Anyone know Syringomyelia (Shaky Puppy syndrome)?

[syrinx]

i have been finding out about something that sometimes appears in Weis. In Shaky puppy, the myelin (not sure of the spelling) the covering of the nerves, does not form before birth. The messages to the nerves get spread out to many nerves, so the area shakes. That's my understanding, anyway. It grows in the pup, and usually by the age of one, the pup is fine.
There is a study being undertaken in the USA, and I wonder if anyone knows anything about it in Europe at all? They are trying to identify a gene for it, to make a test.
Feel free to email me privatley.
Wendy
[e-mail]

[Weims]

I had a rescue weim a while ago and he was very shaky on his movement. We had him checked out by a vet who has weims and she said it was wobbly puppy syndrome. She said he wouldnt get any worse than he was and could possibly get a bit better as he got older. We think he was about 18 months old.

Lynn

[rivenwil]

Just to clarify for those who have never heard of these conditions, wobblers (cervical vertebral instability often resulting in spinal compression) is a very different condition to shakey puppy (syringomyelia).
Shakey puppy has the term 'puppy' in it because it's often recognised in young puppies, before they leave the breeder (i.e. prior to 8 weeks), and as mentioned in previous posts, is caused by incomplete or irregular mylenisation. Apparently, puppies can grow out of this condition to lead normal lives.
Wobblers more commonly hits the older dog- in Dobes it affects middle-aged dogs (e.g. 5 years and older), in Great Danes it can affect younger dogs (under 2 years). I don't know about Weims.

To correctly diagnose these types of spinal irregularities in the older dog, vets have to perform an MRI (i.e. a dye is injected into the spine of the dog).

There is now another unusual condition that has popped up in a number of Weimaraners in England that was reported to the Club a few years ago. We saw videos of the movement of 3 or 4 affected dogs. Affected dogs have spasmodic unco-ordinated movement (front and rear), but apparently it is unrelated to spinal irregularities (such as observed with Wobblers and Shakey Puppy). A vet report mentioned that it may in fact be caused by a neurological dysfunction. To the best of my knowledge, no positive diagnosis has yet been made and I am unsure if research is continuing.

Kate

[mader]

>>>>There is now another unusual condition that has popped up in a number of Weimaraners in England that was reported to the Club a few years ago. We saw videos of the movement of 3 or 4 affected dogs. Affected dogs have spasmodic unco-ordinated movement (front and rear), but apparently it is unrelated to spinal irregularities (such as observed with Wobblers and Shakey Puppy). A vet report mentioned that it may in fact be caused by a neurological dysfunction. To the best of my knowledge, no positive diagnosis has yet been made and I am unsure if research is continuing.

Kate<<<<<

Kate, has anyone looked into Neuroaxonal dystrophy? This is more common in Labs and now in Rotties.