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Elton is getting MRI

Hi Anne

I am happy to hear Elton does not have SM. However I feel your frustration to figure out what is going on. Perhaps they did miss some mild CM as you mentioned in one of your posts? When will you know the results of the spinal tap?
I will continue to be sending positive thoughts your way.
 
So glad to hear that Elton does not have SM! Sending lots of positive thoughts your way as you guys try to determine what is causing his discomfort. :hug:
 
Glad he does not have sm and fingers crossed you will know more about what is wrong with him soon xx
 
Annie wrote: He's acting VERY strange right now.

In what way? Glad about the SM - but it still leaves you in the dark!

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Annie wrote: He's acting VERY strange right now.

In what way? Glad about the SM - but it still leaves you in the dark!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

It's probably from anesthesia. The MRI seemed to cause more distress which increased his symptoms.
 
It's probably from anesthesia. The MRI seemed to cause more distress which increased his symptoms.

This could be. One of our cavaliers had surgery last year and (we discovered much later) tried to lift his very heavy head (typical big-headed cavalier) while coming out of anesthesia and was so groggy that he could not keep it lifted and ended up slamming his head back down on the metal table, causing some internal damage that he only recently overcame.
 
This could be. One of our cavaliers had surgery last year and (we discovered much later) tried to lift his very heavy head (typical big-headed cavalier) while coming out of anesthesia and was so groggy that he could not keep it lifted and ended up slamming his head back down on the metal table, causing some internal damage that he only recently overcame.

Oh no that's terrible poor dog!
 
Anne,
Can you be absolutely specific about what the symptoms he's showing?
Why do you feel it's the CM that's the source of the discomfort?
Sins
 
The spinal fluid was normal but he did in fact have some mild CM. I see him face rubbing, yelping, scratching his ears and it is worse than Ella. Pain is pain and I just hope to give him some relief.
 
I have videos he is head shaking, extreme face rubbing, scratching until he yelps with no PSOM or ear infections, and of course fly catchers (but that might be seperate)
 
Hydrocephalus could cause seizures. I didn't know from your first posts that he had hydrocephalus as well -- I'd guess that's more likely the issue than mild CM.

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/hydrocephalus-in-dogs/page1.aspx

Symptoms of hydrocephalus vary with the cause, the age at presentation, the brain tissue being compromised, and the degree of tissue damage.

What to Watch For

Altered mental status
Crying out
Hyperexcitability
Extreme dullness
Coma
Seizures
Visual or auditory impairment
Spastic or clumsy walking
Circling
Head pressing
Head tilt
Abnormal eye movements
 
I'm not 100% sure but the symptom the neurologist is focused on is his head shaking and body shaking.
 
What does your vet mean by hydrocephalus - a condition of dilated ventricles? Or does he mean the specific disease of Hydrocephalus? The condition of hydrocephalus (literally 'water in the head') is a common symptom of CM, due to slowing down the circulation of the spinal fluid, which then accumulates in the ventricles. This can cause bad headaches, eye problems and quite a lot of other symptoms (including, for Oliver, interference with the nerves in one front leg, and possibly - several years ago - a slight seizure affecting his back legs). The disease of Hydrocephalus, as Karlin's links show, has much wider and in many respects much more serious symptoms (though headaches are also serious for the dog that's got them!).

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
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Kate, I am not sure they are considered to be different (it's the first time I have ever heard this as a neurologist wouldn't I think confuse terms). All the neurologists I am familiar with would not list hydrocephalus as being an aspect of dilated ventricles but would mean the specific condition, and if it were listed as a diagnosis it would mean there is specifically, hydrocephalus in addition to whatever else showed on the MRI.

I do know dilated ventricles definitely are not the same as hydrocephalus.

Definitely worth a clarification from the neurologist.
 
Actually, Karlin, it was you who insisted on the difference when I posted something about hydrocephalus a couple of years ago!:) And I have known vets differentiate and use hydrocephalus with a small 'h' to describe the dilated ventricles resulting from CM - whether this is an accurate description or not is a different matter. Hydrocephalus the disease (capital 'H') is far more than the pressure on the skull from dilated ventricles (I've had a Cavalier that I'm almost sure in retrospect had the disease and many of its accompanying symptoms, and I now have a Cavalier with dilated ventricles), but they stem from the same problem - interference with the flow of CSF (or literally 'fluid on the brain') - so the wider, and slightly different, use of the term is perhaps understandable.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
:lol: I think I would probably have been asking if the diagnosis was actually hydrocephalus or dilated ventricles -- whether this was clearly stated. Or it was at a point when I was confused about the difference myself! (especially if it was a long time ago) I think vets would be more likely to talk about something like extra water in the brain to refer to dilated ventricles and then that could be confusing. :| But hydrocephalus should definitely be a separate diagnosis from all that I have ever seen reported on individual dogs by a neurologist (and not very helpful if vets are using the term as a catch-all). Lots of cavaliers (such as all of mine with SM) have dilated ventricles but do not have hydrocephalus, which is generally far more serious and causes more problems. It still isn't actually known if dilated ventricles mean anything or cause anything or do anything, and some breeds have really large dilated ventricles as the norm with no problems from them. Because it seems a frequent associated finding with CM/SM in this breed, neurologists generally note it. Clare Rusbridge and Geoff Skerrit both told me they noted it in case it became clear there was a relevance at some later point and to have it on record. But hydrocephalus would be/should be a different diagnosis and the fluid would be more general (and dilated ventricles would be part of it).
 
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