the point where euthanasia becomes the welfare-protecting choice. Regular, honest assessment guides this ongoing decision.