garynortheast
07-02-15, 08:54 PM
Worrying time this week.
My dog Mabel was pretty poorly last weekend, so much so that I took her to our vet out of hours. Initially thought it was some sort of infection and treated her accordingly.
Much worse on Monday morning so back to the vet where after blood tests and an examination it was a suspected case of a canine form of meningitis.
After checking our pet insurance we were referred to Willows vet centre and referral in Solihull, big state of the art place with all the necessary CT scanning, X-ray and various other hi-tec bits and bobs. We had a day there while they ran a whole series of tests, scans and checks. The meningitis diagnosis was confirmed and painkillers and a 10 month course of steroids was prescribed.
The canine form of this illness is not infectious or contagious, it's a temporary glitch with the body's immune system which causes it to attack the body and results in inflammation, in this case, of the musculature surrounding the spinal column in the neck. Steroids are the recognised (and very effective) treatment.
Thank goodness for pet insurance though. The day's Solihull adventure totted up to £2600!! I paid just a £75 excess. :shock:
She's on the mend now thankfully and starting to behave like her usual self again. Needs to put some weight back on again though as she lost nearly 2 kilos during the week.
My dog Mabel was pretty poorly last weekend, so much so that I took her to our vet out of hours. Initially thought it was some sort of infection and treated her accordingly.
Much worse on Monday morning so back to the vet where after blood tests and an examination it was a suspected case of a canine form of meningitis.
After checking our pet insurance we were referred to Willows vet centre and referral in Solihull, big state of the art place with all the necessary CT scanning, X-ray and various other hi-tec bits and bobs. We had a day there while they ran a whole series of tests, scans and checks. The meningitis diagnosis was confirmed and painkillers and a 10 month course of steroids was prescribed.
The canine form of this illness is not infectious or contagious, it's a temporary glitch with the body's immune system which causes it to attack the body and results in inflammation, in this case, of the musculature surrounding the spinal column in the neck. Steroids are the recognised (and very effective) treatment.
Thank goodness for pet insurance though. The day's Solihull adventure totted up to £2600!! I paid just a £75 excess. :shock:
She's on the mend now thankfully and starting to behave like her usual self again. Needs to put some weight back on again though as she lost nearly 2 kilos during the week.