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Treatment

Animals can usually be treated on an outpatient basis. However, dogs with acute polyradiculoneuropathies will have inflammation at the roots of the spinal cord nerves, and are at risk of respiratory failure. They should be hospitalized for observation in the early phase of the disease to prevent this. Dogs with dysautonomia should be hospitalized to receive fluid therapy and/or administered (parenteral) feeding. 

Dogs with hyperchylomicronemia, conversely, may spontaneously recover after two to three months of being fed a low-fat diet. Dogs that have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus should have their blood glucose and diet closely monitored.

An excellent related treatment for patients with peripheral polyneuropathies is physiotherapy, for encouraging restoration of the affected musculature and nerve memory.

Living and Management

It is important to understand that the cause of many polyneuropathies can never be determined, and treatment of the primary cause of polyneuropathy may not cure your dog. In some cases, the peripheral nerves will continue to deteriorate, and your dog's disease will worsen.

Dogs that have been diagnosed with congenital or inherited forms of polyneuropathies should not be bred. Generally, it is advisable to neuter an animal that is suffering from this condition to prevent accidental breeding. For example, female dogs that have been infected with the Neospora parasite should not be bred, since one of the ways the parasite transmits itself is by spreading to the fetus through the placenta.

Dogs that have developed coonhound paralysis (polyradiculoneuritis) will need to be protected from repeated exposure to raccoons, since the initial infection does not impart later immunity from it.