Video clips of affected dogs
Video clips are one of the best ways to understand how the various symptoms of syringomyelia are expressed in different dogs.
Leo has been diagnosed with moderate grade SM by MRI. He has cerebellar herniation, dilated ventricles, and at the time, a small syrinx. In this video, he is 2.5 years old but was asymptomatic when diagnosed with SM at age 1.5, with symptoms only apparent around age 2. In this clip you see a typical scratching session -- this one lasts 30 seconds and was only interrupted because another dog eventually distracts him. He was having such sessions up to a dozen times daily, each lasting up to two minutes, most often first thing in the morning then late at night, waking him from sleep. Sometimes, he will air scratch and bunny hop when on the lead. He is otherwise very active and has no other signs of pain. He is now treated with gabapentin (Neurontin), which minimises his scratching.
Click here to view
Clip 2: Very severely affected cavalier
This cavalier has progressed to showing very severe symptoms. In this clip you can see that scratching -- dismissed by some as a symptom of mild discomfort in cavaliers with SM -- is obviously a sign of almost unbearable pain for this dog. This dog has such sessions many times a day. My thanks to the owner of this cavalier for permission to use this clip. This dog was euthenised. Warning: this clip is disturbing to watch.
Click here to view
Clip 3: Moderate to severely affected cavalier
Chester is a 12 year old cavalier who was adopted as a rescue at 7.5. His symptoms have gradually progressed and some would be classified as moderate, some as severe but manageable. Because of his age he would not have been a candidate for decompression surgery and has not had an MRI, but has been diagnosed on the basis of these strong clinical symptoms at Tufts University. His owner offers a full explanation of what is seen in this video here. You can also read a full summary on Chester and this video from a presentation by Tufts neurologist Dr McDonnell, here. The video shows a very wide range of symptoms: head tilt, scratching, bunny hop gait, pain at being touched, stumbling and falling from limb weakness. Video and links used with kind permission from Ellen Crimmell.
Click here to view
Clip 4: Moderately affected cavalier
Leo (cavalier in clip 1) at age 5. His symptoms have gradually progressed and while his scratching has been generally well controlled on medications he has started scratching regularly when on walks, something he rarely did in the past. In this brief clip you see typical SM scratching while on the lead -- briefly stopping and trying to scratch and 'bunny hopping'. This type of scratching seems to come and go.
Click here to view