Hope this is in the right section.  For anyone interested I had the PM results today for Ollie.

When Ollie was ill I posted to see if there were any Bernese owners here that may have some ideas and I had some lovely support.  Many thanks for that.

He had two problems one being a Degenerative Myleopathy (sp) but not in the ususal place of his rear it was in his neck and had been coming and going for a while not treatable his neurologist felt it responded for the two weeks to steroids but like it is with this  disease it comes back so on that one problem alone he didn't really stand a chance.  Of course it was unusual in the fact it was in his neck.

The second problem being a disease found in horses very rare to be found in dogs.  Polysaccharide storage myopathy.  I looked up the horse version and it seems it is a genetic predisposition to digest grains and leads to damage to muscle tissue during exertion.  That would possibly explain his intolerance to exercise from  quite a young age.   He was never fed much grain I tried to avoid grains most of his life.

Not sure whether that would of had any bearing in his situation.

Put the two together there was no way he was going to recover from either one let alone the two problems.

I am glad to have the results but it was a bit like losing him all over again today.  I am hoping now I can move on  as since December it has been ongoing.

Today we had closure.

So sorry to hear this Lynn It is very hard to come to terms with an illness if you do not know why?
Hope you will get some peace now.
RIP Ollie run free at the bridge
Aileen and the girlies xxxx

Thank you Aileen I think I will get peace now.

Although deep down I knew there was nothing could be done and we had to do what we did I still wondered what if.  Something I am sure we all do.

I will miss him like crazy but know he is at peace and out of any pain he may of had although he didn't show it if he was.

Oh Lynn... I really feel for you.. But at least you do have some answers now in relation to Ollie. He was a very much loved boy and he will be forever in your heart..
Much love from Sue and Kai xx

Many thanks Sue.

>He was never fed much grain I tried to avoid grains most of his life. Not sure whether that would of had any bearing in his situation.

I'm not sure either, but I was reading up on it and it seems to be a genetic thing in horses - a recessive gene. So, in horses, a certain gene means they can be born with adverse reactions if fed grain, effects seen after exercise. It could turn out to be different in dogs though - as you say it seems to be rare (academic papers online seem to refer to one case in an 11 yr old English Setter).

I am also left wondering, as a friend of mine has a young cat diagnosed with feline pancreatitis, which in cats seems to be about processing carbohydrates (something that cats have no need for in the diet anyway as they are obligate carnivores). It does make you wonder if years of feeding biologically inappropriate foods to animals might be bringing this about, or at least highlighting individuals which can't tolerate it.

Run free Ollie - I hope the condition that shortened you life can be better understood in future.... I hope your case will contribute towards knowledge of this condition in dogs.

I am not sure either if the condition in horses is exactly the same.  His neurologist did say he was not converting the sugars properly in his muscles and that is what was contributing to the muscle weakness and causing him eventually to go off his legs.

Meant to say it also causes muscle atrophy and he had severe head and face muscle wastage and they feel that was to do with the Polysaccharide.

Whether it was related or not there was no hope for him but as you say maybe he will bring hope for others eventually and thankfully it is rare and they have never seen it before in dogs anyway.