cavmum1

Jules, so sorry for your friend and the 13 yr old cat and hope it had nothing to do w/ the food because all of us are trying to be careful, do the right thing. Yet somehow we feel completely guilty when something like this occurs. Now for some good news! Jake's vet quickly locacted what she thought to be the problem. He has inflammation between last lumbar disk and the sacrum. Her exam told her this was most likely cause and so he was sedated for digital radiographs. Right where she told us she thought he had a problem we could see it plain as day. SM is not the cause, which would be much worse to deal with. So he's already had his first laser treatment and home to be kept quiet for a week. Rimadyl 2X daily and back in a week for another laser treatment. We'll see how he's doing at that point as far as activity that will be allowed. Right now it is no walks and to be carried down the 3 steps into the yard just for necessities, carried back in. We're due snow Sat and Sun. Rain, too, and down in the teens. That means ice, naturally. Speaking of ice, a Cavalier friend has suggested we ice the area to reduce inflammation and also for some additional pain relief. Am also wondering about accupuncture.

It dawned on me later tonight after I made the vet appointment and posted above here that Jake has some of the very typical symptoms of syringomyelia. This is somewhat prevalent in his breed. Tends to be genetic and both sides of his family are symptom free from the dogs that I have heard about. However, even dogs that remain symptom free all their lives can quite likely show the problem on MRI and thus generally breeders do not screen for it. Syringomyelia in the Cavalier

Aside from "sloppy poos" and gas attacks in a few dogs being fed Orijen, has there been any documented illness or weakness in hindquarters or pain in dogs fed Orijen kibble? We're in USA and started feeding Orijen to our Cavalier in August '07. He was allergic to commercial foods containing grains. I thought we'd have to home cook forever and still do some home cooked dog meals, but Orijen Adult and particularly the Six Fish have been our Jake's main diet since we introduced it. If it does turn out there is a problem for dogs on Orijen kibble such as what has been reported in cats due to irradiation before entering your market, that would be such a tragic thing. I feel so bad for the cat owners in the first place, and of course the suffering cats. Is it definite that it is the Orijen? I know it has been pulled from your market. Is it definite that this problem was caused by irradiation? On the one hand I can see from what I have learned that irradiating Orijen would not be a good thing at all and could produce a very dangerous result for the cats consuming it. However, some of the facts as presented in the news just don't add up for me. I'm reading the info with interest because our Jake's Orijen kibble has never been irradiated as far as anyone can report. It just isn't done coming into USA from Canada. Jake has a vet appointment tomorrow to get a diagnosis on his pain, his sudden shaking and yelps, and most of all his no longer being able to jump up into my lap or in play with his toys he loves to retrieve and catch. Doubt very much it has anything to do with Jake's kibble and looking for answers. The vet will hopefully be able to pinpoint the problem and start him on the road to quick recovery.