King Charles and possible SM?

[CatthiefKeith]

I'm dog sitting a friends cavalier, and she is constantly scratching her head on the carpet and yelping. I've taken her to the vet, but she needs a MRI to confirm.

My friend has no pet insurance, and I am unlikely to get the money back so have left it for now. (She is back on weds)

Does anyone have any experience or tips to make her more comfortable?

You won't be able to make her comfortable, if her brain is swelling. Unfortunately, it's one of those diseases that really requires fast treatment.

Wednesday is a really long time to wait, too - did the vet think that is was likely to be SM? Did they offer painkillers?

If you catch SM early, you can treat it with NSAIDs, but it sounds like it may already be too severe for that if she is yelping. Opiods and anti-convulsants are an option if it's already severe, but they don't come cheap and they aren't guaranteed to work. After that, you're looking at drugs which reduce cerebrospinal fluid production, or possibly surgery, although SM has a high recurrence rate.

Can you contact friend to see what she wants to do?

Ooh, that said, if you can stop her having to lower her head (so raise her food bowls, have somewhere she can sleep with her head up) that can temporarily reduce symptoms, although it's only really supposed to happen whilst awaiting an appointment.

You may find that she stops lying down at all, to reduce the fluid moving about and causing pain.

I say constantly, but that is exaggerating, it's every hour or so, for about 10 mins.

I hadn't seen her for a couple of years, she looks really old but is only 4, and is a different dog. Still sweet, but totally untrained, if i say sit she just looks at me blankly.

Friend is not replying to messages or calls. Am starting to think she knew bloody well the dog was sick an didn't tell me.

Vet thinks it is likely but isn't able to confirm without the MRI.

If she's scratching and yelping that frequently she must be pretty high up the CM/SM pain scale. Did the vet not offer any medication options? She can't really stay as she is until Wednesday with no treatment at all.

No he didn't. Said he couldn't treat her with out the MRI (which will be hideously expensive) Should I get a second opinion?

Not helped by the fact I'm off sick with conjuctivitis but I will get her to another vets if necessary.

I'd get a second opinion. Strictly speaking, to get an actual diagnosis you need an MRI, but as it so obvious in this case and it doesn't sound like surgery will be an option for your friend without insurance, they should treat the symptoms.

If you only have her until Wednesday, you could just ask for a week's worth of meds - even if it's just an opiod to reduce the pain until your friend is back.

You could perhaps call another vet, explain what has happened and ask if they'd be willing to prescribe something to treat the symptoms, so that you know if they will help? They really shouldn't leave a dog in pain...

Sorry about the conjunctivitis :(