Charlie's MRI booked

[Karen and Ruby]

Hi All

My little man is off to see Clare again on the 6th October for a repeat MRI so we can see whether his CM has progressed any further.

As you all probably know by now Charlie is one of the unfortunate ones that suffer with CM. He was orginally scanned at 14 months and he is nearly 3 now and I would like to know what is happening and whether it has got any worse.

Of course I will be devastated if it has developed in to SM but it won't make any difference to him as he is already being treated for symptomatic CM.

Just got to wait and see

[mommytoClaire]

I'll be saying a little prayer for him, that things havent progressed. You take such wonderful care of them Karen!

[BrooklynMom]

Prayers here too. I hope everything goes okay...you are one good mama to keep everything in check and on top of what might be going on.

Can you tell me what "symptomatic CM" is? I am just learning the difference between asymptomatic and symptomatic SM, but I just don't know when it comes to CM what classifies symptomatic.
Sorry, so much to pack into my brain about this as my little Brooklyn travels down this road. There is endless stuff to learn!

Will be thinking of you on your appointment day!

[Karen and Ruby]

Hi there, his symptoms are no different to that of my older SM dog. He scratches and claws at his face alot. He gets headaches and occasionally cries and groans. His ventricles were also very dialated on his first scan which to look at seems as though there are 2 giant black holes with in his head but the pressure from this must cause pain and he is quite light sensitive also and his eyes go bloodshot when he has a particularly bad day. At the time of his first scan there was no SM present and it is the syrinx that causes the damage with in the spine so he doesn't have the limping and other symptoms that attribute to nerve damage.

[Nicki]

Karen, wishing you the very best for Charlie's appt - so hope it hasn't progressed to a syrinx.

Can you tell me what "symptomatic CM" is? I am just learning the difference between asymptomatic and symptomatic SM, but I just don't know when it comes to CM what classifies symptomatic!

Sorry I'm hijacking Karen's thread here but thought this might help


Kayleigh was MRI scanned last month and we were very surprised that it showed "ONLY" CM. as she has at least as many symptoms and obviously pain as some of mine who did have syrinxes. I think it is so important to get this message across, that, like humans, they can suffer from "JUST" the malformation.

Symptoms:

History of turning around to look at her back end and sometimes chewing her thigh, or paws. Really unhappy at being groomed or having her nails cut [really distressed and crying when her nails were cut]. She didn't want to play nor chew her chewies.

On occasions she was obviously really uncomfortable, she was trying to get as nuzzled in to me as possible [her way of showing distress], couldn't settle, her tail was right down - she started vocalising a bit. She was started on Gabapentin [100mg] every 12 hours and once that kicked in she was much happier

On a walk, Kayleigh has always been the most active of the 3 littermates, she loves to run. She has always played really rough with her brother Tommy. She is now slower than the other two, not running very much, reluctant to get involved in play. She is very restless from the early hours of the morning until mid morning, I am aware of quite a few affected dogs who are restless overnight or in the early hours of the morning.

During the day she is sleeping or resting a lot, takes herself off into her bed or crate and lies quietly – change in behaviour for her.


Anne [Anniemac] very kindly shared this blog http://embeecav.blogspot.com/2011/01...nd-chiari.html

Mylee is a very loving little dog to those she knows, and is completely devoted to me.

She does not have the typical outgoing, friendly to all Cavalier personality. In fact she is incredibly reserved to those she doesn't know. She often shies away from a strangers touch, giving the impression she is not friendly or that she apprehensive. To strangers who know Cavaliers this always comes across as very strange. Is her temperament off? Was she not properly socialized? Why doesn't she want to say hi to me? Cavaliers should love everyone!

The truth is; Mylee is afraid that a strangers touch will hurt. She is afraid that you will touch her in the wrong spots. She doesn't trust that you know how to scratch her on her chest and back and leave her head and ears alone. She is afraid that you will hurt her.

That described Kayleigh - every word applies to her. We say that she goes up to people to show them how beautiful she is, but they're not allowed to touch her Just shows how much we are learning all the time...although my other affected Cavaliers were wary of touch, it was not to this extreme.




My affected dogs have generally hated things going over their heads - we just about manage a bib but that's fairly loose. Not sure how they would cope with a sun hat but it's good that it helps Oliver.

[Karen and Ruby]

No apology nesesary Nicki,

I think it's so important that people realise that CM can be just as troublsome as SM. Many dogs are in pain because of it and the days of "oh just CM thats good news" should be dead and gone!!

On another note that statement you posted from Anniemac is almost as though it was written about Ruby. She will go up to people that speak to her but she gets with in a couple of inches then stops and goes in the opposite direction. Not because she is unfriendly as she is such a perfect Cavvie but because too many people don't understand that stroking her head hurts!

[Tania]

I don't want to sound like a stuck record.

Dougall cm, Molly sm. Dougall has all sorts of problems and seems to suffer more pain than
Molly. We are finally managing it but I have to watch him like a hawk.

Will keep my fingers crossed for Charlie. If you want any company Karen, let me know.

[BrooklynMom]

Thanks for filling me in on that. Very interesting. It is all this information that I am adding to my mental Cav journal, so thank you for sharing

[GraciesMom]

Very mysterious as to why, but it seems that dogs can have CM only and still show some major symptoms or none at all. Many symptoms can seem just like SM... I suppose the pressure caused by the malformation itself creates these.

I sure hope that Charlie's condition has not progressed. Keeping you in my prayers.

[Kate H]

Oliver is much the same as Charlie - he does have a small syrinx but that seems to cause no problems. His very dilated ventricles (3 times the normal size) cause headaches and light phobia due to damage to or interference with the mechanism of his pupils - all symptoms caused by his CM.

Karen - does Charlie wear a sunhat when he squints in the sun? Charlie has a poplin baseball cap with a long brim and it really helps when he's sitting around in bright light (even sittng in shade but looking out at light) - when he's walking or running around his nose is always on the floor so his own eyelids protect him. He also has some doggles but so far hasn't needed to wear them.

Best of luck with the MRI,

Kate, Oliver and Aled