advise for things that help living with SM

[GuinnessGBoy]

hi everyone -

My sweet boy, Guinness, is 11 months old cavalier and hasn't officially been diagnosed with SM. He is getting the MRI this week, though he's been showing CM/SM symptoms for the past few months, I am trying to be hopeful.

I plan to share our story with you all as soon as I know for sure what's going on with my sweet little guy.

I am devoting all my love, time and effort into Guinness. The most important thing to me right now is for him to have the best of life, even when he is suffering from this horrendous disease.

So what I need now is ADVICE on food, items / products, holistic / prescription medicines, home remedies, tips & tricks when in pain, guidance on petting (I know it's sad, but I just worry I hurt him when it looks like he is enjoying it), grooming and all sorts of things

I've looked online for most of those things, but I want real feedback from others whose cavalier suffers from SM.

A few things that I need to get as soon as possible:

- PAIN! any home remedies out there??

- dog shoes / boots (Guinness' drags both his front and back feet at times, his nails are brittled and cracked). His front paws are extremely sensitive, so any bootie recommendations that are easy-to- put-on would be much appreciated!

- harness (I've seen a few recommended links on cavalierhealth but the links appear to be broken). Any kind that is far away from his neck area.

- elevated / raised food & bowl (Guinness has currently been eating from my hand for the past week, but in the past an elevated bowl has helped).

- crate padding for his crate (he needs his head to be elevated most times, I've always kind of noticed this about him, which makes me even sadder)

- food (we've fed him taste of the wild and poached chicken every day and night for the past 4 months. G has always been a very picky eater. Two days ago, he refused the chicken and kibble. I was thinking of trying out Nature's Variety Instinct food).

- sleeping at night (Guinness currently sleeps with my boyfriend and I and always has his head elevated on my leg (this is a newer thing). Since I'm so worried to move at night in order to keep his comfortable news. Are there any tips on what is the best way for your cav to sleep

Those are my main things I need to get asap'

Any comments and advice is greatly appreciated!!!!!

Thank you
Whitney

 

[Kate H]

I'm so sorry that you and Guinness are going through this, especially as he is so young. Is he on any medication at the moment? If not, I would be inclined to wait before getting bootees and other things, because you may find that being put on gabapentin or pregabalin will help his leg movement - one of my Oliver's earliest symptoms was stumbling on his front leg, but this disappeared when he started on gabapentin.

Your MRI will presumably also include a consultation with a neurologist - you may be working with one already, but if not it is important to do so, and make sure he or she is experienced with CM/SM as not all neurologists are if their specialism is some other disease.

A small cushion will help with sleeping - Oliver was always a restless sleeper, trying to get comfortable; he slept in the living room and had the choice of dog bed (where he had his head raised on the edge of the bed), settee with cushion, or flat on the floor. Padding for his crate was an old nylon sleeping bag that he could kick around to make a comfortable mound for his head!

If you are just about to start Guinness on medication, be prepared for it to take a few weeks to get the medication (both drug and dosage) right; and as CM/SM is a progressive disease, medication will need tweaking from time to time. As far as pain is concerned, most people get a pain-killer such as Metacam or Loxicam from their vet to use on top of the gabapentin/Lyrica on bad days. Large changes in air pressure can affect CM/SM dogs, so it's worth getting a pressure app so that you can look ahead and give a dose of metacam or similar first thing in the morning or the evening before when you know a bad day is coming.

I used a nylon webbing harness with a front ring for the lead, rather than on the back. Other people prefer a Puppia harness. I think if you put 'harnesses' in the advanced search space at the top of this page you will find plenty of ideas!

I'm sure other people will have other practical suggestions. I was lucky that both my CM/SM Cavaliers were relatively mild - though they had their moments! Oliver was put to sleep last February at the age of 13, because of a non-SM illness, though the fact that his CM/SM had begun to get worse was a factor in the decision. Aled also died last February of heart disease, aged 7. I now have 6-year-old rescue, so am back keeping an eye out for possible symptoms - but nothing obvious so far!

Let us know the result of Guinness's MRI, and you will find plenty of support and help from people on this forum.

:hug:

Kate and Ruby