I have a 4 1/2 year old Tri colour Cav male called Elvis, (he came with the name!), his original owner was sending him to a well known animal rescue centre when he was approx 2years as she couldn't cope with him!!!, our original intention was to attempt to rehome him, but within about an hour of having him I had been to the local pet shop to have my mobile number put on his collar, that was two and a half years ago, I fell in love with Elvis immediately as did my firefighter husband and two teenage sons. On the 23rd Jan Elvis was taken to the vet by my eldest for his booster, Aidan mentioned that he had been scratching on the walk down to the vets, this is where my traumatic fortnight started. A bit of background first, Elvis walks 5 miles daily, jumps onto sofas, runs up the stairs at the mention of the word bed and will be comfortably laying on his back in the middle of the bed beore I have made the bottom stair! Following the vet visit, she referred us to a Medical centre in Suffolk where on the 2nd of Feb, following an MRI scan Elvis was diagnosed with SM, we had never heard of SM, (a bit green, I know) but he had never displayed any signs of pain or discomfort. When we collected him on the 3rd Feb, we were told that his condition could not be treated with meds and that his /our only option was surgery, which they could perform on the 8th Feb, this would involve removing part of his skull then removing a syrinx from his spinal column at a cost to us of approx 2.5k, the majority of our insurance had already been used for the scan etc. During the journey home as you can imagine we were in pieces. As a police officer I deal on a daily basis with some shockers, but this was different, I embarked upon our arrival home on a fact finding mission which has lasted approx 7 days and leaving me filled with hope. I have spoken to some wonderful ladies over the past week from the Cavalier Club who patiently listened to me snivelling, I have now booked an appointment for Elvis to see Clare Rusbridge on the 21st Feb, with the heartfelt hope that we can manage his condition with meds. I have also spoken to a wonderful chap called Jonny Plessas from RCVS who has also filled me and mine with hope. I have a beautiful little dog who still shows very little signs of this condition and has a very waggy tail. I would like to hear from anyone who has experience with SM, who have had thier cavs operated on, or are managing with meds. I am not as emotionally disturbed as I was on the 3rd and have hope for our future.