Specialists in Tokyo

Hi Everyone,

We live in Tokyo, Japan and I have never heard of SM and MVD until my friend told me about it. She suggested that my husband and I should immediately check the site and learn about it. We are actually very surprised and worried about our 2 year old Cavalier dog. Then I went on checking Japanese Cavalier sites, but none of them mention about SM and MVD and I am pretty sure that they are not recognized here. I would like to go to a specialist or a vet who is famillar with the symptoms and take an MRI. Do anyone know a vet/ a specialist in Tokyo, or in Japan? I appreciate if you could help us.

Thanks

If you pm Karlin and put this on the Health and Diet section ,it might not get noticed here.

Hi and welcome to the board.

Do you have a reason to suspect SM and therefore want an MRI? Usually a vet will want to eliminate other options for the symptoms first as other things would be more common. MRIs are very expensive -- usually at least around $1000-1500 -- and require a general anaesthetic. They are done by neurologists. There is information on suggested things to check for in the section 'Is This SM?' on my www.smcavalier.com website.

Your best bet would be to ask at a vet school associated with a university in Japan. I also can give you the contact details for a neurologist familiar with SM in Australia who might be more familiar with specialists in Japan.

For MVD, which is very common in the breed, a veterinary cardialogist is the correct specialist. Again, a vet school will generally have someone.

I do know that a couple of research and treatment papers have been written by Japanese authors. Here are the citations -- you might be able to track down by Googling the authors, or tracking down the papers, what institutions or vet hospitals they are with. As all the authors are Japanese I would guess these people are in Japan.

Hindbrain decompression in a dog with scoliosis associated with syringomyelia. Takagi S, Kadosawa T, Ohsaki T, Hoshino Y, Okumura M, Fujinaga T. JAVMA, 2005 Apr.; 226 [8].

Surgical Management of Combined Hydrocephalus, Syringohydromyelia, and Ventricular Cyst in a Dog. Hasegawa T., Taura Y., Kido H., Shibazaki, and Katamoto H. J. Am. Anim. Hosp. Assoc., July/August 2005; 41: 267 - 272.

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Karlin and Justine,

Thank you very much for the responces.

Karlin, the information you gave me is very helpful. Actually you made me less worried. I saw in a site that the chance of improving SM is 70-90% of Cavalier. That concerned me a lot.

I went on googling the names of Japanese doctors and found them! Although they are in Hokkaido and it is far from where I live, but now I know that I can contact them and ask if they can recommend any vets in my area.

I have no solid evidence if my cav has SM or not, she often does scratching but not excessively or intensely. This week I have timed her scratching and she stops within 20 seconds or so. She scratches her shoulders and the neck aread but not with a yelp or a sound, certainly she does not air scratch. So I am optimistic about her, but I thought it would be good to have MRI taken anyways, just in case she may be in pain.

Your site is very informative and detailed and I am sure it saved many people and Cavaliers lives in the world! Thank you very much.

Again I appreciate the information.
I will keep you posted.

rain

Hi Rain --

While the percentage of dogs that have SM *could* be as high as 50-70%, only a small number of these ever show symptoms and it is likely they either feel no, or only very little, discomfort. Many dogs will only have very mild scratching all their lives.

In Japan, can you buy cimetidine without a prescription? (it is sold as an antacid). Some of us take a 200mg tablet, dissolve it in 3 tablespoons water, then give our dog about 1/8 to 1/4th teaspoon of this solution in the dog's food each day. It is very mild, has few if any side effects but helps some dogs with their scratching.

There are so many things that cause scratching that if you are concerned, a vet should eliminate all the other options first. Many cavaliers scratch due to having a mucous plug in their ear as well -- PSOM -- I have some information on this as well on my website.

Domo arigato for your kind words.

cimetime/Dr.Takahashi

Dear Karlin,

Thank you again for the help. "cimetine"- I think so but I don't know if you can obtain it without a prescription. But fortunately we have a student who is a pharmacist so I will ask her.

I talked to Dr. S.Takahashi, who was in the list of Japanese vets in the quotiation. He was very nice. He basically gave me a phone counseling. I explained my cavalier, Candy's situation and he said that I should not worried about her yet, although many CKCS are said to be potintiel to develop SM and I should keep this always in mind. If scratching got more frequent, long and intense, he suggested MRI. Again he also said that MRI is expensive and assured that a small dog like CKCS will have certain amount of stress from being taking MRI. He also told me some good hospitals in Tokyo.

I will keep my eye on to Candy's behaviors and if I found any definate signs of SM, I will take her to the vet that Dr.Takahashi suggested.

Wow, I didn't imagine that I could find Dr.Takahashi and talked with him finally. Cavalier Talk is very good!! Thank you for the great site.:rah:

Kochirakoso, Arigato Gozaimasu.
Maho

I think that sounds like very good advice from Dr Takahashi. I'm glad you were able to find him and get some direct information. I would try not to worry. Enjoy your cavalier and just keep an eye out for any further developments. :flwr:

'Cimetidine' is the generic name for the drug. It is sold under the brand name Tagamet as well. In Ireland and the UK it is still a prescription drug but in the US it can be bought over the counter. I buy it when I am travelling in the US.

Cimetidine

Dear Karlin,

I got information about 'Cimetidine' from our student and she said she could get it for us. In Japan alike in the U.K., you will need a prescription to get Cimetidine. So we are lucky to have the student.

I will try the method you introduced me and see if the scratching is reduced.

One more question, if it is okay... we were thinking about having a microchip installed onto my cavalier. Would this cause any problems to her, if she had very minor case SM (hypothetically..)? It just feel strange since microchip will be installed around her neck area, so I wondered about it. After the earthquake, we thought it is really a good idea to have a microchip so.

Thank you very much!
rain

Many people microchip when their dog is spayed or neutered so they don't feel anything, but that isn't always possible and the microchip injection is very fast. Even for a dog with mild SM I would feel the benefits of having the dog microchipped would outweigh anything else. Ask if they can put some local anaesthetic at the place where they are going to place the chip.

I was told today that the maximum dose of cimetidine for a cavalier is 100mg per 10kg of dog. Most cavaliers will be smaller than this. Some dogs with severe symptoms might get that amount three times a day. But many find that solution I mentioned earlier is enough. For an undiagnosed dog where you suspect symptoms I'd just use the small amount of the solution.

Be sure you talk to your vet about giving this or any other drug to your cavalier.

Thank you Karlin

Karlin,

Thank you for the information!
I am relieved to hear about microchip. I am going to ask my vet.

These past week, Candy started scrutching a lot. But mainly around her body and legs! So I will take her to the vet anyways and ask him about the scrutching, SM and microchip.

Thank you:winkct:
rain