I'm Here to Help You
 

Please let me know if anyone is going through a similar situation. I'm here to help you.

My gosh, what we don't go through with these little bundles of love.

I am so sorry to hear about Laciebug.

I had an episode last weekend that scared the heck out of me. Luckily, Sadie snapped out of it, so I can somehow relate to how scary that was.

Thank goodness she had you.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I just found this thread. My heart goes out to you, and I hope and pray your little one lives a long, meaningful life.

They sure have spunk.

Please keep us posted. I care. I only wish there was something I could do to help.

Terrified in Atlanta
 

My 7-year-old, 3-pound rescue Yorkie had 2 seizures on Thurs night (6/27/08). This was completely unexpected; she had just gone on a short walk around the neighborhood and behaved normally. We took her to an after-hours emergency clinic and they recommended she see a neurologist. We are about 65 miles from UGA vet clinic and took her there.

They did an MRI, spinal tap, and blood profile. The MRI showed inflammation in her brain. At this time, they do not know if the cause is viral, bacterial, or sterile inflammation. They seem to be leaning toward Yorkshire Necrotizing Encephalitis, but started her on antibiotics last night in case it is bacterial.

Nothing I read gives me any hope for a positive prognosis, and the vets are reluctant to either.

Does anyone have knowledge that could help us? I am so scared, she is so little...

We have had her for 5 years and she has made such wonderful progress. She was being used as a kennel breed dog and is much too little to breed. We have just let her be a lap dog when she wants and princess all the time. She is the boss of our 5-year-old 11-pound Maltese who can't figure out where she is.

I am terrified that we are going to lose her to this condition....If anybody knows anything that could help, please let me know.

I am so sorry to hear about your little Yorkie. She is a fighter though, and you guys are doing theright things for her. :aimeeyork She is lucky to be in such good hands and to be recieving the best of care.:aimeeyork I'll be praying for her, and hoping that things go well. :aimeeyork

Thank you mscat
 

Thank you for your prayers. That seems to be the only source of hope we have right now. None of the information that I can find gives me any.

I am praying for your little one. Keep us posted

Thank you so much. We are wandering around lost and really scared right now. I know all you Yorkie Moms and Dads understand...

This just seems to be such a devastating disease, no matter what the origin. We feel fortunate to be so near such a great vet school with 3 top-notch neurologists on staff. But even they aren't giving us much to hold on to.

To the Mother of Laciebug, did they diagnose her with a specific type of encephalitis? Did she really make it for 3 more years? I haven't found anyone else with that lifespan after diagnosis. Most are just a few months. You may be able to offer me some hope...

Hi! I just posted on Corinne's profile page asking her to contact you. I'm sure she'll be happy to talk to you about your baby.

Your baby will be in my prayers.

You can send a private message (PM) to chattiesmom or to Dan & Corinne to contact them.
Prayers for your little one...

I am so sorry to have just read about your furbaby.

I wish I had so information for you, but this is new to me.

Please know all of you are in my prayers.

The very best!

Kate

PS - Do you have an update for us?

Update on Crissey's Encephalitis
 

Hello All,

Sorry I haven't updated until today. I have been spending as much time with her as possible and since it is about 3 hours roundtrip, I am exhausted from the emotion and the trip.

But the news as of now, is good. She has a mild case with very little damage. We caught it early and she is responding to treatment.

For any of you who are facing this disease, this is a critical issue:

The doctors have told me that there are 2 basic types of canine encephalitis. It can be either INFECTIOUS, or STERILE. The infectious type can be viral, bacterial or fungal. The sterile type is like an auto-immune disorder where the body starts attacking itself. This type has no KNOWN cause, but there are several theories including genetics and triggers associated with vaccines. Within the sterile type include GME, and breed-specific types like Pug Dog Disease and Yorkie Necrotizing Encephalitis.

They say that about 70% of the dogs with encephalitis have the sterile kind. And about 30% have the infectious kind. Because Crissey is a Yorkie, the chances are greater that she has Yorkie Encephalitis.

But there is still about a 30% chance that even a Yorkie can have the infectious kind rather than the sterile kind.

And this is where it gets really tricky. If they start treating her with the drug protocol for the sterile kind which includes high doses of steroids, the desired effect is to suppress the immune system so that it stops attacking itself. And that is great, as long as the underlying cause of the disease is truly sterile in nature.

But if you start giving the dog high doses of steroids, and it is actually infectious in nature, then you will probably kill the dog because you will have suppressed their immune system to the point that it cannot fight off the infection.

However, if you start treating with antibiotics and it turns out to be the sterile kind, you have a better chance of being able to reverse the course, change the treatment protocol, and still save the dog.

So the decision is really a sort of "lesser of two evils" choice. Many times they can diagnosis the infectious kind from a spinal tap, but Crissey's was inconclusive. And they didn't feel that her case warranted another spinal tap.

So the bottom line for us is that she is much improved and is going home today on antibiotics. They are still not sure if her improvement is due to the antibiotics, or due to the residual effects of the low-dose steroids they gave her in the beginning to reduce the inflammation. So she could get worse over the next couple of weeks and then we would deduce that she actually has the sterile variety rather than the infectious.

At that point we would have to switch her to the high dose steroids combined with another drug, cytosine, that acts as a sort of chemotherapy.

So please keep us in your prayers over the next couple of weeks. We are at a very critical phase with this disease and can use all the support and prayers that we can get.

Thank you all for your concern and support and I will keep you posted on her progress. I am SO HAPPY to be bringing her HOME!

Deborah

I am SOOOO sorry, what a horrible situation and thing to have!

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

Deborah,

I am so glad your baby, and you are home. I have never heard of this type of thing, but it certainly sounds like she is in good hands.

It is so good to hear she is doing OK.

Lots of prayers coming your way, and thanks for keeping us posted.

We care.