Thoughts and prayers for Cali, you and your family! Just read through your thread, I can't imagine how difficult of a time this has been for you and your family. You guys have increadible strength and a strong precious little girl! Will now be watching for updates! Lots of love from Tucson!

I'm so glad to hear good news and hope today's update is just as positive. At least with the titre results verbally back, there are additional causes ruled out.

It's great to hear that she is improving, and I'm excited for you that it is Friday and you will see her soon!

UPDATE: It has been a long exhausting day and we finally made it back to Starkville. I can't tell you all how happy we were to see Cali and how happy she was to see us. And great news...she is trying to move her back legs and managed to stand up on her own this morning. YES, she stood on her own even though it was only for a few seconds. These are baby steps but they are improvements nonetheless. Now I'll try to answer everyone's questions. The vets have her on all PO meds since she is eating & drinking on her own. They have her on doggie version of Augmentin (antibiotic), Diazepam (Valium), and Dilantin for her rigidity and spasm activity, and Prednisone-steriod (cause they are thinking autoimmune issue). I must tell you how impressed I was with her legs. She tries to move them and occassionally she pulls one or both up slightly. We were able to spend so much time with her this afternoon. I put her paws down in the grass and she started walking (I held her back legs up for her). She just wanted to walk and smell the grass and be with me & hubby. Another good sign is she curled up for the first time in 2 weeks to lick her hind leg (she was unable to do this before). Only problem is she was nipping at her stitches from her muscle biopsy, LOL! Mommy had to correct her.

We spoke with the resident Dr. Ortinau and neurologist Dr. Shores and they want to keep her another week to keep tweaking her meds. They say she isn't out of the woods yet but they expect for her to continue to improve and they want the muscle bx results back to make definitive decisions. They are thinking more autoimmune than anything else, especially since the titers came back negative. She had her rabies vaccine in Jan. and I mentioned this in case it amped up her immune system and caused any kind of reaction (autoimmune).

I just know I'm leaving something out but I've given everyone so much to read already. We will be visiting in the morning and I will post an update as soon as we get back. I'll try to get some pictures to post as well.

THANK YOU to everyone!!! This is how I feel: :D

The plan is to up her doses of dilantin and prednisone to see if she improves even more than she has. They are thinking an autoimmune issue.

Yay! Great news! So happy....

She had rabies shot in Jan and the rest of her boosters 2 weeks ago (from today). She started slipping 2 days before her shots so we had her checked when we brought her to get her shots and that's when the nightmare began. Each day she got worse and worse until she couldn't walk anymore. I think the routine boosters are lepto, bordetella, and something else....?

IMHNVO (in my humble not a vet opinion, lol) That is way too many vaccines at one time for a small dog.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/die...-overview.html

my girl's bill lists a vaccine of dhlpp and also bordatella that she got when she went for 15 month old visit. dhlpp googles out to be...distempter, hepatitis, lepto, parvo and parainfluenza . " Although not required by law, the DHLPP vaccine is one of the most important shots a dog can receive because it inoculates the animal against Parvo, a common and often fatal disease of the small intestine. The DHLPP vaccine is typically administered as a series of booster shots during a puppy's first few months, and then given annually throughout the remainder of a dog's life."

I am so happy, excited and thrilled to hear of her progress!!! I hope things get better every hour, every day!! Praying for your baby...

Praying that she continues to improve.

Just want to say that my Piccolo has an auto-immune disease - in remission, probably from vaccines, but nothing like your girl's symptoms. The reason I am even bringing this up is not to talk about the pros and cons of vaccines, but to send encouragement about the medicine they are giving her. Predisone was literally a life saver for Piccolo and I hope the combo of these two drugs help Cali as much as Piccolo was helped.

Thanks for all the updates and hugs to you for being such a good dog "Mom."

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. That is good news!

How do you do it...one at a time? Do you avoid any? We always pre-medicate Mia b/c she had a severe allergic reaction 2 years ago. Then I wanted titers which worked last year cause they were still immune. However, this year they both weren't so we had to get 'em. I just thought they always received them together but what are the other ways to give?
Thanks!

I am interested to know what titers cost to have done? I'm in NJ so I assume we are avg price....The shots at the vet were in the mid 20's each for rabies, bordatella and dhlpp. Plus the exam cost of 44. The shelter was in the high teens-low 20's for each and I don't think they do a "comprehensive exam" but i didn't ask

UPDATE: What a great morning!!! We spent 2 full hours with Cali. We walked her in the beautiful green grass with a sling for her back end (pictures to come). We gave her water. She tinkled AND pooped while we were walking her....this is a HUGE relief for us! We brushed her, strolled her in her stroller, loved her and scratched her ears. Pictures to come if they will ever get delivered from my cell phone! I pray she continues on this path and gets better and better. When walking in her sling she is clearly trying to move her back legs in a normal fashion and she even does move them slightly. It is such a sight for sore eyes. My husband and I were so excited!

This journey is scary and I'm so glad I have everyone here to share it with me. It means so much to come here and receive support, praise, and advise. I wish I could give all of you a huge hug!!!

P.S. I do miss my little Mia.

GEAUX TEAM CALI!