Syringohydromyelia in King Charles Cavaliers

Holly's Story (cont)~ Page 7

Syringohydromyelia now known as ~ Syringomyelia ~

Other Cavalier Health Issues

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Holly	Syringo...	Worried?	Hollys Pals	CKCS	Photos	Photos

Page 7 Updated

6th Sept 2007

Holly Meets Bramble for First Time

1. Vaccinations

While there appears to be no link between syringomyelia and vaccinations, Vaccination is now seriously considered by a number of researchers to trigger Fitting as well as Mitral Valve Disease in some Cavaliers and in other breeds.

The vaccination is thought to attack a genetic weakness in susceptible cases, producing symptoms that may never have shown but for the vaccination. Veterinarians seem very reluctant to consider this as a possibility much in the same way as our Ministry of Defence refuse, contrary to mounting evidence, to accept that Gulf War Syndrome exists and that it may well have been caused by Cocktail Vaccinations administered in good faith.

As a result of this web page, we have received messages relating to this problem. This extract is typical -

"I read your article relating to vaccinations. I wanted to let you know that in March of this year, my four year old Cavalier spaniel developed an auto immune disease (immune mediated thrombocytopenia) that was linked to her annual series of vaccinations she received 40 days prior to her death. She had been a healthy dog but did experience problems with allergies. Apparently, the vaccinations she received over stimulated her immune system. She became very sick very quickly and watching her die such a painful death was a heartbreaking experience for me. I wish more information about vaccines and potential side effects were available for pet owners....".

All sensible pet owners understand the necessity to keep in check Distemper (D), Infectious Hepatitis (A), Leptospirosis(L) Canine Parvovirus (D) and Kennel Cough, and accept that in the majority of cases no harm is caused to our dogs. However, pet owners are keenly aware that veterinary charges have been escalating year on year (at rates far in excess of the Inflation Indexes for Earnings and Prices), and that the annual "jabs" form a not inconsiderable proportion of a vet's total income. At lest three questions arise -

1) Do our UK Practising Vets operate any monitor (independent of the any Drug Company) the effects of the prophylactic jabs which we are urged to give to our pets? Perhaps there already is a central unit which registers all reports of adverse reactions and analyses these comparing the products of the different drug companies.

2). Do any vets offer alternative vaccines or vaccination programmes which might move us away from the suspect annual multi-vacc cocktail"? It is understood that in the USA some vets are vaccinating with a "mercury free" drug.

3) Are our UK vets aware that many vets in USA have stopped giving annual combination vaccinations and are following the protocol recently released by the University of Colorado Vet. School? This recommends puppy vaccinations and then vaccinations every three years before stopping all vaccinations when the dog reaches (about) seven years of age. Research is continuing into the possibility of annual vaccinations causing the overwhelming of the auto-immune system resulting in the rapid spread of disease.

4) It has been recently suggested by a Cavalier Health consultant that the reason why the Cavaliers could be more affected by vaccination than other breeds is because most other breeds do not have have a misshapen occipital bone. This may be the result of selectively breeding towards a flatter head for the Cavalier, moving away from the domed head of the King Charles Spaniel . This could have been be compounded by the very inbred pedigree backgrounds of the Cavalier breed where no other breed has in-bred co-efficients as high as of 44.6%.

2. .Mitral Valve Disease in Cavaliers

Extract from CKCS "Newsletter 2000:
Report on 2000 Championship Show Heart Testing

"A total of 145 dogs and bitches were auscultated. Sixteen murmurs were recorded. These results are similar to the previous year's results and do not show a marked improvement. However, talking to breeders who present dogs, very few have taken note of the genetic research and are breeding from older dogs. Hence the lack of progress is perhaps not surprising.

It is difficult to know if this is due to apathy or ignorance. There still seems to be a hard core in the breed that denies there is a problem and we may not be able to convince them. However the vast majority need a firmer hand from the Club to push them in the direction of the breeding program suggested. Exactly what form that takes is up to the committee.

There are still too many breeders who know that a strain has a history of a bad heart but persists in breeding from it. On discovering a murmur in a young dog I frequently hear the comment "well I was half expecting it as her mother developed a murmur at this age". I could not detect any association to vaccination." attributed therein to Simon Swift, MA, VetMB, CertSAC, MRCVS

3. Episodic Falling Syndrome

My six year old Cavalier, Bramble, had a strange episode some four months ago (in November 2003). He had been in good health for sometime although he has a slightly enlarged heart apparently..but not on any medication. I found him in a "drunken" state, staggering around on very wobbly legs. His pupils were dilated and his head swaying from side to side as if trying to understand. His eyes were flicking side to side. Frightened, I cuddled and relaxed him wondering if it was a heart attack, stroke, poisoning or something else. He improved slightly after half an hour but was still wobbly. After two hours he was almost normal again. After four hours when we visited our vet, he was showing no symptoms. heartbeat normal for him. No ear problems. The vet was unsure but thought that it may have been heart arrhythmia. He outlined the alternative steps as either E.C.G, Heart XRay, lifelong Fortecor pills or maybe do nothing as he may very well not have another attack. We decided to do nothing for the moment. Since then, Bramble has been exceedingly well. At the time however we did some research and found a website which described Episodic Falling Syndrome which has been known in a few cases in Canada and New Zealand for some years. We wonder if anyone else has experienced any similar episodes in their Cavalier.

Description of what happens when Episodic Collapse occurs."After a period of exercise, which may be of variable length, animals that are afflicted develop a laboured, bounding gait in the hind limbs which appear stiff and are partially turned out. The movement resembles the hopping of a rabbit. The dog's back may become arched, with the head close to the ground and the rear high in the air, and the dog often cries out. With the lack of coordinated movement, the dogs collapse on their sides or pitch over on to their noses. There is no loss of consciousness or change in colour, although muscle tone in the legs was noted to be increased in the "Muscle hypertonicity..." article, and the legs were held in 'extensor rigidity'. After a short time, which can vary, the animal gets back on its feet; some were noted to be quite distressed, while others acted as though nothing had happened. Stress, apprehension, and excitement can cause an episode. There is no known effective treatment, although if the owner picks the dog up, this seems to help with the recovery phase."

Originally Published in The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Canada Newsletter "Quotes", in November, 1996. Contact address email marcrest@sympatico.ca.

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