Hello from Ohio!!

[Cathy Moon]

Wow, Geordie's appointment at OSU was moved to TODAY due to a cancellation! I can't believe how fast this is happening!!

[Cathy Moon]

Now...if I could get Jake to control his attitude!! .

By attitude do you mean he is a little fiesty?

Geordie is one to bark while looking out the window, do perimeter checks of the yard, etc. and is more active than the girls. I'm wondering if that is a male dog thing, or if he's just a bit high strung. I've never had a male dog before him, and I really notice a difference!

[Mary]

How did the appt go Cathy??

[Cathy Moon]

How did the appt go Cathy??

The appointment went well. Dr. H. did an otoscopic exam and found that Geordie's eardrums are bulging, which is abnormal. This is probably PSOM.

Geordie needs to get a BAER hearing test, a CT scan, the surgery to open both of his eardrums and flush out the mucus, cultures, another hearing test, then follow ups that include all of the above items for as many times as necessary until there is no more fluid/mucus in his middle ear. Each round of this could cost approximately $700.

We were given a choice of having everything (the first round) done tomorrow (we would pay full price for everything plus all follow ups), or taking part in the PSOM study which would delay the diagnostics and treatment by 1-3 weeks. If we take part in the study, the university will offset part of our expense - and the university could possibly learn more about the prevalence, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment and causes, including mode of inheritance of the disease.

At first I just wanted to get Geordie taken care of right away, but Dr. H. assured us that if Geordie is in the study he will get everything he needs, plus there will be nothing experimental done to him. So my husband and I decided to take part in the study. They also want to have a look at our girl cavs' ears.

One more thing, they found a grade 1 murmur and said they consider him to be "early onset". They gave us a cardio consult to make sure Geordie can go forward in the study, which he can.

Now I just want to enjoy every moment that I can with my pups!

I forgot to ask if Geordie can still do agility. I was just getting ready to register him for 2 novice events in July. Does anyone know if it is wrong to play agility with a grade 1 murmur? I do not pressure him to do more than he wants, and he really loves agility.

While in the waiting room all day, we met several Cavalier folks. Two of the Cavs were in the ongoing SM study; they came for MRIs. Another one had diabetes and an eye problem that will become blindness and his 'sister' who has MVD grade 4 coming for a cardio check up. In a way it breaks your heart, but really everyone seems to take it in stride and the little sweeties don't seem to know they are sick! Everyone was truly supportive of each other.

My apologies if this post is way too long! Thanks for asking about it.

[Claire]

Oh Cathy, I am sorry to hear that - I hope the study looks after him and he improves, and I hope the heart murmur can be controlled.... kisses to all your furbabies...

[Cathy T]

Please keep us posted on how things go with the study. It sounds like a good deal. The heart murmur at grade I is not a huge thing (in my opinion). There are so many stories on the board of dogs with murmurs that never develop or are well managed with medication.

[Cathy Moon]

This afternoon our vet from OSU called to tell me the study will begin in two months time rather than the 1-3 weeks he had originally told us. I thought that was too long to wait in case Geordie loses more hearing ability and he may be in pain. It's so difficult to tell, and we really have no idea how long the PSOM has been going on. Anyways, we've decided to go ahead and schedule his surgery for the soonest possible time, which is July 12. So now we are not taking part in the study after all. We're allowed to change our minds (about the study) anytime up to 1 week before surgery.

I was a little worried about this decision, then I spoke to our regular, local vet. She thinks if his ear drums are bulging he would be in pain. Tomorrow I'm going to ask her if she will prescribe something for him. It's so difficult to tell how he's feeling, but he is definitely different in temperament than most Cavs I know - more serious, less relaxed, not laid back when away from home. (At home he's a sweetie, though.) The vet at OSU said after surgery he may become more playful and easy-going.

The reason I called our local vet today was to ask if it's ok for Geordie to do agility with a grade 1 heart murmur. She said it's ok as long as it's not stressful for him, so I've decided to only take him to our Monday classes (which we've been attending for at least 1 1/2 years) and only compete in Teacup Agility for now, which is very easy and only small dogs attend.