Post by cressy on Jan 10, 2005 13:15:44 GMT 1
Wobblers Syndrome (or Cervical Spondylolisthesis) is thankfully not common in weims.
I am not qualified to discuss what it is from a technical point of view but will share my experience of it.
I bought my Cressy from a home breeder (1st litter) who had had plenty of support from her dams breeder. The sire and dam were both from good lines. Sire primarily show and dam working. Cressy was one of 10 pups and was going to be kept by her breeders but they were advised to have a pup from the next litter to have a bigger age gap between their weims!
Cressy was 10 weeks when she came home and was a fit and healthy puppy.
Cressy was fine until she was about 12 months old when her gait started looking abnormal, particularly her hindlegs which were scissoring quite alarmingly. She began bunny hopping and her tolerance for walking was dramatically reduced. After x-rays she was found to have bone deposits in her gluteal muscles. She had various treatments for this but was eventually referred to an orthopaedic specialist.
We travelled down for our appointment and Cressy had a very thorough exam. The vet thought that there was more wrong than the bone deposits but by that time my 20 mth old weim could barely walk due to pain. She had surgery on her hips which went well and then we went back for a follow-up. At the follow-up her hind legs were working quite well but the vet thought her front legs were not quite right. He thought she might have chronic wobblers. As dignosis can only definitely be made by myelogram I decided not to put my dog through more tests at that time.
Cressy was much more able to tolerate walking etc but was a clumsy dog. In many ways she is as graceful as all weims but then she would fall over her feet. We lost another summer through more surgery (unrelated) and she was the rising 4. She continued to stumble and her muscle tone on her all legs was not good.
We had a set of plain x-rays of her spine and even on those it was possible to see a narrowing of the space her spinal cord travels through in her neck. I was asked to send her forward for myelogram again but as the chances of spinal surgery having any significant difference to her and it being a nasty procedure I said no. From that time on my aim has been to give Cressy a good life and I think I am managing that.
She is kept slim, fed on a good quality diet to aid her joints. Her exercise is primarily off lead as I don't want to put strain on her neck. She can moderate what she wants to do and often she terrifies me when she decides to leap a bank then stumbles on landing
.
The consequences for her now are, she has extensive spinal arthritis (and can't take anti-inflammatories). She still stumbles around and she has marked muscle wasting. Some nights she finds it difficult to get comfy and she paces around the room. A couple of times I have thought it was time to call it a day but then we are out in the fields and she is running freely, sniffing for rabbits and pheasants and I know she is not ready to go yet.
Quality is better than quantity and my Cressy has taught me the value of that. She has borne all that has happened and remains a lovely dog who is so loving, patient and calm EXCEPT when she is being a typical, stubborn, frustrating and hyper weim
.
Wobblers can affect like Cressy in a slow progression or it can be a much more rapid condition. Surgey is possible and IF Cressy had not already undergone so much I might have considered it. I know of one weim in the UK who has the more acute condition, she is much younger and has undergone surgery. Hopefully she will continue to make good progress.
None of Cressy's siblings have been affected and this other weim in the UK is not from very close bloodlines so where this has come from is mystifying. I do know that Cressy did not undergo any trauma to her neck and I can think of no environmental factors that will have contributed.
I hope no-one has to go through this but if anyone wants to ask any questions I will do my best to answer!
I am not qualified to discuss what it is from a technical point of view but will share my experience of it.
I bought my Cressy from a home breeder (1st litter) who had had plenty of support from her dams breeder. The sire and dam were both from good lines. Sire primarily show and dam working. Cressy was one of 10 pups and was going to be kept by her breeders but they were advised to have a pup from the next litter to have a bigger age gap between their weims!
Cressy was 10 weeks when she came home and was a fit and healthy puppy.
Cressy was fine until she was about 12 months old when her gait started looking abnormal, particularly her hindlegs which were scissoring quite alarmingly. She began bunny hopping and her tolerance for walking was dramatically reduced. After x-rays she was found to have bone deposits in her gluteal muscles. She had various treatments for this but was eventually referred to an orthopaedic specialist.
We travelled down for our appointment and Cressy had a very thorough exam. The vet thought that there was more wrong than the bone deposits but by that time my 20 mth old weim could barely walk due to pain. She had surgery on her hips which went well and then we went back for a follow-up. At the follow-up her hind legs were working quite well but the vet thought her front legs were not quite right. He thought she might have chronic wobblers. As dignosis can only definitely be made by myelogram I decided not to put my dog through more tests at that time.
Cressy was much more able to tolerate walking etc but was a clumsy dog. In many ways she is as graceful as all weims but then she would fall over her feet. We lost another summer through more surgery (unrelated) and she was the rising 4. She continued to stumble and her muscle tone on her all legs was not good.
We had a set of plain x-rays of her spine and even on those it was possible to see a narrowing of the space her spinal cord travels through in her neck. I was asked to send her forward for myelogram again but as the chances of spinal surgery having any significant difference to her and it being a nasty procedure I said no. From that time on my aim has been to give Cressy a good life and I think I am managing that.
She is kept slim, fed on a good quality diet to aid her joints. Her exercise is primarily off lead as I don't want to put strain on her neck. She can moderate what she wants to do and often she terrifies me when she decides to leap a bank then stumbles on landing
The consequences for her now are, she has extensive spinal arthritis (and can't take anti-inflammatories). She still stumbles around and she has marked muscle wasting. Some nights she finds it difficult to get comfy and she paces around the room. A couple of times I have thought it was time to call it a day but then we are out in the fields and she is running freely, sniffing for rabbits and pheasants and I know she is not ready to go yet.
Quality is better than quantity and my Cressy has taught me the value of that. She has borne all that has happened and remains a lovely dog who is so loving, patient and calm EXCEPT when she is being a typical, stubborn, frustrating and hyper weim
Wobblers can affect like Cressy in a slow progression or it can be a much more rapid condition. Surgey is possible and IF Cressy had not already undergone so much I might have considered it. I know of one weim in the UK who has the more acute condition, she is much younger and has undergone surgery. Hopefully she will continue to make good progress.
None of Cressy's siblings have been affected and this other weim in the UK is not from very close bloodlines so where this has come from is mystifying. I do know that Cressy did not undergo any trauma to her neck and I can think of no environmental factors that will have contributed.
I hope no-one has to go through this but if anyone wants to ask any questions I will do my best to answer!
