Hello...new and not sure this is the corrct place to post this....

[skylarkuk]

My name is Gail and I have a reason for joining this forum. In 2009 a programme called pedigree Dogs Exposed was aired on the BBC. I only found out about this tonight after doing some searching on google. My dog Harry was sired by the dog Beauella Radzinski owned by Beverly Costello. I have spent a few hours reading about everything that went on and am horrified.

My dog was born in May 2005, I believe after the first MRI had been done. He seemed OK initially but there was a bit of a delay in getting his kennel club membership.

Harry suffers from very bad itching and yelping pain. I remember seeing a bit of the uproar on the news about this last year but never got round to watching the programme and I just found it on youtube, I remember seeing on the news a dog displaying the same behaviours as harry.

Well harry acts exactly like those dogs on the programme, whimpering, scratching, walking Harry is an absolute nightmare, we have to stop every few hundred yards while he yelps and scratches. Our vet told us it was hayfever or skin allergies and prescribed steroids which did not help one bit.

Something was nagging at the back of my head, probably about beverly being difficult at the time, so tonight just on intuition I decided to google harry's sire as well as the itching symptoms, didn't take long to come up with pages of stuff but most of it was from just after the programme was broadcast.

I am just wondering if anyone else has dogs from this lineif they have SM, whether beverly ever published the results of the scan to prove herself (a long shot maybe?), and well I dont know really know what I want to know, I guess maybe I am just after a sympathetic ear.

I am not a breeder or a knowledgeable dog person, I did not choose harry for his looks, I bought harry for the family, we were adopting a young child and I read all about different breeds before deciding on ckcs for their lovely temperament. Harry is my rock, when we are having difficult days harry is there for me and I am devastated that he may have this condition passed on to him.

[ByFloSin]

Regardless of who may be involved here I really think the important thing is to get some treatment for your dog as quickly as you can please regardless of which dogs are involved and who is to blame. Blame will not ease your dog's pain and discomfort, but expert treatment may.

It does sound as though he may have SM, but only a MRI scan can verify this for you and your vet. It is a very sad facts that many Cavaliers have been diagnosed with SM, some having symptoms and others not. Your dog may be one of the former, but it is important to realise too that most vets have never seen a case of SM and therefore know very little about it.

I think you should see your vet again and ask for a referral to a neurologist for a MRI scan. This will show whether the skull is malformed in any way and/or any spinal lesions that may be present, causing the scratching and pain. There are treatments available if it is indeed SM causing the symptoms, but a neurologist will be able to tell you after making an examination and reading the scan whether it is something else wrong in the spinal area that is the problem.

If your dog is insured then the insurers are likely to pay for the scan, otherwise I'm afraid it will be costly.

I am sure that there will be others here to support and advise you here.

I do hope you will be able to have the scan done and get the appropriate treatment. Please let us know how you get on.

[Nicki]

Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry to hear about your problems with Harry. Sadly these symptoms do sound like Syringomyelia.

It is in all Cavalier lines these days, Beverly was made an example of on the program for knowingly using an affected dog which goes against guidelines set by the neurologists and researchers. However many breeders at the time were not even scanning - since the program many more are now scanning fortunately, sadly some still refuse to do so...

The important thing now though is to get Harry the treatment he needs. First stop is your vet - print off the information from http://sm.cavaliertalk.com/ and take that with you, another useful site is http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/. A site which will make things easier to understand [and is wonderful to read] is www.cavaliermatters.org


Your vet will be able to refer you to your nearest neurologist for a clinical examination and hopefully an MRI, which is really the ONLY way to accurately diagnose the condition. This is quite an expensive procedure - is Harry insured? If not, it would be helpful to at least have the clinical examination done.


http://sm.cavaliertalk.com/diagnosin...rologists.html these neurologists are all very experienced with the condition.

Once Harry is diagnosed, send a letter by recorded delivery to his breeder, so that they know what has happened.


Please keep us posted, we are all here to help and support - sadly many of us have dealt with or are still dealing with these problems ourselves - it is a VERY wide spread problem in the breed.

