CKC Episodic falling syndrome

alias123

Hello,
We have a Cavalier King charles pup ,he's about 7 months old now. He has had a problem since around 2-3 months old. The problem is he freezes ,sometimes falls over when walking ,ocaasionaly has had a little seizure with a little froth around the mouth. The freezing usually doesnt last long,he will start walking again. A 10 min walk can take up to one hour.

I came across this web site http://cavalierepisodicfalling.com/first.html where the condition is descibed in detail.

I would like to hear from anyone who knows or has had any experience with thier dog ,cavalier king charles in particular.

One question springs to my mind now ,is after the program on bbc about close genetic breeding issues ,is how much the breeder has to do with these type of conditions?

Thanks for any help on this.

MsFifers

Sorry to hear about your poor dog.

After the TV show I was researching some of the issues that came up and came across this board:
http://board.cavaliertalk.com/index.php

They may be able to provide some assistance to you.

alias123

I know ,you cant help feel sorry for the little fellow. We really dont know what to do at this stage, we found its better not to bring him walking at the moment as it seems to bring on these seizures.

Its getting frigntening now when he gets one of these fits as he shakes all over and literally cant straigten his back legs to walk.

We feel a bit angry with the breeder ,we havn't yet got in touch yet. I'm not saying they are guilty,but cant help wondering did they take all of the proper precautions before breeding.

How much liability is on the breeders ?

Mudlan

I know its an old thread but recently my pup has been diagnosed with this condition too. (Hes 6mths old - Tricolour)

I thought it was Syringomyelia first after seeing the same documentary on the BBC but thankfully it wasnt.

Originally the fits occurred every day when let out in the morning but after the last month he seems to have gotten a bit more relaxed and sits down himself when its coming on. (You can see his back legs tighten and head tilt.)

As for walks I too had to stop bringing him.It was unfair. At home hes got plenty of space to run around and seems happy out. While the fits are frightening to watch at times he doesnt appear to be in pain so hopefully its something we can try and control. His back has the characteristic arching when brought on and his back legs stiffen. Occasionally he has a more violent where he is thrown back but this is rare.

I brought him to the vet and she said there isnt a lot you can do. (Some dogs in the states have been provided Diazepam or similar to try and calm the dog but recently some vets say that the dog builds up an immunity to it over time). The only thing to do is not to breed him and try and reduce the spread of the condition.

I have notified the breeder that I bought him off and she was upset. (We have bought several CKC off of her over the last 10 years and all have proved to be lovely dogs and great pedigree.) Since the 'disease' is relatively unheard of...even the vet had to research it...she knew very little of it. Since notifying her she traced the EFS back to the sire that she had brought in for service and even offered to replace the Dog but I have gotten too attached to him and hes got a great personality. Wouldn't even think about changing him!!

I have a 5 year old CKC Blenheim dog too though hes just lazy!

sotisme

Sorry to bump an old thread, but it looks like my cavalier has episodic falling syndrome, and I would love to hear of other peoples experiences with this horrible illness:( He's coing home from UCD vet tomorrow. Thanks!