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Me and merlin are now both miserable

GemmaMerlin

Member
Merlin still no better. I called the veterinary hospital earlier and they were no help. They said continue with the frusemide full course. I told them his limping is getting worse and that he is shaking his head all the time. She said that it's probably because of the middle ear disease but because of the lab tests showing no infection, they won't treat him for middle ear disease and instead are concentrating on his chiari malformation

I know my merlin and know that something in his ear is really annoying him. His ears are clean so I know it's this middle ear disease

I know they are the professionals but they just won't listen to me

Me and merlin are both feel miserable and I could just scream with frustration.
 
I'm really sorry you are not receiving the care and help that you need, is there anywhere you could go for a 2nd opinion? Otherwise is there a more senior person you could speak to?

It's horrid when you know something is wrong and the professionals won't listen to you.
 
Hi Nicki, thanks for your post.

This is why i'm so frustrated as we've had second opinions.
We were registered at our local vets, we saw them twice and they said nothing was wrong with him, they didnt even know his right side facial paralysis.
So we moved to another local vet, they noticed everything, gave him a full examination, and said it was either middle ear disease, brain issues, tumor, blockage or SM. They referred us to a vet hospital with a qualified neurologist, we had to drive about 25 minutes to get there, they did another full examination, tests, MRI, and a lab test of the fluid taken from his middle ear.

The lab tests showed nothing grew in the week, so they said it wasnt infection and wouldnt need treatment. They found Chiari Malformation from the MRI, and therefore said thats whats causing his pain, scratching etc, and straight away put him on Frusemide. He doesnt seem to scratch much any more, but he's shaking his head all the time, he shakes his head so much he sometimes knocks himself off his feet and falls over. Which is still leading me to believe thats its the middle ear disease/fluid thats doing all of this.

He's been suffering like this now since early August, and i'm getting more angry each day because none of the professionals seems to be listening to what I have to say. Dont know what to do for the best. :cry*ing:
 
I've emailed Clare to find her current contact details and will send to you in case you wish to go that route.

Did they say they were absolutely sure there was no PSOM? I have not heard of SM or CM dogs shaking their heads like this before (perhaps others have though?), agree it seems more typical of an ear issue like PSOM or a middle ear problem.

Clare does do second opinion consults from an existing MRI etc though ideally it is better for her to actually see a dog and its symptoms. If you can video his behaviour when he is shaking his head etc that would be useful probably too, if your current neuro/vet hasn't seen this, or for Clare or any second opinion neuro.
 
Hi Karlin. They said he has middle ear disease (the neurologist said also known as glue ear) he said there are 2 "sacks" in the dogs head where mucus/debris should drain through and then out down the back of the dogs throat. If one side gets blocked it causes blindness and deafness, if the other side get blocked it causes balance problems with his vestibular system etc. Merlins blockage was on the balance side. The neurologist drained a lot of it away with a needle whilst Merlin was knocked out having the MRI. They sent this mucus off to the lab but the results came back that it wasnt infected. Therefore they dont see any need to treat him for this. However I have researched a lot on SM AND CM and generally they dont shake their heads with these conditions. Its like something deep down his ear is annoying him, but no one wants to get to the bottom of it.

Claire sounds wonderful, but I wouldnt be able to physically visit her due to distance and cost. My insurance has just about covered his treatment so far. over £3000 now for Blood tests, examinations, MRI, tablets, medicine, hospital stays. its neverending.
 
A second opinion from Clare can be done without travel. You'd need to talk to her on cost.

To be honest wonder how much the neuro knows about PSOM and CM if treating with furosemide (off the treatment algorithm for a couple of years now) and PSOM often is not helped by a single draining and pain has nothing to do with infection... I'd be a bit exasperated myself with the current approach.
 
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