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French Bulldog w/ possible SM

moobywan

Active member
Hi all -

I'll be honest, I don't have a Cavalier. I'm actually owned by a French Bulldog named Mooby. Mooby is amazing and special in every way (yes, I am biased. yes, I am ok with that).

At 4.5 we have really been through the ringer with health related issues with her. In December of 2010, after 2 years and 8 rounds of pneumonia, we finally found out that Mooby had a rare congenital disease, Primary Ciliary Dyskensia. As soon as we felt like OK this is what it is and we will manage it Mooby started with something else neuro related. Possibly SM.

All the signs seem to be there -- we just never knew what they were. We always thought the scratching was allergies -- after all, most frenchies have allergies. Turns out Mooby does have allergies but it doesn't stop the air scratching. When she comes in from walks she digs her face into the carpet, itching it hard, and then runs for her bed.

To make a long, long story short Mooby is having an MRI tomorrow to check for SM. I am hoping, even though I don't have a Cav I can still be in your group.
 
Firstly I very sorry that your little dog has been so poorly. :hug: You'll find everyone on this site are all dog lovers and some have other breeds apart from cavaliers. You'll be very welcome. There are lots of owners on this site who have experience of looking after a dog with SM so you will find lots of support. Please lets us know how the MRI goes.
 
Firstly I very sorry that your little dog has been so poorly. :hug: You'll find everyone on this site are all dog lovers and some have other breeds apart from cavaliers. You'll be very welcome. There are lots of owners on this site who have experience of looking after a dog with SM so you will find lots of support. Please lets us know how the MRI goes.

Thank you! Hard to know where to turn with things like this... SM doesn't seem to be very common among frenchies either.

I will definitely keep you posted on the MRI. Thanks again, Team Bella.
 
icon_welcome

Im so sorry to read your post. Its tragic to hear about any dog being diagnosed with SM, doesnt have to be a cav.
Good luck with the MRI, Mooby is lucky to have you as her loving owner who is prepared to explore every avenue to find out what is causing her discomfort and not ignoring what is going on.

Please keep us up todate on how you get on.

Fingers crossed you'll get good news:xfngr:
 
Sorry about Mooby. I have no advise to offer. Just wanted you to know that this is a wonderful place for information and so many on this board have, unfortunately, gone through this with their dogs. They have a wealth of information and are always happy to share.
 
Firstly I very sorry that your little dog has been so poorly. :hug: You'll find everyone on this site are all dog lovers and some have other breeds apart from cavaliers. You'll be very welcome. There are lots of owners on this site who have experience of looking after a dog with SM so you will find lots of support. Please lets us know how the MRI goes.

I'm sure you will be very welcome here.

I have an SM cavalier but I also have five Japanese Chins and these nice people still let me stay on this forum.

Good luck tomorrow. Let us know what they find.
 
Hi and welcome, and sorry that it has taken something like the possibility of your dog having SM to find us here. I hope that whatever the MRI turns up there will be help available for Mooby. As has been written below, there is tons of experience here on the board about SM and CM. Best of luck with the results. :xfngr:
 
Welcome to the forum!
So sorry to hear of the circumstances which have led you here,but best of luck with the scan tomorrow. My 4 year old has SM and there's a wealth of warm and friendly support here.
Sins
 
I know I Have to wait for the results from the MRI, but the wait, and more so the not knowing, is so hard.

I did want to ask if any of you have seen a front leg twitch / spasm in an SM dog. Mooby has been doing this quite often, but almost always after a big stretch. The left front leg will spasm, almost like "hey, get off me" even though no one is touching her.

She also has some facial ticks on the left side of her face.

Oh, another thing .... her ear canals are almost completely closed at this point.

Does that seem consistent with SM?
 
