winniesmom
New member
Hi everyone,
This is my first time posting here, but reading threads has been really helpful for understanding CM/SM. Our Winnie just turned 4 and was diagnosed with CM (via MRI) in December 2014 after an episode of ataxia that lasted a couple of days. We put her on a short course of Gabapentin, but then she recovered with seemingly no pain so I saved the rest of the pills for a "rainy day". The neurologist thought that maybe something (e.g. weather change) tweaked her intracranial pressure, leading to the acute episode. About a month ago she had a couple of bad episodes of fly-catching and seemed to be bothered/in pain during them. After that she started doing the fly-catching intermittently almost every day, and while in the midst of it sometimes showed behaviors indicating pain (biting at paws, rubbing up against the sofa). I took her back to the neurologist last week and started her back on Gabapentin which is completely eliminating the fly-catching and any signs of pain. We also had her re-scanned since the neurologist was concerned that the worsening of symptoms could mean that she has developed SM and may be a candidate for surgery.
According to the results, her MRI is stable (CM with resulting hydrocephalus but no SM) and the neurologist (who has lots of experience with CM/SM) feels that Winnie's case is pretty mild in the grand scheme of things. She believes that Winnie's case can be managed by just keeping up with the Gabapentin and that the stable MRI is a very good sign.
I guess what I am wondering is how things have turned out for others' dogs when they've gotten a similar prognosis. I know CM/SM can be unpredictable, but I am just curious to hear others' experiences (whether things stayed the same or took a turn for the worse down the line). Thank you for reading my long-winded post!
This is my first time posting here, but reading threads has been really helpful for understanding CM/SM. Our Winnie just turned 4 and was diagnosed with CM (via MRI) in December 2014 after an episode of ataxia that lasted a couple of days. We put her on a short course of Gabapentin, but then she recovered with seemingly no pain so I saved the rest of the pills for a "rainy day". The neurologist thought that maybe something (e.g. weather change) tweaked her intracranial pressure, leading to the acute episode. About a month ago she had a couple of bad episodes of fly-catching and seemed to be bothered/in pain during them. After that she started doing the fly-catching intermittently almost every day, and while in the midst of it sometimes showed behaviors indicating pain (biting at paws, rubbing up against the sofa). I took her back to the neurologist last week and started her back on Gabapentin which is completely eliminating the fly-catching and any signs of pain. We also had her re-scanned since the neurologist was concerned that the worsening of symptoms could mean that she has developed SM and may be a candidate for surgery.
According to the results, her MRI is stable (CM with resulting hydrocephalus but no SM) and the neurologist (who has lots of experience with CM/SM) feels that Winnie's case is pretty mild in the grand scheme of things. She believes that Winnie's case can be managed by just keeping up with the Gabapentin and that the stable MRI is a very good sign.
I guess what I am wondering is how things have turned out for others' dogs when they've gotten a similar prognosis. I know CM/SM can be unpredictable, but I am just curious to hear others' experiences (whether things stayed the same or took a turn for the worse down the line). Thank you for reading my long-winded post!