I think that much of the lack of awareness of the disease is due to the ignorance of the vets which care for pets. ...
... Looking at these two experiences with metropolitan local vets makes me think that the average vet just hasn't been taught how to recognise and treat either of these diseases. Since Rebel was diagnosed my vet has recognised the symptoms of SM in a couple of other dogs, neither of which have been Cavaliers she says. She also says that her experience with Rebel is a steep learning curve, but one which has helped her to be a better vet and more able to treat other dogs.
Surely pet owners and breeders alike see their vet as a source of education and information about the animals they own and love. Surely education should start with the vet?
Wow, Flo! Those are some experiences!
My favorite vet is our main holistic vet. Dr. Joe Demers --
http://floridaholisticvet.com/veterinarians.htm -- graduated from Texas A&M vet school, which I think is the best in the USA. He spent about 14 years in general practice and concluded that he was spinning his wheels treating most of the pets with much too much of the same stuff: antibiotics and steroids. He decided to re-educate himself and learned traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, homotoxicology, and the rest of the wonderful world of holistic care. So, now he is just about the top holistic vet in the USA, having written extensively in research journals and served as president of the American Holistic Medical Veterinary Association.
He constantly amazes me during our visits. He will feel a dog's pulse ("the pulse is thin and wiry") and interpret it to pinpoint a problem with a particular organ, such as the liver ("the liver is unhappy today"). He will feel acupuncture points to confirm his suspicion and then concoct a remedy, usually a homotox mixture, for treatment. He says that blood work will not show that a liver is diseased until nearly 70% of the liver already is involved in the disorder. So, pulsing and acupuncture points and other hands-on analyses can diagnose issues with particular organs before they get bad enough to show up in the blood stream.
His 2005 article, "A Holistic Approach to the Treatment of Cancer" --
http://cavalierhealth.org/images/holistic_approach_demers_ahvma_jan05.pdf -- is a masterpiece, and he has improved upon it since then, having recently treated one of our dogs for cancer and used additional remedies beyond those described in the article.
So, I commend holistic vets to pet owners, as long as they have their DVMs (at least in the US, and the equivalent in the UK) and also are well-educated in holistic modalities. An holistic vet with a DVM license has a much bigger bag to delve into than any general practice vet.