I bought Gracie in July 1978 at 10 weeks old. She started to display symptoms of episodic falling at 14 weeks. My vet did not know what it was but an X-ray showed that the vertebrae in her spine were not oscified (set in place) and appeared to be too far apart. He felt they were trapping a nerve and this was causing her to collapse. We were advised to restrict her movement ,by boxing her, for 6 months and to cut red meat from her diet.
The following months were heartbreaking but eventually the attacks became much less frequent, finally stopping altogether by the time she was 2years old. A further X-ray showed her spine to be perfect. We were assured that it was not hereditary, was probably due to a vitamin inbalance and would not re-occur.
We showed Gracie with some success and mated her for the first and last time when she was nearly 3 years old. How I wish I had never done this. She carried well and whelped 6 beautiful puppies with no trouble at all. However when the pups were 3 weeks old I found her slumped out in her bed. At first I thought it was eclampsia but it soon became apparent that her old condition had returned.
She was desparately ill for a week, unable to stand for more than a few seconds and twitching all the time. My vet sent her to Langford House, Bristol University where she stayed for over a week to be observed and have many tests done. They had already encountered this condition at Langford and showed me video clips of other affected cavaliers.
From the results of the tests that they did they concluded that Gracie was suffering from a Neuro-Muscular Transmission Defect. i.e. the motor neurons in her nervous system, that carry messages to and from the brain, were defective. The messages were not getting through and so her muscles were going into spasm because they were not being told what to do.
Gracie's attacks became more and more frequent and severe. She was put on mysoline (an epileptic drug) to basically slow her down. It did seem to help a little although there have since been reports that these drugs can make the condition worse in some affected animals.
Gracie was the sweetest natured, happiest little dog and it was just so dreadful to see her suffering this awful illness. She was put to sleep at 5 years of age because she could no longer stand, eat or drink properly. We were devastated.
Her six puppies, 5 of whom were dogs, were neutered and spayed and given to good pet homes. Thankfully none of them were affected and all lived normal, happy lives which was something that their beautiful mother was deprived of.
If you have a cavalier that is affected by this condition I beg you, please do not breed from it. There is no cure.
