The Pet Health & Nutrition Center Q&AAnswer
Jul 15, 2024 - 10:03 AM
Unfortunately, none of those prescription medications will help your dog with degenerative myelopathy get better. Gabapentin® is a medication used as an anticonvulsant and for nerve pain neither of which apply to DM and comes with a common side effect of a wobbly gate - not good for a DM dog. Carprofen® is an NSAID used to treat pain and has the potential for numerous side effects. DM is a painless condition, and unless you are trying to address pain in perhaps front leg joints, this medication isn't appropriate. Proin® has numerous potential side effects that can be found online. Often dogs with DM will have urinary or fecal incontinence due to the loss of nerve transmission, and Proin® does not address this nerve issue. Whether you decide to use medications or not is a decision you have to make for your dog, we can not tell you how to approach this. We can offer what we would suggest and that is trying our supplements to support a dog with DM and considering a whole food diet for your dog (read our article How to Feed Your Dog). We also suggest that you watch our educational video on DM in dogs to learn more about this neuromuscular condition.
