Do Primary Veterinarians Miss the Mark for Cavaliers?

My beautiful little Blenheim girl was 18 months when she began to scratch. It was subtle at first and then it became more constant. It happened during the day and at night. It happened when I put her collar on. And all of her pretty little outfits (it was quite a wardrobe!) seemed to make her itchy. I was troubled by her symptoms but not highly concerned. After all, her veterinarian dismissed it over and over again as skin allergies.

Many Trips to the Primary Veterinarian. Many Incorrect Diagnoses.

Six months had passed and the scratching was worse than ever. I remember my boyfriend at the time saying that he felt badly coming over because it would make Trisha excited and she would start to scratch. If I had only Googled her symptoms or looked on You Tube, I would have had my answer - Syringomeylia. Instead, I relied on my primary veterinarian at Doylestown Animal Medical Clinic to guide me. They failed me. They failed Trisha. By the time she was diagnosed and referred to a neurologist in Red Bank, NJ,, she had developed a severe case of the disease. The specialist recommended surgery which entailed removing a portion of Trisha's occipital bone. He made it clear that the surgery couldn't repair the damage done already but could reduce further progression. After talking with him further and doing my own online research, it was clear that Trisha would have been far better off with an early diagnosis. Missing it - even by 6 short months - cost my pup dearly. It robbed Trisha of her many puppy joys - chasing squirrels, playing with toys, and romping with her canine friends.

A Pervasive Problem - Veterinarians Need to Get On the Ball!

Sadly, Trisha's story is very common. Primary veterinarians miss the mark time and time again with regard to SM. I received an informative but unfortunate message from a reader of Trisha's Diary. Here's what Mia's foster mom had to say:

"One other thing of note, that you might want to share on your website sometime...a big problem that I have found compounding the SM is that so many vets are unaware. Mia's previous owner had been to a vet for seven years that was treating her for skin disease and anxiety - I have her records.. She was on Paxil -- as needed! Horrifying. This poor puppy suffered all that time...because the vet didn't know SM. When she came into rescue, her first vet appointment was with a vet who also said it was a skin condition (this was not my vet, but another volunteer's vet). I received Mia to foster her and could tell in the first two minutes of seeing her that she had SM, which I only had read about. I contacted my cardiologist (vet) and sent her a video that day and she confirmed immediately that it was SM. She now has seen two neurologists - one said it was the worst case of SM he ever had seen. Thankfully, the cardiologist is encouraging in that it is a difficult situation but not a death sentence. She said that 90% of the Cavs she sees now have SM by the time they are 9-10 years old, progressive disease as it is -- they've probably had it all their lives -- undiagnosed. I cannot tell you how many people have written to me and said their vet does not recognize SM. Just awful. There is treatment to make it a little better, but without the knowledge from these vets that people trust, they are not getting treated! Shameful."

Please share this post with others and with your primary veterinarians to be sure they understand the signs of SM.