[sins]

Hello Gail and welcome to the board.
Very many of us have cavaliers who have SM.It's unfortunately a common problem in the breed, and dogs from all lines,from various kennels have been affected.
My three year old bitch is moderately to severely affected and comes from very old Irish and UK lines with no modern popular UK sires in her pedigree.Her breeder simply didn't know about the risks of SM and at the time I as a buyer did know...but underestimated the risks.
First priority is to have your cavalier seen by a neurologist. If he's insured it'll make life a lot easier.
You'll find all the support and advice you need here as so many people are dealing with affected cavaliers,some are doing very well on medication .
Once again welcome and sorry for the circumstances which brought you here.
Sins

[skylarkuk]

I was in a bad place with it all last night, now that I have an idea what is troubling my pooch I will be making appt asap and printing off all the relevant information to give to the vet. Thanks for all the really useful links

[Margaret C]

My name is Gail and I have a reason for joining this forum. In 2009 a programme called pedigree Dogs Exposed was aired on the BBC. I only found out about this tonight after doing some searching on google. My dog Harry was sired by the dog Beauella Radzinski owned by Beverly Costello. I have spent a few hours reading about everything that went on and am horrified.

My dog was born in May 2005, I believe after the first MRI had been done. He seemed OK initially but there was a bit of a delay in getting his kennel club membership.

Harry suffers from very bad itching and yelping pain. I remember seeing a bit of the uproar on the news about this last year but never got round to watching the programme and I just found it on youtube, I remember seeing on the news a dog displaying the same behaviours as harry.

Well harry acts exactly like those dogs on the programme, whimpering, scratching, walking Harry is an absolute nightmare, we have to stop every few hundred yards while he yelps and scratches. Our vet told us it was hayfever or skin allergies and prescribed steroids which did not help one bit.

Something was nagging at the back of my head, probably about beverly being difficult at the time, so tonight just on intuition I decided to google harry's sire as well as the itching symptoms, didn't take long to come up with pages of stuff but most of it was from just after the programme was broadcast.

I am just wondering if anyone else has dogs from this lineif they have SM, whether beverly ever published the results of the scan to prove herself (a long shot maybe?), and well I dont know really know what I want to know, I guess maybe I am just after a sympathetic ear.

I am not a breeder or a knowledgeable dog person, I did not choose harry for his looks, I bought harry for the family, we were adopting a young child and I read all about different breeds before deciding on ckcs for their lovely temperament. Harry is my rock, when we are having difficult days harry is there for me and I am devastated that he may have this condition passed on to him.

Hello Gail,

Welcome to this very supportive forum. This is the right place for a sympathetic ear. There are a lot of us here with SM dogs.

I should probably introduce myself. I am the person who can best answer some of your queries as I was the health representative who appeared on 'Pedigree Dogs Exposed' and confirmed that Radzinski's owner had shown me the scan that proved he had SM.

I see you left a kind comment about me on the Dogs Today blog, so thank you for that.

No, although Beverley Costello said a lot of contradictory things she never produced the scan.
At various times she denied Radzinski had SM, she denied there had been any scan or certificate issued when he was MRI'd, and on occasions she denied that the scan had ever left her house.

The truth is there are witnesses to her handing round the certificate and scan at dog shows and she talked openly about the result until warned to be quiet by others closely associated with Radzinski's breeding.

Beverley would have become the Kennel Club and the Cavalier Club's star witness if she could have produced evidence to show the film had made allegations that were not true, but she was not able to do so. In fact she failed to answer any of the KC & Cavalier Club letters and eventually she was refused registration rights by the KC & was encouraged to resign from the Cavalier Club.

I am so sorry that Harry is showing SM symptoms. There are other conditions that cause scratching and yelping, but as SM is showing up in so many cavaliers of all lines and all colours, it would be wise to ask for a referral to a neurologist experienced in SM.

SM can often be well controlled by drugs, so please don't despair too much. The important thing is to find the right combination of drugs to keep him more comfortable, and to give you back the dog you should own.

If Harry is insured he could have a diagnostic MRI scan. If not you could still get a diagnosis and advice on medication from someone experienced in treating this painful condition.
You are very welcome to PM me for my phone number if you want to have more information.

