s.m

we have just found out our 2 year old cavalier has s.m
we found out a week after the new year
she as been put onto gabapentin she was on 3 a day
but we was worried about her doing strange things
she kept trying to get in some spaces that she could not fit in .
so we got back in touch with her specialist so they have taken her down to two tablets a day ...
were due to see the specialist on the 28th as we have not been told much .
been told by a few people to just put her to sleep which as up set us
in a big way we love her to bits and were never give up on her .
maya

Sorry to hear your Cavalier has SM - I hope she doesn't have too much pain and other symptoms. But SM is not a death sentence - there are many people on this forum whose SM dogs lead happy and more or less normal lives. It is important to work with your neurologist to get the medication levels right - as you obviously are doing. Others on this forum will give you more expert advice - my SM dog, Oliver, is 8, and fortunately still has very few symptoms, so my experience is limited. All I will say is just continue to enjoy your dog and give her as normal a life as possible - and a few extra hugs because she's poorly!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

hello kate
thank you for what you said we have had so many people
saying she wont have long .
she only crys out with her front leg if she as been playing
or been out walking when she starts to relax
she crys out it doont last long her leg seems to into a spasm
the way i can explain so we roll her over and try to get her to relax that leg .
when the pain as passed she gives a kiss as if to say im ok
we have been so stressed since being told that our little girl
is in pain .
maya

My black and tan, Riley, also has SM. She had decompression surgery one and a half years ago for severe and advanced SM and while she will never be normal, she is living a happy life. Like Kate said, it is important to work with your neurologist - i assume that's who you meant when you talked about a specialist - to adjust her medication. Gabapentin may not be the right medication for her. We tried for almost a year to find the right medication and the right dosage for Riley. She is now on 5 mg prednisone once a day. Have a look in the Cavalier Talk health library to find out a wealth of information about SM. Again, it is not necessarily a death sentence. Like I said, Riley is happy and I will do everything I can to keep her that way. Love your little baby!

oh we love our baby to bits ....we would go to the end of the earth for her if we had to,
im sorry about your little dog our dog dont have the stage yours have it .
maya

I was wondering what part of the country you live in? You need to see a neurologist that has experience in sm as soon as possible. When Molly was seen by a "specialist", initially she was put on Garbepentin and I was told the future looked gloomy. I quickly took her to see Clare Rusbridge, Molly was immediately put on Zetac (a kind of diuretic), Molly was gradually taken off Garbapentin and put on a very mild pain killer. Molly has stabilised and her life is very different. I believe Molly having early treatment saved her from a lot of difficulties.

Hello Maya,

I am so sorry to read about your little girl.

SM is a complex condition, the more you know about it the more you can help your cavalier.

Clare Rusbridge is one of the leading neurologists in this field and she has a lot of information on her website, including a question and answer section........

http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/faq.htm

You will find more to help you if you look at the 'sticky' threads at the top of this section

Hello Maya

Sorry to hear your little girl has sm, my blenheim was diagnosed late last year. We are still tinkering with the medication but have avoided steroids with him. Last year he would yelp in pain every so often that has not happened for 6 weeks now (he still scratches a lot) - I am sure if you work with your neurologist they will be able to help a lot. Yoshi has a good life long walks and lots of playing (we live in the Netherlands so no hills which helps) but we do carry him up and down stairs and help him on and off chairs etc. SM is not a death sentence at all and sm dogs can live a good life

Sarenna

we wish to thank you all so much we are due to see the neurologist
on thursday as its our first meeting since the scan
3 weeks ago ....
we are dreading this appt in one way but on the other hand were just wanting to know
what is in front of us yes we are very stressed so im sorry if we come over a bit not knowing what .is what
maya

sorry its taken so long to give you a up date but it would not let me log in .

right to how our cavaliers appt went she as the start of syringomyelia and epilepsy
she is on gaberpentin and steroids
there not sure how things are going to go with her as she dont have any signs so far of the syringomyelia
going into her spine .
but we have lots of vists to get her treatment sorted could take 12 months .

Is she doing better on the change in medications? Has she had fits -- is that how they diagnosed epilepsy as well? Do they think the shaking leg is due to epilepsy? It is a lot to think about -- hope she is doing better.

the shaking of the leg is showing sighns its some sort epilepsy .
but as she also has syringomyelia they now think there dealing with two problems and not one as we thought .
but she is happy in her self
maya