Well, back from the vet and Casey was an angel as usual. They x-ray'd just about every inch of her body... back, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows all look perfect. CBC was clean. They sent the tick-borne disease blood sample off to the lab and we should have results by Wed.
I went in to pick her up armed with printed SM info for them to read and my vet was shocked to hear this is as big an issue as MVD in the breed. They had no idea and thought SM was such a long-shot when we first started talking about it. They promised to research it over the weekend, since they have over 30 CKCS at their practice (which is in a tiny town, so it's surprising there are that many).
They also looked deeply into both ears, and her ear drums are not bulging so no outward signs of PSOM (although I'm sure this would be rare to see anyway without an MRI).
She was prescribed 25mg of Rimadyl to try for 2 weeks to see if we see any improvement in her symptoms. If so, we will continue. I now have to research the side effects. At this point, I think I need to see a neuro and see if she could possibly diagnose and treat on symptoms alone.
BTW, for those who are just trying to learn about SM; her symptoms are general laziness, never standing up for long periods of time, scratching, reluctance to get up after laying down, crying in pain when being picked up (this has only happened a few times, but I always assumed I pulled her hair or something), not jumping on the sofa or bed (again, i always thought this was due to her being overweight, but she is not now after dieting for 6 months), trouble going up steps. Something I never thought twice about until recently, when she walks she kind-of drags her back feet on the ground, lick lipping when being groomed or rubbed in certain spots, rubbing her face on the side of the sofas.
All of these things (except for the crying) I always thought were "quirks", things that made her silly or special in my eyes but am now realizing...once you put them all together, could mean something very serious. When I first joined this site, I was one of those "oh, this is an exaggeration...this is not my dog". But after watching the videos, reading and more reading, listening to the pod casts, I am 95% convinced Casey has it.
I know I've caused some commotion in past posts and threads, and I am thankful every day that I have this site to come to....thanks for allowing me to stay onboard. For all of you who think your baby may have this too, I am there with you. It is heartbreaking to think Casey has been suffering this past year and I didn't know it and thought these were just cute personality quirks.