Vestibular disease and SM?

We've just had a very troubling experience and are wondering if others have experienced the same and can give us any advice. Yesterday morning our little 7 year old Charlie suddenly went from fine to having what appeared to be a seizure. He'd spit up a couple of times and then was laying on his side, head somewhat cocked, and pushing himself around in circles with his front legs. We rushed him to the vet who stabilized him and ran all sorts of tests. Our regular vet was off and the fill in didn't at first realize that Charlie has SM. The diagnosis was a possible vestibular episode perhaps set off by his SM. We left him there for the morning and took him home at noon when they closed. On arriving home we realized he has no ability to use his real legs. He can use his front legs, but they also appear to be weak. He wouldn't eat or drink anything yesterday. He still won't eat his dog food, which he usually gulps down, but we got some small chicken and cheese pieces down him this afternoon.

We've read of some other episodes of vestibular disease in dogs and even Cavaliers online, but nothing about this paralysis. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Will this pass in time or is it permanent, so we have to consider putting him down? We are at our whits end. Please pass on any experiences or advice you can.

Thanks,
TomA

I have seen something quite like this in a dog I bred about 20 years ago, before anybody knew anything about SM.

At the time the vet wasn't too sure what was wrong with Victoria. Hindsight tells me she had a classic case of SM, because she became uncomfortable using a collar and lead becoming deeply distressed when taken for a walk. Then she started having fits. They weren't epileptic, but were some kind of seizures and were happening just as you describe and ever more frequently. The last fit she had was when I came home from a pre Christmas lunch. I opened the cage door and all the dogs came bounding out to greet me, but Victoria fell to the floor and started twitching and screaming. She lost consciousness and messed herself. As she came round she realised what she had done and was very distressed. Her back legs were paralised.

I rushed her to the vet, who thought it was probably Vestibular Syndrome, but he wasn't absolutely sure. Because the fits were increasingly frequent and Victoria was so distressed the vet advised euthanasia. I could not bear to see her suffering like this so it was done.

Others may think differently, but I think both these dogs were suffering convulsive symptoms of SM.

I am so sorry this has happened to Charlie and I do hope that the vet will be able to give you a positive diagnosis and that he will recover the use of his limbs.

Pets As Therapy dog Holly P sends her very best 'ferapy lix and hugs' to Charlie to help him to get better.