Here's a surprise. Some 'usual suspects' breeders elsewhere are getting worked up about the issue of whether pain is being caused by CM or disc disease and dispute CM (the same 'health experts' who voted for a secretive panel of breed club 'health reps ' from their clubs -- yes, the ones that as we can document, have members that breed cavaliers well under the MVD protocol age...
) How supportive of the breed to have them denying the reality of a condition many in the
real world know causes pain in their dogs :sl*p:.
Maybe they have forgotten that disc disease as commonly seen in cavaliers, is largely an INHERITED condition as well (look it up, breeders: the main disc condition in cavaliers is chondrodystrophic disc disease, which is inherited)? Which any vet will say (and indeed, some of those breeders themselves),
they regularly see in cavaliers? So, are they now sunk to the level of disputing how pain is bred into the breed? Whether it is better for breeders to breed in painful disk degenrative disease, than a skull malformation?
The real issue we are discussing here, amongst people who have actual experience of dogs in severe pain over many years (so many of those breeders say they never, ever see in their own dogs -- so what, exactly, gives them more authority on an issue they apparently know so little about at first hand?
)
is supplying adequate relief to a dog in pain.
To do so means getting a correct diagnosis. As many in the
real world know, for such dogs, treating for CM frequently offers relief that treating for disc disease did not. That is one reason those who have CM dogs with significant pain, and the actual experts who advise on care for them, can generally tell the problem isn't disc disease.
The parallel issue in this thread is the importance for puppy buyers to find dedicated, health-focused breeders who are not off in dream la-la showland still denying there are health issues, and/or that they can do anything about them, despite several studies that show they CAN.
I would guess that at least a third of people here and elsewhere who have eventually had a CM/SM diagnosis, enabling them to finally relieve their dog's pain with adequate medications or surgery, were initially told they had a dog with... disc disease. For many, their dog failed to get adequate treatment for months to years while their vet (and apparently, breeders?) mistakenly believed in and advised this wrong diagnosis (because of course, they have little to no expertise in diagnosing a specialist condition like CM/SM that requires MRIs and a knowledge of the conditions). Disc disease, amongst other possibilities, IS an important, and sadly, a REGULARLY SEEN, INHERITED problem in cavaliers to check for *first* but if pain persists and other suspicious CM/SM symptoms are seen, than anyone who cares about their dogs and their pain will see a neurologist, get a more complete diagnosis, and treat for the disease actually causing the pain.
Why this obvious approach to properly caring for a dog and diagnosing its pain -- surely the route that would be taken if they had a child with elusive and recurring pain -- eludes some breeders and so-called 'health reps' is anyone's guess (and I am sure a few guesses will be made...).