Rig needs our help...

A recently retired member of our department needs our help and support.... For anyone who doesn't know Rig, for the past 6 1/2 years, he has been a very hard working and invaluable police K-9. At only 7 1/2 years old, Rig has unfortunately been diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy which is a devastating disease causing progressive paralysis.

Degenerative myelopathy is a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs. The disease has an insidious onset typically between 8 and 14 years of age. It begins with a loss of coordination (ataxia) in the hind limbs. The affected dog will wobble when walking, knuckle over or drag the feet. This can first occur in one hind limb and then affect the other. As the disease progresses, the limbs become weak and the dog begins to buckle and has difficulty standing. The weakness gets progressively worse until the dog is unable to walk. The clinical course can range from 6 months to 1 year before dogs become paraplegic. If signs progress for a longer period of time, loss of urinary and fecal continence may occur and eventually weakness will develop in the front limbs.

Meticulous supportive care is the only available therapy for dogs with degenerative myelopathy. Once an affected dog starts losing its ability to stand and walk, its owner must do a number of things to maintain its quality of life. Moderate exercise and other forms of physical therapy are encouraged, to delay muscle deterioration and atrophy and help maintain mobility and strength in the pelvic limbs. “Range of motion” exercises, where the owner stretches, extends and flexes the dog’s rear legs, are especially helpful. This sort of activity seems to slow the progression of DM and helps affected dogs maintain strength, balance and the ability to walk for a longer period of time. Swimming exercises, underwater treadmill use and other water-based techniques (hydrotherapy) also can benefit dogs with DM.

The dog will need well-padded bedding, such as an air mattress, waterbed, lounge chair pad, human bed mattress, fleeces, sleeping bags, blankets, straw or other lofty, soft and comfortable things to lie on. The outer layers of bedding will need to be changed frequently, and the dog will need to be cleaned and dried regularly to prevent bed sores, urine scalding, skin ulceration and other lesions caused by urinary and/or fecal incontinence.  Owners should manage their dogs’ diet to prevent excessive weight gain, which requires purchasing and cooking special foods that limit inflammation. Recumbent dogs should be turned frequently to prevent pressure sores and possible lung collapse (atelectasis). A wheel cart – essentially, a wheelchair for dogs – can be used for dogs that have lost mobility in their hind legs. As long as the dog is able to use its front legs normally, a wheel cart will keep it comfortable and mobile.

As you can see, special diet and physical therapy, along with continuous care around the clock are all needed to extend a positive quality of life for as long as possible. Unfortunately, there is not any medical insurance to cover these types of therapies and treatments which are extremely expensive and could be needed for (hopefully) a number of years. Any amount of help you could offer would be greatly and extremely appreciated! Please help ensure Rig can maintain the best quality of life we could offer him, after all, he was willing to risk his life in order to save ours... its the least we could do.

Any money earned and not used during this campaign will be donated to the Police K-9 Memorial Fund in honor of Rig.

Thank you for your time and support in this matter.