Hi

And most welcome to you and your beloved Frenchie Mooby can we all see some pics when you can an best wishes for tomorrow .My Rosie had a full MRI last Nov ,no SM but CM I waited there while they took her away for around four hours I think but after her scan her neurologist gave me her results straight away together with all her scan on a CD some of them are posted on here somewhere.:):xfngr:
 
Hi

And most welcome to you and your beloved Frenchie Mooby can we all see some pics when you can an best wishes for tomorrow .My Rosie had a full MRI last Nov ,no SM but CM I waited there while they took her away for around four hours I think but after her scan her neurologist gave me her results straight away together with all her scan on a CD some of them are posted on here somewhere.:):xfngr:

Hi Brian,


What is the difference between CM & SM?

Here are some pics of Mooby.... as you can tell, she hates the camera ;)

199697_10100478037141553_2210363_62840312_3404029_n.jpg


198118_10100406606354423_2210363_62604512_1872969_n.jpg


69740_10100332495528113_2210363_61120127_2734930_n.jpg


40537_10100238749441023_2210363_58878362_6328001_n.jpg
 
Awwh I just love frenchies, they are adorable and hilarious! Sorry to hear about the SM suspicion :(

CM is a malformation of the brain, basically it is squished inside of the skull and causes pressure, and SM is when fluid builds up in the spine and causes outward pressure along the spine.

Fingers crossed for you guys.
 
Welcome. I am sorry to hear about Mooby, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for a good MRI. Let us know how it goes. Sometimes the waiting is the worst. We are all here to support you
 
FRENCH BULLDOG W/Possible SM

Hi

Mooby is absolutely gorgeous and brilliant photos. Have a look at

http://www.cavaliermatters.org/

There some super info and pics on there .


FRENCH BULLDOG W/POSSIBLE SM

MOOBYWAN.

I do hope that the News you get about MOOBY is better than you are thinking

CM , in a Recent Neurological Report by Dr C Rusbridge ,Neurologist ,mentions that CM is Chacterised with Brains Too Big and Skulls Too Small.

This is what I don't know ,and maybe some-body here can help, because of CM , could this Hinder the Flow of the Cerebro Spinal Fluid getting around the Brain and causing the Syrinxes to Form causing SM.

PS , Mooby 's Photos looked lovely.

Bet
 
Mooby's mum asked: What is the difference between CM & SM?

CM (Chiari Malformation) is a malformation of the bone of the skull (not the brain). It is very common in Cavaliers. Research also seems to be showing that there is a failure in communication between the skull and the brain at the growth phase: the skull stops growing, but the brain doesn't get the message to stop and continues to grow. So the skull gets overcrowded with brain, and this hinders the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) round the brain and skull. This is often due to herniation, when the lower part of the brain gets pushed down into the top of the spinal cord (rather like putting a stopper into a bottle).

CM alone can cause problems, because even without herniation, the slower flow of CBF can cause the brain ventricles (the spaces towards the front of the brain where the CSF passes through before starting its return journey to the spinal cord) to fill up and push the brain outwards to put pressure on the skull. So, like Brian's Rosie, it is possible to have CM without SM, and CM can cause problems of its own.

Syringomyelia (SM) normally occurs as a result of CM (you can have CM without SM, but not normally SM without pre-existing CM). The slowing down of the CSF and the resulting herniation also affects the flow in the spinal cord and this creates pockets or abcesses (called syrinxes) of CSF in the spinal cord. If the syrinxes remain narrow, the damage can be quite small. If the syrinxes widen out so that they interfere with the nerves in the spinal cord, the results can be very serious and extremely painful.

There is a lot of basic (as well as technical) information on CM and SM on Claire Rusbridge's website (she's the leading researcher in the UK) - you can access this via a sticky on this forum, look at the top of the SM and MVD section.

Hope this makes a complicated subject a bit clearer!

Kate, Oliver (who has SM) and Aled
 
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Welcome. I'm another one on the forum that doesn't have a Cavalier. I have a Pug named Winston with both CM and SM. Lots of info here. I don't post much, but have learned so much about Winston's diseases. BTW: Mooby is really, really cute.
 
Thanks everyone. We're still waiting. Mooby's at the vet's now. They said the MRI will be in the afternoon, so I guess it could be any minute. Boy is my stomach in knots.
 
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