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Treatment

If a bone marrow transplant is conducted at an early age, the dog may be able to live a “near normal” life. However, this treatment is expensive, life-threatening, and not very helpful at a mature age. Also, a healthy donor is required for bone marrow transplant.

Enzyme replacement therapy is effective in dogs with mucopolysaccharidoses, but this, too, is an expensive recourse and has not been widely used in animals. Gene therapy, meanwhile, is thought to be an effective method of treatment, and is under evaluation for the treatment both in humans and animals.

Living and Management

Overall prognosis in dogs that have undergone bone marrow transplants is usually good. However, as the dog gets older, it will suffer from various problem, including eating difficulties. Therefore, they will require softer and easily palatable foods. Dogs with mucopolysaccharidoses are also prone to infections and may require antibiotic therapy.

Due to the genetic nature of this group of disorders, your veterinarian will recommend against breeding dogs with mucopolysaccharidoses.