encephalitis

[Spankydoodles]

I did find out that the vet she goes to is into neurology. Here is his info.

Wabash Valley Animal Hospital Terre Haute, IN, 47802 - YELLOWPAGES.COM

Mom has been using him for years. He saved her other Yorkie, who was in horrible condition from the pet shop she got him from. He had pneumonia and weighed less than a pound. He needs eye drops everyday. (Pet shop was closed by health department) Mom also has a dog who has seizures that is on meds and goes to the same vet. He even prolonged the life of my mom west highland, giving her a few more years than she would have had. Hopefully he can save little Pebbles. My mom is just sick over this. If you pray, please pray for her and my mom. Thanks so much!

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Spankydoodles

On the paper it says 1.00?

???

on the blood work what are the high and low figures?

Did they do bile acid testing?

has the dog been to a neurologist as i would get this little one under care of a specialty hospital where there is an internal medicine specialist and neurologist that can work together to get this little one better

[ladyjane]

It really sounds to me as if this pupster needs further testing. I would strongly suggest a board certified specialist. There are just so many things that could be going on.

Honestly, I am not sure if she should go to internal med or neuro. If I were her, I would ask the present vet for suggestions of a specialist.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by Spankydoodles

I did find out that the vet she goes to is into neurology. Here is his info.

Wabash Valley Animal Hospital Terre Haute, IN, 47802 - YELLOWPAGES.COM

Mom has been using him for years. He saved her other Yorkie, who was in horrible condition from the pet shop she got him from. He had pneumonia and weighed less than a pound. He needs eye drops everyday. (Pet shop was closed by health department) Mom also has a dog who has seizures that is on meds and goes to the same vet. He even prolonged the life of my mom west highland, giving her a few more years than she would have had. Hopefully he can save little Pebbles. My mom is just sick over this. If you pray, please pray for her and my mom. Thanks so much!

I think that is a regular vet and i think this is beyond a regular vet so please tell your mom to ask for a referral to specialty hospital in the area so this little one can be seen by a neurologist and internal medicine so they can work together to figure this out

ask your mom if this all started within 2 months of vaccinating the dog?

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by dwerten

ask your mom if this all started within 2 months of vaccinating the dog?

I am curious....I have been seeing you mentioning this lately. Is there some reason? Does it help with a diagnosis? Is treatment different?

I mean....is there some kind of proof that immunizations are the cause and does that alter anything?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I am curious....I have been seeing you mentioning this lately. Is there some reason? Does it help with a diagnosis? Is treatment different?

I mean....is there some kind of proof that immunizations are the cause and does that alter anything?

on the gme group they have noticed this is happening within 2 months of vaccinations in the dogs. They feel it triggers the disease gme as gme is an autoimmune disease. My friends malt had her vaccinations and within two months the symptoms of gme started- back legs went out, started having seizures, etc. I will get the exact verbage they said.

Also they stated when the annual vaccine cards go out in spring is when they start getting a ton of new members

This is why with GME they give heavy dose of steroids and chemo drugs to stop the body from attacking itself as autoimmune related. There are two types NME and GME

[dwerten]

Here is the verbage

It's a prevailing theory that seems to be borne out by anecdotal evidence. It's not the only cause but seems to be one of the "triggers" in GME susceptible dogs.

Do you have rorie vaccine records? All this started in November so when were her vaccines given as she is 15 months right? Would be interesting to see if this triggered it

[dwerten]

here is what someone else posted

It is my understanding that vaccines do not cause GME. However the vaccine
causes an immune response which can cause the GME to flare up.

[dwerten]

more info - NME or GME depending on what part of the brain is affected

Symptoms can vary depending on what area of the brain is affected. Some would and could include: vision loss, lameness especially in hind quarters, aggression, circling, head tilting, stumbling all of a sudden, mental deficiency, seizures. There are probably many more.

Because other illnesses can bring on many of the same symptoms, it's always recommended that if a neck or back injury is suspected to have xrays taken and infectious disease tests to rule other things out. A spinal tap is normally what is used to diagnose GME. A MRI is useful to show what's going on in the brain.

this is a VET website and why i always use it - it explains it real well the differences of NME and GME

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/granulo...gme/page1.aspx

[ladyjane]

I know all of the above since I have been reading about GME myself. I realize that some people suspect vaccinations although that will not change the fact that vaccines are necessary in younger pups.

My question was why it was important to the OP? Is it going to change the diagnosis and/or treatment?

Have you seen something like that because I have not.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I know all of the above since I have been reading about GME myself. I realize that some people suspect vaccinations although that will not change the fact that vaccines are necessary in younger pups.

My question was why it was important to the OP? Is it going to change the diagnosis and/or treatment?

Have you seen something like that because I have not.

i think op needs to get to a speciality hospital with neuro and internist as stated before. I am not sure if they even did bats on this dog as does not sound like it.

To answer your question no i do not think it will change the treatment but I think the more info the neuro has the better to quickly diagnose and due to age sounds like vaccinations were done which could trigger gme with these symptoms.

