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Tomorrow is the day............

Karen and Ruby

Well-known member
I know I posted a couple of weeks ago regarding Charlie's MRI at Stone Lion. Please don't feel you have to comment and wish us luck when you have already done so but only posting as i'm feeling nervous and worried about it all really and I know here that many will understand my fears!

My friends and family don't quite understaand why I am feeling the way I am!

But I have been thinking about the outcome and best and worst scenarios, at best he has remained the same but that still causes him pain and problems anyway and at worst he has developed SM.

Thinking in to the future, I can't help that feel that whatever happens it will be his heart that will give up first as he has a serious condition there and his heart will only last so long BUT at the same time he has ended up in a worse condition that Ruby and even though I hate myself for saying it but where I have been so focused on her SM for so long it feels like it isn't such a big deal the second time round but it is. Only as I know what i'm dealing with this time and I'm not in the dark as I was 2.5 years ago.

But going back two and a half years to when Ruby was diagnosed I thought i'd be lucky to get her to 5 (I was in a state of panic then) and now I'm facing her 5th birthday next month and dealing with the fact that I may have her longer than Charlie even as his heart is so bad, and as horrific as this condition is, Ruby does cope and live very well with it, for now.......

I'm really rambling and don't even know what i'm rambling about, maybe it doesn't matter what the result is, he will still live the same life he was destined to live as I won't stop him doing anything he does now. My mum asked why i'm bothering but i want to know either way. I feel he should be on pain releif now as well as the Cimetidine.

Oh I dont know..........
 
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Charlie and Ruby are so fortunate to have you. I know you're scared, I've been there too with Syndey and MVD, but you're not alone here and you can always come here and ramble on as much as you need. Unfortunately, most of us have been there and completely understand.

Whatever the outcome, you will still love Charlie and he knows that. I will be thinking of you and wishing the best for you.

Sending lots of hugs to you:hug:
 
There are so many complexities to your post Karen.You're right. In some ways it doesn't matter what the result is - Charlie will live the life he was destined to live, but the manner he lives it will partly be determined by the results. Although even if he doesn't have SM, it sounds like he needs pain meds. Poor little boy getting hit with the double whammy of CM/SM and MVD. I wonder if the treatment regimen is different for an SM dog with MVD?

I have thought similarly to you that I never thought that I would see Riley live to be a senior. She was diagnosed when she was five and had decompression surgery when she was almost six. She is now nine and is still loving life. I've said many times before that she will never be normal, but she copes like Ruby.... Also, I have thought that if another of my dogs ever got SM, I would probably be able to deal with that better than one of my dogs getting severe MVD. A case of the known enemy I guess, but I don't know if that's true. I just know that MVD scares the dickens out of me. I hate reading every post about it - even more than all the SM posts.

The beautiful part of all this is the life and love you have given Charlie. He is such a happy boy with you and Ruby. That's what he knows.
 
Thanks Bev,

As you probably know I rescued Charlie so he is lucky in the fact that he didn't die locked in a cage by himself in an abandoned house.

I don't know if the treatment is different because of his heart, he is only 3 so although he isn't in heart failure or anything close (his heart defect is somethnig he was probably born with) I still expect it to be his future and demise.


I just don't know what to think really
 
We will be thinking of you tomorrow - and do understand how you are feeling. It's hard enough having had to deal with Charlie's CM diagnosis, and you are obviously fearing SM now. TBH though I don't think it would really change things - it sounds like he needs more pain management now anyway.

I'm finding it harder to manage Kayleigh [who has CM only] than I did most of the time my severely affected dogs. Although she doesn't scream, she is not comfortable and not able to do very much, which is so upsetting [other than towards the end of their days obviously]

So IMHO it's the symptoms that need managing not necessarily any changes on the MRI. [Teddy's didn't really change that much on re-scan but obviously he was in more pain and had more symptoms as time went on]


So try not to focus too much on what you find on the MRI - although it's useful to have it done and to know what is happening - but concentrate on Charlie's quality of life and how that could be improved. As Joyce says, he will still be Charlie :) and you will do your best for him.

I'm sure Clare will discuss it all with you anyway, it's wonderful that you can get to see her.

It's tragic that you are dealing with heart problems with him too :(

but on a brighter note, it's fantastic that Ruby is approaching her 5th birthday!!

even though I hate myself for saying it but where I have been so focused on her SM for so long it feels like it isn't such a big deal the second time round but it is. Only as I know what i'm dealing with this time and I'm not in the dark as I was 2.5 years ago.

I think that is a big part of the difference, you DO know what you are dealing with, it's not so much a shock and although it's horrible, and I even found in some ways it was worse with each dog as you know what to expect...but you are calmer in dealing with it. You find an inner strength, because you love them so much, you cope with whatever comes.


I was discussing this with my new vet recently, when we were talking about dosage times and I was saying that with the 8 hour dosing, we never have an early night or lie in :( He actually said he didn't know if he could be that dedicated - which shows what our Cavaliers inspire in us, so many of us have been and/or are on that schedule - and re-orgainse our lives around it. [it's probably also a cultural thing, dogs are in general viewed differently up here - I don't know how many of my neighbours would go to the trouble to travel to see specialists. There also are not very many Cavaliers:(]
 
Also, I have thought that if another of my dogs ever got SM, I would probably be able to deal with that better than one of my dogs getting severe MVD. A case of the known enemy I guess, but I don't know if that's true. I just know that MVD scares the dickens out of me. I hate reading every post about it - even more than all the SM posts.

Interesting, because I feel exactly the opposite. I am comfortable dealing with MVD, but I'm not willing to take on a case of symptomatic SM.

Pat
 
I am thinking of you today.

So many of us know how you are feeling. My Ebony also has a heart murmur and degenerated discs, when she was diagnosed with CM/SM I was devastated and when Harley got diagnosed with CM/SM I thought my world would end. We have to carry on the best we can and most days when they are all happy I almost forget they have all these terrible things wrong with them. I sometimes think into the future and it breaks my heart so I try not to do it too often.
 
Interesting, because I feel exactly the opposite. I am comfortable dealing with MVD, but I'm not willing to take on a case of symptomatic SM.

Pat

I agree with you Pat, the pain of CM/SM is unbearable to witness, especially screaming episodes :( seeing your dog deteriorate in front of your eyes, not able to do a fraction of what they should be able to do...particularly hard in young dogs.

MVD - until the end stages, they are NOT in pain, there is a gradual slowing down of being able to run etc, but mostly they are not really aware there is a problem.

By the end stages, where sadly they are actually drowning in their own fluid - once it gets to that stage it is kindest to let them go.
 
I have Rebel who is almost 9 years old and with symptomatic SM, which is well controlled with Frusemide twice daily. He also has a grade 2 MVD, asymptomatic and not requiring treatment.

Like you Karen, I could not live wondering whether 3 of the other 4 would develop SM, so I paid privately for their MRI scans a few months ago. I was so relieved to be told that the neurologist saw no signs of herniations or syrinxes and thought it doubtful that anything would develop in the future because of their ages at scanning. All have CM, as do most Cavaliers.

Holly P is an unknown quantity. She is nearly 3 years old, but because of her CC/DE I'm afraid I just take things day by day with her and there is no way I am going to subject her to one moment more at a veterinary surgery than is absolutely necessary. At present she has no symptoms of SM whatsoever but has clear parentage and is from top bloodlines, so hopefully she will remain clear.

I am so glad that I had the 3 scanned and I guess you are feeling exactly the same as I did - if there are problems looming let them be foreseen and dealt with as and when they arise.

Good luck for tomorrow. :smile:
 
Dear Karen,

Whatever happens to our poor dogs we will sometimes feel despair and then mentally shake ourselves and carry on, because we love them and our heart gives us no other choice.

I once bred a cavalier that had a terrible puppy murmur and it turned out he had a hole in the heart. He should have been blue and unable to exercise but he was full of energy. The Cardiologist came to the conclusion that he had a second defect that compensated for the first fault but said he would die by the time he was two years old.

Snoopy collapsed and died suddenly when he was five. He had never shown any symptoms and was always the liveliest of my dogs.

Our dogs do not know of the shadows hanging over them. As long as we can keep them pain free and make sure they truly have a good enough quality of life then we really have been loving and responsible owners.

I think we are all sometimes scared that we may not be able to keep them from suffering, and I would imagine that is a fear that haunts us all. It certainly does me.
 
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