New to this Forum

Hi, My name is Karen and my Cavie is named Churchill. He is 3 1/2 years old and has just been diagnosed with what the vet thinks is Syngromalia. He is on prednisone every other day and it was helping for a while. Now not so much. Vet is going to wean him off starting next week. I would appreciate any advice on what to do. He had three accidents yesterday because he couldn't even get to the door. I don't know if this is the prednisone or something else. Vet doesn't know. HELP.

Hi Karen. First of all welcome to CavalierTalk. Second, I'm sorry you are going through this with Churchill. My 8 year old Riley has SM and is on 5 mg prednisone daily. What are Churchill's symptoms? Take a look at this site http://sm.cavaliertalk.com/ and print it off for your vet. Then I would suggest that if the symptoms are suggestive of SM that you get a referral to a neurologist for an examination and an MRI. The only way to accurately diagnose SM is with an MRI, although a neurologist can tell a lot with a physical exam. Since he seems to be so symptomatic right now, I would do this sooner rather than later.

How long has Churchill been on prednisone? Do you think this is the reason he has been having accidents or does he have weakness in his legs? I know some dogs just can't tolerate steroids. My german shepherd couldn't. She would just pee all over the house because she couldn't hold it. Riley on the other hand is a dream. She has been on daily prednisone for almost 2 years and has had no accidents.

There are many other people on this forum with SM dogs. I would also suggest that you re-introduce yourself on the SM/MVD forum. You'll get lots of support. Good luck. Keep us informed about how Churchill is doing.

Thanks for the support

Thanks for responding. Churchill has been showing symptoms for about 5 months. I just didn't know what was going on. Scratching at the ears, pain in his back legs, yelping etc. The diarrirea comes and goes and he has been on clavamox for what the vet says is a bacterial infection of his intestines. He has had this all of his life. Don't know. It is heartbreaking to see your beloved pet become ill. I love him so much. I will post his pic asap. Thanks again. Also we don't have a pet neurologist in our area. I would have to find one in Salt Lake City. So I will probably do that.

Karen - check out this link to neurologists http://www.cavalierhealth.org/neurologists.htm
There is one listed in Murray, Utah - don't know how close that is to you. You could also check veterinary schools.