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Syringomyelia

J

JimDoc

Member
Hi,

New to the site.

I have 2 CKC Cara 5 and Lucy 4.

Looking for advice. Cara has since I have had her continually scratched her right front leg with her rear right leg. Been to vet many times over the years and they have put it down to being excited or a nervous twitch.
been reading about syringomyelia where the traits are air scratching, fly catching, rubbing face along carpet and always in pain or discomfort.
whilt the dog has not shown any pain, she very rarely fly catches and sometimes after eating she. Rubs her face.

Does anyone know anything about syringomyelia
 
JimDoc said:
Hi,

New to the site.

I have 2 CKC Cara 5 and Lucy 4.

Looking for advice. Cara has since I have had her continually scratched her right front leg with her rear right leg. Been to vet many times over the years and they have put it down to being excited or a nervous twitch.
been reading about syringomyelia where the traits are air scratching, fly catching, rubbing face along carpet and always in pain or discomfort.
whilt the dog has not shown any pain, she very rarely fly catches and sometimes after eating she. Rubs her face.

Does anyone know anything about syringomyelia
Click to expand...

Well, here is the drill. A lot of people on this board know alot about syringomyelia. Check out the SM and MVD section of the forum -- http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?56-SM-and-MVD-cavaliers-forum -- for a vast assortment of topics over the past several years.

Also, check these websites: http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/ and http://cavalierhealth.org/syringomyelia.htm

The bottom line is that the only way to be sure the dog does or does not have SM is a magnetic resonance imaging scan, or MRI, for short. MRIs can be expensive, and it may be possible to have a "mini-MRI" scan which does not extend as far down the spinal column as a full scan does.

Because such a high percentage of cavaliers have SM, even if they don't display any symptoms, it is very likely that Cara either has SM or at least has Chiari-like malformation, which is a precurser of SM.

SM is treated by surgery or medications or both. It is possible to medically manage SM within surgery for some dogs, but other dogs need surgery to avoid pain and stop the growth of the SM syrinx in the spinal cord. The goals are to avoid further pain and avoid continued growth of the syrinx.
 
I just have one thing to add, IF Caras symptoms are SM please don’t think she isn’t in pain just because she ONLY scratches and rubs her face. That’s the problem with SM a lot of owners think they don’t show pain and these things are quirky habits. IF the scratching is SM then the dog will at least be in discomfort or even pain. Like Rod said you really need to see a neurologist. It’s amazing how many vets are still not informed about SM.
 
Hi
I think the best word for our Cavaliers is " Stoical " they are unfortunately experts at not showing pain despite them being
often described as lapdogs they all seem to have this exceedingly high pain threshhold .My Rosie had a disc problem and
she had a very thorough physical and not even a tiny whimper from her but unfortunately her MRI discovered she had
Chiari Malformation whisch is covered in the links supplied by Rod.
 
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