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I've seen those photo's before when we suspected Misty had SM, Murphy's face looks more scared when he's having these episodes though.
He slept most of the day yesterday, but seemed a lot more relaxed than the two previous days. It's just a waiting game now I guess, as it was two weeks since his last episode, so it could be a while before we know for definite if the Gabapentin is working or not.
Paula wrote: I can't remember for the life of me if they mentioned dilated ventricles, I don't think so.
When you next go to Glasgow, I would ask. Dilated ventricles are a common symptom of CM, because when the passage of the cerebro-spinal fluid round the brain is slowed down, it tends to accumulate in the ventricles, the 'open space' at the front of the brain where the fluid normally just turns around to start back to the spinal cord. Because of the constriction caused by CM it can back up in the ventricles and force the space to expand to hold it. This in turn compresses the brain around the ventricles. This is what causes the headaches, and is - I think - one of the reasons why external air pressure can make the situation worse - think what would happen to our brains if we went up high in an unpressurised plane, though of course the air pressure experienced on the ground is very much less than that.
I wonder if Murphy's rapid heart rate was caused by not knowing what was happening to him with pain apparently coming from nowhere. Dogs may react instinctively to pain (hiding away and so on), but I don't see why they shouldn't also be puzzled when they don't understand what is happening to them. My Aled, who has mildly dilated ventricles (x 2, compared to Oliver's x 3) occasionally scratches his head in a slow almost reflective way and looks a bit puzzled/worried, as if to say 'Something odd's happening in my head but I'm not sure what!' Oliver, who gets quite bad headaches from his dilated ventricles, used to have moments when he would jump up from sitting quietly beside me and rub his head violently against something hard like the edge of a table, as if he had a sudden jag of pain. This seems to have stopped since he changed to his new medication - gabapentin was not completely effective at controlling his headaches, so the RVC clinical trial that put him onto his new drug was a godsend.
Kate, Oliver and Aled
Just reading this. My Ebony has CM no SM but like Kate says when the weather/air pressure changes she gets very very clingy (she is normally nothing like it) she wants to sit on my lap and she is forever pawing me for attention. Ebony is on 100mg gabapentin x 3 a day and Zitac. Sometimes when the weather is really bad I have to give her a fourth Gabapentin as it only lasts 5 hours and on top of that a Previcox.
Its funny I can sorta understand why cavaliers get clingy when then are not feeling well. Last week I had a super bad headache, I had not had one that bad in years. It lasted hours and hours with pain meds light, sound was adding to the pain. So I crawled into bed as soon as my husband got home from work. He got the children in order and came to sit with me. My head still hurt but just having him there made me feel better. He stayed with me until I fell asleep then managed to get the kids off to bed without waking me up :) Then he slept on the sofa with Fletcher so not to bother me. I have a good one but its amazing how comforting it is. So the next time your dog is clingy because of pain just remember you are being a big help by giving them the attention they ask for at least until the extra meds kick in.
He's back to normal at the moment. He's either sleeping quietly and relaxed, or bounding about on our walks. He's happier to snooze on his own bed or my lap. Here's hoping the Gabapentin has done the trick and he doesn't suffer anymore episodes.
A snap shot from my phone, with his rattie
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/29/duju7ada.jpg
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So glad he's better
Ahh bless what a sweet photo.
Glad he seems better.
Thanks :) He's been doing great, he's playing loads again which is great to see :D