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Syringomyelia


cavvysavvy
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Just a question out of curiosity.....

Does anybody know of any cases of syringomyelia in the cavalier king charles spaniel in Australia?

The idea just popped into my head while I was reading a new book called 'For the love of Ollie'

Such a devastating disease :mad

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There is a Cav that goes to SASH that has the disease :( He is only 4 years old but you look at him and you definitely know there is something not right with him. The owners didn't say much about it because they were, understandably, devestated about it.

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There is a Cav that goes to SASH that has the disease :( He is only 4 years old but you look at him and you definitely know there is something not right with him. The owners didn't say much about it because they were, understandably, devestated about it.

Thats horrible!!!! I was hoping that nobody had heard of it here, as it seems to rife in the UK and USA

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It is not as big a problem as some people seem to think. MVD is still the major cause of early death in the breed :( SM can only be diagnosed definitely by having an MRI.

Many certainly aren;t MRI & i think some vets just say yes due to the BBC story & actually have no idea .

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I know a couple with a pair of pet Cavs and one has been diagnosed and displays outward signs of it. I think it's fairly common.

sorry but have to disagree with this. It is in Australia, but I would not say it is common.

It is not as big a problem as some people seem to think. MVD is still the major cause of early death in the breed :( SM can only be diagnosed definitely by having an MRI.

Agree with Gretel, the major cause of death in cavaliers is MVD. SM affects other breeds besides cavaliers a quick internet search states the following breeds can be affected. Brussels Griffon, Boston Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, French Bulldog, King Charles Spaniel, Maltese, Pomeranian, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Hungarian Vizsla, Weimaraner, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Poodle. See here

There is a lot of research being undertaken in the cavalier breed which is why it seems that the cavalier is the only breed that has it. MRIs at this time are the only way that SM can be diagnosed.

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This is the only study information I know of from Australia, done with the NSW club if I remember right, and it has been mentioned on DOL in the past but I could not find it.

You need to look up the relationship between syrinxes and syringomyelia. I believe that this deformity is thought to be the cause of the symptoms, but not all dogs that have the deformity go on to have symptoms.

In February 2010, Dr. Georgina Child, board certified veterinary neurologist in Australia, reported that of 60 asymptomatic cavaliers scanned as potential breeding stock, 50% had SM syrinxes. http://www.cavalierhealth.org/syringomyelia.htm

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My dog trainers had their 15 months old cav pass away last year from this :(

I think i know the trainers you are referring to, they are mine as well.

They went through so much research and medical treatments & tests.... it was horrible :(

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My dog trainers had their 15 months old cav pass away last year from this :(

I think i know the trainers you are referring to, they are mine as well.

They went through so much research and medical treatments & tests.... it was horrible :(

So sad, so its obvious by the response that I have had that the disease exists in Australia.

I dont think it is widespread. but none the less it still is amongst us!

:confused:

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I would say its common enough in cavs to warrant breeders having their breeding stock MRI tested however, there are many other breeds which suffer from this as well and our health surveys actually showed several F1 cross bred dogs which had been diagnosed with it as well.

None of the cross breds which showed on the survey were cav crosses. Its easy to think in any of these types of things that its breed specific especially when one breed has been hammered as the cavs have via pedigreed dogs exposed etc but whether more cavs are actually represented than any other breed or part there of is open to speculation without further research not just on cavs but any that turn up with it.

Because of the propoganda from PDE its much more likely that a cav will be diagnosed with this where if the same symptoms show in any other dog the vet wont diagnose it as quickly so you have to look at it all in that context as well.

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I would say its common enough in cavs to warrant breeders having their breeding stock MRI tested however, there are many other breeds which suffer from this as well and our health surveys actually showed several F1 cross bred dogs which had been diagnosed with it as well.

None of the cross breds which showed on the survey were cav crosses. Its easy to think in any of these types of things that its breed specific especially when one breed has been hammered as the cavs have via pedigreed dogs exposed etc but whether more cavs are actually represented than any other breed or part there of is open to speculation without further research not just on cavs but any that turn up with it.

Because of the propoganda from PDE its much more likely that a cav will be diagnosed with this where if the same symptoms show in any other dog the vet wont diagnose it as quickly so you have to look at it all in that context as well.

You are absolutely right there. Very good point!

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  • 4 weeks later...

There is a member on here who has a Cav with it I believe. :(

I just stumbled across this thread by chance.

WA I am not sure if you were referring to my little guy or not but my boy suffers from this and has a very severe case and is being put to rest this Saturday.

We have been trying to medicate at the guidance of Georgina Child from SASH and my vet. This disease is becoming increasingly common however my vet personally has not ever had a case of this prior to Oscar.

My only recommendation to anyone thinking of purchasing a Cavalier is to get it from a good breeder who either has a litter with dogs that they breeder knows the full health history of are preferably have MRI'd their breeding stock. NSW Cavalier Club do reduced priced MRI's for breeders (and anyone who owns a Cavalier pet puppy from a registered breeder) and the price of said MRI is actually cheaper then the price of one puppy so in my opinion if you are breeding these dogs you should ALWAYS be having this test done on your breeding stock. I know feel it is a breeders duty of care.

The Cavalier Club MRI days are ran by Georgina Child & her team at one of Sydney's top hospitals and she does it for $770 + GST and the sad truth is a lot of time The Cavalier Club have to cancel their days because they cannot get enough people to come down and have it done to make it worth Georgina's while. The lady from the NSW Cav Club is so dedicated to trying to work out the line of this horrid disease she allows breeders from different states to fly their dogs solo down to Sydney, she picks them up from the airport and cares for them until the MRI is done and pops them back on a plane home. IMO There is no excuse.

However my heart is bleeding because I have to put my heart dog to rest in a matter of days who is due to only turn 3 on the 5th July due to this disease. If you want the privilege to bring this beautiful little breed in to the world than I feel you owe it to the pups to always health test your dogs.

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