Dan and Corinne -- I am so very sorry for you and your Yorkie baby. I know first hand how heart breaking it is to go through something like what you are experiencing.
It all started on Mothers Day, 2005 when she had a cluster of seizures for the first time. Test after tests came back negative for anything our family vet thought might be causing the seizures so he referred us to a veterinary neurologist for an MRI and spinal tap. The MRI did not look good. Even to our untrained eyes, we could clearly see something was wrong. The neurologist gave us little hope and told us to be prepared to lose her in a few weeks, if she was strong maybe a month. He put her on prednisone to suppress the inflammation in her little tiny brain and potassium bromide to control her seizures. She was a true terrier, full of energy and attacking her toys like a true ratter. Soon she lost interest in toys, began to spend more and more time sleeping. Next she couldn’t jump up on the sofa, then slowly started to loose strength to a point she couldn’t stand up.
I went through something similar with my first Yorkie, Laciebug, she never had seizures, she started walking "funny". At first we thought it was a spinal problem. So my wonderful vet referred us to the UGA Veternary Hospital. Within about 3 minutes the University Vet said he thought it was neurological and suggested a CAT scan. The scan showed leisions in the lining of her brain -- I don't know the name of the condition, only that it was a type of encephalitis so rare that it is almost never discovered in a living dog, only found in a necropsy. The university vets had only seen a couple of cases and my local vet had never seen a live dog with the condition. I was sent home with 2 weeks of meds and told to go to my regular vet for follow up (the university vet did not expect her to live to take all of her 2 weeks worth of meds). She was on prednisone for the swelling and periodically other meds for symptoms. Each time I took her to visit Doc I would ask him, "Doc, is it time?" and every time Dog would give me the same answer, "Cindy, listen with your heart and she will tell you." She lived for over three years -- what a brave, loving soul my little Laciebug was. |