HELP!! Poor Cookie MVD and now SM

Unfortunately we've had a few scares with Cookie over the past 6 weeks. The vet has said she had gone into Congestive Heart Failure and her little heart is struggling and her pulse is very weak. When we rushed her to the vets 6wks ago cos of breathing difficulties, her lungs was full of fluid and luckily after a frusemide injection she appeared better. My parents went away on Thursday and on Friday I noticed something wasn't right with cookie, she hadn't slept all of Fri nite and I took her to vets first thing on Sat morning. the vet kept her in for a few hours and put her in an incubator, saying that her lungs are full of fluid and they said she was on the edge. I picked her up a few hours later and her breathing was sounding better and by sunday morning i took her to vets and they were unsure she would survive the rest of the week for when my parents came home. I took her back to vets yesterday as they wanted to keep a close eye and the vet was gobsmacked over the recovery cookie had made, Cookie's lungs were clear of fluid and her breathings back to normal and she's got really bouncey, so the vet has signed her off and i need to call them next mon to update them.

a few weeks ago, when cookie had started her new medication (prilactone) she began yelping and whimpering in her sleep. This woke us up but not cookie. it only happened a few times and the vets couldn't understand it as it was not a side effect of the medication. Anyway, we bought her a DAP collar to see if that helped and she did not have a 'nightmare' in three weeks, until last sat nite. We slept in my parents bed as i thought this would calm her the past two nights, but last nite just as i was dropping off to sleep i heard her lick her lips and looked at her then she started moving her head and then came the yelp and crying. i then went and stroked her and it appeared i woke her up. ...now i am sure that it's SM and not a nightmare.

i called the vets up and they said because of how weak her heart is they aren't going to arrange an MRI as anaesthetic is not a good idea. They said they would usually give frusemide but cookie is already on a high dosage. So what can I do for her??

between writing this cookie was fast asleep and started moving her head and this time was shaking, eyes wide open, then yelped. i could not get her out of it for about 15 seconds when i went and got her a biscuit. i THINK it's only happened when she's alseep on her left side (which is the same side as her soft spot). ....dus that mean if she sleeps on her right side it won't happen. It's so distressing to see, and it's now midnight and I don't want to go to bed cos I don't want her to have another episode!!

I am sorry you are going to this difficult time with Cookie. Given that she is dealing with heart difficulties, many things might be causing her discomfort. Please keep in mind that you don't know that she has SM and really this could be almost anything, so try not to get overly worried. :flwr: I don't really think she would only suddenly start to have problems from SM right now, though it is possible. Her reaction could be to any type of pain or sensitivity. Your vet is right though, she really is in no condition to have an MRI. I think it would make more sense for you to bring her to the vet or to consider an appointment with a neurologist to get her some pain killing medication if they think it looks like she might have SM on a clinical exam. Even something as simple as one of the regular dog pain killers might help. You should have your vets read Clare Rusbridge's website where they -- or you -- can download a treatment guide.

I don't really know what you can do at the moment. It is good that she has made the recovery that she has with her heart, but I would really recommend getting her to a cardiologist for a proper assessment and treatment plan and to your vets to see if they can assess her for pain that might be associated with SM, or to a neurologist for the same.

I would just try to keep her comfortable and hopefully she can get some sleep. For what it is worth, my dogs will sometimes make little barky yelps in their sleep and little movements, and often sleep with their eyes open or half open, so you may not actually be seeing anything more than dreams. MY SM clear dogs do this. It is hard to know from just a description so the best thing is to talk to a vet tomorrow I think and bring her in.

Well she had only shown symptoms of SM in the past where she done a repetitive head movement.. but that was very very rare and she had a spot behind her ear that if u scratched it then it was make her scratch. When i spoke to the vet earlier they said they had thought she suffered from SM as she was always scratching. But cookie scratches when she's nervous. I have been looking at the posts on the board and it does sound familiar, she's been hiding recently, not wanting to lie with head down and will fall asleep like that etc.

I'm just looking at the Clare Rusbridge website now. Stone Lion vets is actually my local emergency out of hours vets.

I honestly thought it was nightmares until what I saw last night and an hour ago. I'm sure it's SM. She's settled now snoring on her other side, can one side be more painful than the other?

I'm going to take her to vets tomorrow morning. I can't stand to hear her yelp and cry...its so piercing!

for her heart, she's on 3 frusemide tablets a day (be reduced to 2 on fri as was just for few days), 1 fortekor tablet, and 3 prolactine tablets and 1 vetmedin tablet.

Scratching when nervous or excited is often connected to Sm so if she has always scratched a lot and your vets think she probably has SM, and you are near Stone Lion, I'd recommend taking her there an talking to them. They may well feel it would be best to get her on a course of painkillers to manage her discomfort.

I hope you both sleep well and let us know what you hear from the vet tomorrow.

Have you considered taking her to Clare Rusbridge, she is not very far from you?

Hi. I have sent you a pm with Stone Lions contact details.
kind regards

Thank you for your advice. I waited until my parents were back and discussed the SM with them. We had decided to go and see the vet the following week (as they didn't return from holiday until the friday) unfortunately it wasn't long before Cookie had another unsettled night with her breathing and we rushed her to the vets. The vets kept her in all day and were reluctant to let her come back home as her gums were a muddy pink and she was still panting. They had taken an xray and it showed that her heart was so enlarged that it was putting pressure on her windpipe. We had decided to take cookie home and that if she had unsettled night then it was not fair for her to be unhappy and struggling so would put her to sleep the next morning. ...cookie had a fantastic night, snoring throughout and it was fantastic taking her out of the vets the next day!! The next few days cookie spent sleeping and then after 4 days had got her spring back in her walk, she was pouncing around with her ball, gettin out her toys, wanting to go for a walk, and gettin her apetite back. The sunday it was so funny cos we were tryin to get her to slow down as she was barking at us to go get her ball off her. Oh i must mention since she returned from the vets she showed no signs at all of SM.
Anyway, the Sunday night she was really unsettled and we rushed her to vets again.
Cookie couldnt catch her breath and wouldn't lie down and looked really worried. We took her to vets where she said that we needed to make a decision as cookie looked like she was in pain and because of her heart pushing into windpipe that is why she would not lie down.

so we decided that it would be the best thing for cookie to put her to sleep. it was the most difficult decision i have ever had to make and i have lost my best friend. I held her until she slipped away whilst she looked at me.

the house feels so empty without her and as she followed me everywhere i feel i have lost a part of me.

but thank you for all the advise you have given me

Tanya

I am so very sorry this is happening to you.

Your post in the In Memoriam forum is lovely with the sweet photos of Cookie. :hug:

I'm so sorry to hear about Cookie Tanya. It sounds like you did what was best for her. Again, my condolences.

I am so, so sorry Tanya: what a difficult decision you had to make. I am glad you could be there with her -- she would have felt like she was just slipping into a deep sleep in your arms, which must have been comforting and comfortable for her. Thank you for letting us know. :hug: