Cocker at Many Tears with SM

[Sabby]

Didn’t know what forum to post this under as this is a Cocker.

He is only 6 month old and bunny hops. He was diagnosed with SM. You would think he would be on medication but no mention of that at all. What a beautiful boy. So sad.
LINGO




14-11-11 Lingo is a sweet 6
month old male Cocker Spaniel who has come to us from a breeder as he was not
required. Sadly Lingo can only bunny hop to move about. He is very fearful of
people. We will do all we can to help him over this hard time and make his life
worth living. He will be having an x-ray of his hips in the next few days to see
if there is a problem. He is absolutely stunning but nervous at the moment. He
will need a home where there is a happy resident dog to help him.[/SIZE][/FONT]

02-12-11 UPDATE


Lingo
has been to see Diane at Haffern vets about his back legs. After taking a lot
more x-rays she was unable to find any problems with his, legs, knees or hips.
She has taken some x-rays of his spine and recorded him walking, these she is
sending to a friend who is a specialist in, neurological spine problems to see
if this is what wrong. We should know more in a few days. Lingo came to me so
scared, that no one, not even another dog could go near him, he would growl and
snap, if you picked him up he would wee with fright, nearly 2 weeks on and this
lovely boy is really starting to shine. He loves the other dogs but is still
very timid with us although he will follow us. Yesterday he discovered the
garden and has loved bouncing around it. I really hope that no matter the
results are or out come is, that someone special will offer him a lovely
home.

Lingo has
syringomyelia. This is more common in cavalries, but cockers can have it. How
long a life does he have? Who knows - it could be a couple of years or he could
live a full life, we just don't know. What we do know is, he is the happiest,
sweetest dog you could ever meet. Yes he bunny hops but he doesn't let it slow
him down. He loves to play with others dogs, so we really want him to have a
friendly, playful doggy friend. He is 96% clean in the house, walks on a lead,
sleeps all night and is fine with cats. He's as cheeky as a monkey and is always
getting into mischief, but you can never be cross with him, as he gives you an
Elvis look (the side of his lip goes up) which just makes you smile. He loves
cuddles, if I didn't have 6 dogs already, I would keep him, I'm already playing
extra lines on the lottery. But please do your homework on syringomyelia before
applying.

[Soushiruiuma]

First off, this dog is visibly crippled by disease, and the breeder decides he/she doesn't NEED this dog for breeding?! Pardon my language, but WTF!! This person should be ashamed of his/her behavior; and banned from breeding, and possibly even owning animals!

So he only moves by bunny hopping? That sounds like extremely severe SM symptoms, and he's so young.

It doesn't mention meds at all, or if the bunny hopping stopped or lessened with meds. Hopefully he'll go to a home that can get him the treatment he needs. Although as he's already diagnosed wouldn't his SM NOT be coverable with insurance?

I feel terrible for this sweet boy.

Rereading. A vet did x-rays of his back legs, found nothing amiss, then took observational notes, and spinal x-rays. These notes and x-rays were passed to a neuro specialist who diagnosed SM (it does not sound as as if the neurologist ever interacted with the dog). Shelters work with small budgets, so I can see why this would be done. But for his sake a full work up with a neurologist would be better.

[Sabby]

Many Tears Rescue takes in a lot of Ex Breeding dogs. Lots of Cavaliers on there at the moment. Yes it be great if we could ban people like that from breeding. The world would be a better place.
What upsets me is that they say that do your research on SM before you adopt this dog. It doesn’t sound like they done their research proper otherwise they wouldn’t leave this dog without pain medicine.

[sins]

Many tears are a marvellous organisation.
However,it's a very young dog and anyone who truly knew the challenges in managing a very symptomatic dog with SM would reconsider the decision to prolong this dog's agony or inflict it on a family.
Sorry for being so blunt about it,but from a welfare issue,it's not fair on the poor creature.
Sins

[Margaret C]

Many tears are a marvellous organisation.
However,it's a very young dog and anyone who truly knew the challenges in managing a very symptomatic dog with SM would reconsider the decision to prolong this dog's agony or inflict it on a family.
Sorry for being so blunt about it,but from a welfare issue,it's not fair on the poor creature.
Sins

A difficult situation but I would agree with what Sins is saying here.

If this is really SM then rehoming a dog with such a painful condition should be questioned.
Nobody can know for sure what time will bring, but it is known that young dogs with such very early-onset symptoms will usually deteriorate rapidly.
This dog could face a very uncertain future placed in a home that may not be able to cope.

They are chancing that this poor puppy will finding a permanent home with someone who is knowledgeable to know what they are taking on, knowledgeable enough to monitor and seek effective treatment when his symptoms worsen and with enough money to pay the considerable ongoing cost of the advice and treatment he needs.

Even if the owner can truly comprehend how much time and money such a needy dog may need, how can they ever truly understand what heartbreak, anxiety, and soul-searching is involved in living with a dog with SM?

The truly caring action here may well be to put him to sleep.

[anniemac]

Look at the eyes. The dog seems to be in pain. Like everyone said, the bunny hopping at on 6 months old seems so severe at a young age. I am still recovering from having a dog with SM. It is very tough BUT I would not change having her but I know it would be too much for me to "knowingly" take on. There are wonderful people who take special need dogs. It's such a tough thing. We've had forum members that have cavaliers at a young age diagnosed so I don't want to say that having the right treatment etc. they can't manage, but this is a tough one because we know how hard it is to have cavaliers with SM and the emotional tolls it can on the person and what the dog can go through.

I wish Lingo luck

[anniemac]

I think Cathy Moon talked about Rescues and SM. This is such a delicate issue. So hard.

Charlie's blog... http://charliesm.wordpress.com/

[Sabby]

I have send them an Email. I coudn't do nothing as if this is SM the dog will be in pain.

[Soushiruiuma]

I'm not convinced it's SM. We know he's lame on the hind limbs. But given the severity, if it is SM, and the fact that he hasn't been seen by a neurologist (as best I can tell from the description), it seems like there just isn't enough evidence to diagnose SM.

This sounds more like an injury, possibly he was dropped or stepped on as a puppy, tried to jump out of or squeeze through a pen and got caught up, etc. Which didn't break anything (fractures would have shown up on an x-ray), but could have caused nerve or muscle damage. The breeder may have kept him around hoping he'd recover, but when he didn't he got dumped.

I once had a pet rabbit who would stomp in his hutch, and one night he did manage to sever the spine (we suspect a wild animal visited which upset him, but wasn't able to get into the hutch), he had a funny sideways hop after that, and we put him down.

[Karen and Ruby]

Oh this is so hard! It's difficult to think of this dog in so much pain, and to knowingly take on this dog would take a very special kind of person!
The fact that he isn't insurable is one consideration and an important one as this is such an expensive condition but the heartache is something that no one can begin to imagine if they haven't experienced this condition previously!

I took on Charlie with out the knowledge of his heart defect would I have if I had known?- well yes as its a chance you take with the breed- I didn't take In to account that he would be diagnosed with in his exclusion period though!

I am in agreement with Sins and Margaret though- I don't really think it fair for Many Tears to contemplate homing this little guy