My Beautiful Baby Girl Poppy has been Diagnosed with SM x

Hi all, Im not quite sure if im in the correct place or if im doing right posting here???? Im Claire & I have two Beautiful rather pampered!! Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Ruby age 4 & Poppy age 18mths, Sadly poppy was Diagnosed last Tuesday of having SM we took her too a Private clinic for a MRI scan which confirmed this, I'm new to this Illness & am still learning Myself & My Partner are finding it alittle hard at the moment to take this all in we are Heartbroken. Poppy is actually doing really well so far! on her new medication & we have to return to the clinic in 6 weeks to have another check up. I will do my very Best by Poppy & make sure she has the very best care I can physically give her she is my baby & I wish I could do more Love Claire, Poppy & Ruby xxx

I'm sorry you've had this diagnosis, it's one of those diseases where you immediately imagine the worst case scenario! But SM is not a death sentence - many of the dogs on this forum are well-controlled with medication and lead normal, happy lives. And this is exactly the right place to post - you will find lots of information, experience and support here. A very useful place to find out more about SM is Dr Clare Rusbridge's website, www.Veterinary-neurologist.co.uk, which will answer a lot of your questions about the disease and its development.

I live quite close to you in Coventry, so PM me if you would like to meet up for a chat and to meet my Oliver (and Aled, of course), who is a 10 year old with SM who can still walk me off my feet!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Hi Clare,

Well done for joining here, it's a great place to learn about SM and some great support can be found here too.

We met at Crufts briefly x You are doing all the right things so far, get her comfy x

Have a good read through some of the past posts and also the website Kate posted.

Cavaliermatters.org is also a really easy to understand website x

So sorry you have this worry, but people here are very supportive and many of us have experience of this condition in our cavaliers. Please ask questions or just come to talk if you feel frustrated, as it can be hard to go it alone.

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will find a lot of help and understanding here.

I am so sorry about Poppy, this must have been so upsetting and a terrible shock for you.

My Molly was diagnosed with SM when she was 18 months old, Molly is now five despite the initial prognosis which only gave us a few months.

With the correct treatment and care this disease can be managed.

I found this health condition so complicated and overwhelming, I put together an easy guide to SM, please have a look, I hope you will get some comfort from it. I have included links for more comprehenisve information.

www.cavaliermatters.org

I'm glad you found your way here. Welcome to the Club that nobody wants to belong to.

There are so many of us here, owners of SM affected cavaliers from all over the world, so if you have a question just ask it here.
We have all been in your shoes, bewildered, frightened for our dog, not having the slightest idea what this peculiar condition is about or what to expect for the future.

As Kate says SM is seldom a death sentence and more and more we are finding that it is possible to give our pets a good enough quality of life by careful monitoring of their medication.

Knowing your dog has SM does take away some of the carefree joy of owning your pet and leaves you always watchful, checking to make sure that pain is not gradually breaking through.

I have an eleven and a half year old blenheim boy with SM, he was diagnosed through the first low cost breeders' scanning scheme set up in 2005. He is big, loving and so good tempered, happily bullied by my little fluffies, really the nicest, sweetest, dog you could ever meet.

He now has little idea where he is putting his legs, so he often sits down suddenly because he has completely crossed his legs at the back and they won't hold him. He will look slightly bemused and just get up and carry on.

He is on Lyrica ( pregablin ) It is expensive but very good and I think (hope) he is comfortable.