Hi all, I'm looking for some advice re my 8yo boy. He has episodes of behaving very oddly where he walks as if he is trying to scratch himself with his hind legs at the same time. Unsurprisingly he then becomes unco-ordinated. These episodes are short lived - maybe 30 seconds in length - and often, but not always, occur just before doing the toilet (pee or poop) but never when out on a walk, only when in the garden. They are becoming more frequent - initially they only occurred at these times but now they seem to often occur when he is anticipating something - being fed, going for a walk, going through a gate/door that someone hasn't opened fast enough! The episodes vary from quite mild to quite disturbing to watch where all his legs seems to start jerking in an uncoordinated manner although so far he has not fallen over, but sometimes he sits down to stop it. This first happened when he was 3 years old. He was investigated for syringomyelia as he showed so many of the symptoms although I was told it was unheard of in labradors. He had an MRI and lumbar puncture and they found nothing. Very oddly after his MRI he suddenly stopped doing it - this also coincided with me moving house so I put it down to something in my old house. However on 1 Jan this year it suddenly started up again and has progressively become more frequent. We have tried him on gabapentin, metacam and treated him for fleas but there has been no change. has anyone heard of anything similar or have any idea what this may be? The vets seem stumped. Thank you,
I am so sorry to hear of your worries , I have heard of this disease but only in association with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels where it is a massive problem . If I were you I would be doing two things , firstly investigating the possibility of seizures which can take many forms , but uncontrollable limb movement is a common one and the dog does not always lose consciousness . Secondly , ask for a second opinion or even visit another Vet in your quest for answers , I wish you luck .
I myself have Syringomyelia. It best can be treated with gabapentine, musscle relaxation and pain medication. Mri is the best way to diagnose, not lumbar puncion.... I myself have had depakine chrono (anti epileptic) and clonazepam. Now I am on opiates and sirdalud (tizanide). First you want to know what caused the syrinx growing in his spine. Is it a herniated disk or something like a King Charles cavalier has: chiari malformation, when the cerebellum is too large for his skull to contain. The cerebellum will be, with every heartbeat, pulled down into the spinal canal. Therefore the liquorfluid isn’t able to flow around the skull and spinal canal. Then a syrinx will form... There are some good website, also for canine. I will try and search for it later and tell you. If you have questions, just ask....
There will be a conference in Birmingham in July. Not only for humane but also vetarinarian specialists. This is a very good Congress. Perhaps you can tell your vet... http://www.syringomyelia-chiari2018.org/
Thank you for your replies. I do have a video of him doing this but I'm a bit of a luddite don't know how to post it! He was MRI scanned for syringomyelia and it was negative so they seem to think it isn't that, although he behaves in a similar way.
Best way is to upload it to YouTube then grab the share code and paste it in the post. Well that is what I do. If it is syringomyelia you DO need MŔI changes to diagnose it. Where are you based @FB ? As in UK or elsewhere.
Hi everyone, drjs@5 - In answer to your question, I'm in the UK. I am still assuming it is not syringomyelia as MRI was clear, however my vet is going to speak to the people who did it and get more feedback. She has started him on gabapentin again, a higher dose than before, but it's made no difference other than perhaps making him more sleepy. He is still doing this scratching reflex/spasm type thing with his back legs.