My guess is they think it is neurological only since they gave prednisone as they would not prescribe that for a dog with liver disease.

I think they need to do mri and spinal tap if they think this is neurological but sometimes they start with steroids like i believe they did with rorie and the dog relapses if steroids stop working and they have to go to stronger drugs such as chemo along with steroids and the goal is to get them into remission within one year.

DD has not had parvo distemper since she was six months and being immune suppressed will not do it and her titers have been fine for over 5 years as i do them yearly. She never got the one year booster and so glad i did not do it after all this I am reading since she has autoimmune disease having allergies and hypothyroid. As you know the scare with the plumber and all mine are fine so i am sure they were exposed to parvo. I agree they need puppy shots and one year booster but if a dog is immune compromised after puppy shots i would re-think the one year booster and glad i did now since gme runs in yorkie and maltese breed mostly due to poor immune system due to poor breeding.

[dwerten]

My friend took her malt in because her back was hurting after vaccinations. The ER said it is a disc issue which many get misdiagnosed with disc issues for gme and they sent her home with metacam. Then it progressed quickly within a couple months her legs gave out and then she was having seizures. They rushed her to a neurologist as her vet had no idea what was going on. She is now on chemo drugs and steroids. She is doing much better now and she is hoping she will go into remission so it is a wait and see approach. She said it takes about a year to get them in remission.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by dwerten

i think op needs to get to a speciality hospital with neuro and internist as stated before. I am not sure if they even did bats on this dog as does not sound like it.

To answer your question no i do not think it will change the treatment but I think the more info the neuro has the better to quickly diagnose and due to age sounds like vaccinations were done which could trigger gme with these symptoms.

My guess is they think it is neurological only since they gave prednisone as they would not prescribe that for a dog with liver disease.

I think they need to do mri and spinal tap if they think this is neurological but sometimes they start with steroids like i believe they did with rorie and the dog relapses if steroids stop working and they have to go to stronger drugs such as chemo along with steroids and the goal is to get them into remission within one year.

DD has not had parvo distemper since she was six months and being immune suppressed will not do it and her titers have been fine for over 5 years as i do them yearly. She never got the one year booster and so glad i did not do it after all this I am reading since she has autoimmune disease having allergies and hypothyroid. As you know the scare with the plumber and all mine are fine so i am sure they were exposed to parvo. I agree they need puppy shots and one year booster but if a dog is immune compromised after puppy shots i would re-think the one year booster and glad i did now since gme runs in yorkie and maltese breed mostly due to poor immune system due to poor breeding.

Roriee was never properly diagnosed and someone guessed what she had and started steroids. I do not believe that this is the way things are normally done. The steroids did not stop working...she was tapered off of them and then she relapsed.

I do not think there is enough suspicion and/or proof that vaccines cause GME and would hesitate myself to frighten people about it. Vaccines are extremely important...if people stop them out of fear, we are going to see even more pups dying of parvo and distemper!

Do you happen to know the percentage of yorkies that are being diagnosed with GME?

[manolos mom]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Roriee was never properly diagnosed and someone guessed what she had and started steroids. I do not believe that this is the way things are normally done. The steroids did not stop working...she was tapered off of them and then she relapsed.

I do not think there is enough suspicion and/or proof that vaccines cause GME and would hesitate myself to frighten people about it. Vaccines are extremely important...if people stop them out of fear, we are going to see even more pups dying of parvo and distemper!

Do you happen to know the percentage of yorkies that are being diagnosed with GME?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Roriee was never properly diagnosed and someone guessed what she had and started steroids. I do not believe that this is the way things are normally done. The steroids did not stop working...she was tapered off of them and then she relapsed.

I do not think there is enough suspicion and/or proof that vaccines cause GME and would hesitate myself to frighten people about it. Vaccines are extremely important...if people stop them out of fear, we are going to see even more pups dying of parvo and distemper!

Do you happen to know the percentage of yorkies that are being diagnosed with GME?

that is really sad as i thought she went to a neurologist and was under the care of a neurologist That is what i told her to do was to see a neurologist back in november what went on from there had no clue until the relapse. I thought she went to neurologist to have xray, mri and spinal tap if she did not then that was her decision. If it was my dog i would have done it. I have no control what other people do with their dogs just provide them information to make informed decisions as ultimately it is up to them and their vet or specialist what they decide to do and what they can financially afford.

I agree vaccines are needed but in immune compromised dogs the owner and vet need to make that call for each individual case after initial puppy shots are given and if the risk is greater than the protection. I feel i made the best decision for Dee Dee and do not regret my decision. When plumber came in my home not one vet or specialist was concerned about dee dee as they said as long as she had her initial puppy shots and was up on her titers she will be fine. I think they know the initial puppy shots provide protection but they do added protection at one year boost just to be safe.

Vaccines are not the cause of GME but they can trigger it in an immune compromised dog as it is an autoimmune disease.

I do not know the percentage of yorkies that have gme nor how many go undiagnosed because owners cannot afford to pay for MRI and spinal tap by a neurologist or do not act fast enough in getting their dog proper care and dog ends up dying