Bonnie, a beautiful blenheim Cavalier, my first dog, came into my life when she was ten weeks old.

I looked forward to my new lifestyle as a dog owner, doing some training with her, some agility maybe, and lots of walking in the countryside where we lived.

Bonnie was a very happy and confident little dog. Everybody fell in love with her, and I wanted to take her everywhere with me.

Right from the beginning, I noticed that Bonnie scratched rather a lot, but was told, 'all dogs scratch'. I groomed her regularly, changed to a hypoallergenic shampoo, treated her for fleas, and got used to the fact that she was a scratchy dog.

One or two people commented that Bonnie had a 'funny walk'. It was a sort of rolling gait, which looked slightly comical from behind, and I wasn't worried by it.

I began to see that Bonnie was often quite restless in the evenings. She would frequently move to another part of the room, or go to lie down on the stone tiles in the kitchen. She also had this very strange habit of licking the air as if trying to catch imaginary flies.

Cutting a long story short, I will just say that over the next two years Bonnie had more bouts of pain, and was given every possible diagnostic test to try to reach a diagnosis. Her restlessness increased, the scratching increased, she obsessively licked her front paws, and she no longer looked forward to walks. I would take her to our favourite open space and she would just sit down and not want to follow me. Bonnie found it increasingly difficult to jump up or down from furniture or steps and her movements seemed increasingly uncoordinated.
Photo of Carol with Bonnie

Another very strange symptom occurred, which is what finally indicated to my vet that Bonnie should be referred to a neurologist. While walking on the lead, Bonnie's left hind leg would make a scratching movement which did not make contact with the skin. It got worse, more frequent, and stronger. It was not just when on the lead, but with any kind of excitement. The crying/screaming episodes were almost unbearable to witness. She would often tremble with the pain, and try to hide in a dark corner or under a chair.