22/06/2023
I have some news to share with you.
A couple of months ago, on a Thursday around 22h Misaki started repeatedly chasing and biting after flies. It was weird but comical. Until it wasn't, very soon I realised something was not quite right.
It turns out Misaki has Fly Biting (or Snapping) Syndrome (FBS). She sees, hears and feels imaginary “flies”. These imaginary flies haunt her; she bites at them while lying or sitting down and sometimes an episode gets so bad, she runs away from them. These occur when she is awake or sleeping.
FBS can have multiple causes:
- Gastrointestinal conditions
- Compulsive disorder (OCD in humans)
- complex partial seizure or epilepsy
- Eye disease (although there is no medical evidence for this)
We know that Misaki has no GI conditions, and since the antiepileptic drugs work, it probably isn’t compulsive disorder either. Therefor it is most like epilepsy.
HOWEVER, the research done around FBS is limited so the only reason scientist think it is a form of epilepsy is because there is nothing else to attribute it to, so far.
We have the FBS under control thanks to a third of the daily required dose of Phenoleptil (antiepileptic drug) in combination with CBD oil.
The combination of antiepileptic drugs and CBD oil is something that has been tested in humans with epilepsy but not with dogs, so do not take this as medical advice!
What does this mean for our kennel?
While my life’s moto is “Where there’s a will there’s a way”, I believe that the “will” and the “way” have to be ethical and morally sound. Even though I doubt that breeding a bitch while on antiepileptic drugs is healthy for the pups, taking Misaki off the medication for the sake of breeding is unhealthy for her. And thus, I have decided to exclude Misaki from breeding.
What about Hanako? She has given us two beautiful litters and has reached the age of 7 just this month. I think that is enough for a dog of her age.
Our dogs are also our family members. Rehoming a dog for a potential new breeding prospect did not once cross my mind, and bringing a fourth dog in our household is not possible.
Therefore, after a lot of tears, sleepless nights, hours upon hours of research, talking to vets, a neurologist, other breeders, etc I have decided to stop our breeding activity.
I would like to apologise to all the people who have contacted us over the last several months asking about our next litter and received the answer “not this year”. I knew about Misaki’s problems, I knew in my heart that I wasn’t going to plan another litter. I was just not ready to share all this with others while still having to come to terms with the decision myself.
I share this news with you now, after having my batteries recharged from a lovely vacation out in Denmark’s nature, feeling energised to write this all down and share this with (at least some of you) “total” strangers.
I will not disappear from the Shikoku community, I’m still engaged by organising Shikoku Walks in Belgium and the Netherlands through the account on Instagram .
I will eventually remove or inactive this page.
Love,
F***y
