Hey all,
Thank you so much for your responses! I was up and down all day yesterday, not knowing if we are doing the right thing, following the right path...but it really helps to hear all of your feedback. I do actually feel really lucky about having Dr. Child's so close and able to be on this journey with Brooklyn and I. At first I was nervous, because Australia does not really have all of the options that the UK and the US do in terms of small animal neurologists and this subject in general, and considering she was the only small animal specialist neuro in Australia, I was either worried that I had no choice if the appointment went bad, or happy because she is only 30 minutes from me. Well, I am please to say that I got the happy end of it, thank goodness. I don't know where I would turn otherwise. And yes, her work with the Griffon breed is really what makes me so happy and comfortable in just trusting her on where we go from here. She said the Griffons have made remarkable strides, and she hopes more than anything that she can do that for the cavalier. Like you said Karlin, it was the way she said things and her acknowledgement and endless research of this disease that made me the most at ease.
She let me ask a lot of general SM questions and she said that they have now started discounted breeder days for the MRI scans, but that it is still hard to get the cavalier breeders to come in (costs are still high and most breeders don't live in Sydney proper, they are rural or out of the city/state entirely). She does see a lot of cavaliers, but not enough to trust the breeding pool is changing in an organized way (and she loves cavaliers so much, she said that is the most heartbreaking part of it all, the nature of these dogs could be lost forever if we don't fix it). She said breeders here will usually only MRI a male because he will produce the most offspring, and she just laughed that somehow they forget that 50% of an equation does not equal totality.
She also stated when I asked her "if we could get all breeders to scan, would this really help our breed? Is there really hope?" she said absolutely. Scanning would change this breed and turn its life around, but it is getting the breeders to do so. She also acknowledged how expensive it was to scan, even on discount day, here in Australia, and that is what puts them all off. She said they are trying to figure out how to make it cheaper still (this specialist hospital is only 3 years old...and I think it will lead the pack in Australia).
Anyway, so I feel in good hands, but it is always hard not to wonder. To give control to someone else. I am feeling good, anxious and then good again
It will be a road to travel on for us I think vs. a quick diagnosis, but I think I am beginning to be okay with that and happy to follow it for now, knowing that if she thought Brooklyn was in serious condition she would move forward a lot faster (she also told me if I see things change in Brooklyn in anyway in the next month, we are doing an MRI asap). I am one to usually wants answers fast, but I do appreciate her taking one thing at a time. Again...I've just got to put my trust in her and move forward! Brooklyn took to her like a new best friend (she even let out a whimper when she left to fill out her prescription! ha), and Brooklyn is an amazing judge of character, I have seen her react to my old first vet and it never made me comfortable...now the way she reacts with my new vet and with this neuro just assures me she is okay with all of this, and so am I.
So the road continues! Watching how she goes on Gabapentin will tell a lot. Thank you all for your thoughts and support! I don't know what I would ever do without you all. xx
P.S. Kate, I took your advice and took Brooky for an evening drive to go on our favorite beach walk
The air was fresh and it revived us both:
IMG_1347 by
kelseykakes5, on Flickr