If Harry was born in March 2005, then Radzinski was mated to Harry's mother after the MRI scan in February 2005, when an eye witness heard his owner being told that he should never be used for breeding.
Of course Harry's breeder may not have known about his MRI results or that advice but whatever the circumstances, it would help raise awareness of SM if you would write to Harry's breeder ( registered letter is best ) and ask her if she is now scanning her cavaliers & breeding according to the guidelines shown on the Cavalier Club website.

Please stay in touch and let us know how Harry is doing

[rubles]

My name is Gail and I have a reason for joining this forum. In 2009 a programme called pedigree Dogs Exposed was aired on the BBC. I only found out about this tonight after doing some searching on google. My dog Harry was sired by the dog Beauella Radzinski owned by Beverly Costello. I have spent a few hours reading about everything that went on and am horrified.

My dog was born in May 2005, I believe after the first MRI had been done. He seemed OK initially but there was a bit of a delay in getting his kennel club membership, the owner of the sire, beverly was being difficult apparently.

Harry suffers from very bad itching and yelping pain. I remember seeing a bit of the uproar on the news about this last year but never got round to watching the programme and I just found it on youtube, I remember seeing on the news a dog displaying the same behaviours as harry.

Well harry acts exactly like those dogs on the programme, whimpering, scratching, walking Harry is an absolute nightmare, we have to stop every few hundred yards while he yelps and scratches. Our vet told us it was hayfever or skin allergies and prescribed steroids which did not help one bit.

Something was nagging at the back of my head, probably about beverly being difficult at the time, so tonight just on intuition I decided to google harry's sire as well as the itching symptoms, didn't take long to come up with pages of stuff but most of it was from just after the programme was broadcast.

I am just wondering if anyone else has dogs from this lineif they have SM, whether beverly ever published the results of the scan to prove herself (a long shot maybe?), and well I dont know really know what I want to know, I guess maybe I am just after a sympathetic ear.

I am not a breeder or a knowledgeable dog person, I did not choose harry for his looks, I bought harry for the family, we were adopting a young child and I read all about different breeds before deciding on ckcs for their lovely temperament. Harry is my rock, when we are having difficult days harry is there for me and I am devastated that he may have this condition passed on to him.

Skylark
The BBC programme was aired the same week my Cav was diagnosed with SM. He is a grandson of Enchanted according to his registration certificate. He was born in 2006. So sm gets around.
I hope Harry is doing as well as possible and responding to his meds.

[Margaret C]

Skylark
The BBC programme was aired the same week my Cav was diagnosed with SM and is a half brother to your dog's sire so is a grandson of Enchanted according to his registration certificate. He was born in 2006. So sm gets around.
I hope Harry is
doing as well as possible and responding to his meds.

Hello Rubles.

Welcome to the Forum. There is a lot of us with SM dogs on here.

How is your boy now?

I have often wondered whether Gail managed to get Harry's symptoms under control. There is a lot more knowledge and better pain relief drugs around now, so I do hope so.

[honeybun]

I thought naming names or kennels was not acceptable


4) No critical discussions of individual breeders please. It is also not acceptable to name individuals or kennels that you believe may be operating puppy mills/puppy farms or backyard breeders, as loathsome as such people may be. This is not because I believe such topics should be censored, but because the legal climate in which boards operate remains murky, and libel and defamation law varies hugely between jurisdictions (meaning between nations and even US states). I am not giving such bottom feeders the chance to close down a board or go after the board community. You are welcome to take such discussions off the board. General discussions about what makes breeders good and bad, puppy mills/farms, and regulation or the lack of it is fine.

[Karlin]

These are known facts about individual dogs and have been previously broadcast to millions. The fact of a dog's pedigree origin and the fact that it has a disease is just fact, and sadly SM is so widespread in the breed that just about any line is likely to be connected to the disease, as researchers have stated for years, and seen from pedigree research. Imputing that a kennel is a puppy farm is hearsay and a different matter. There have been discussions by many of their dogs' background in all sorts of contexts. In the case of this breeder -- there were known problems that have been widely discussed in many places since the broadcast of Pedigree Dogs Exposed, including here. I will not allow defamatory comments but likewise I will not back down from having people's actions and their consequences discussed when they have been publicly exposed.

And incidentally, despite claims that the dog never had SM, the breeder refused to ever show the certificate. The dog has since also been rehomed and neutered, after being used to sire dozens of litters AFTER the scan was done.