CEN

Hi all,

Well the last of Misty's test results are in. The tests for Toxoplamosis and Neosporia have come back negative.

The vet called yesterday after consulting with a Neurologist down at Angell Memorial in Boston with what she had found out. The Neurologist, in light of all Misty's test results having come back either normal or negative, feels that she has Juvenile Epilepsy. He would also like to run a spinal tap as well as an MRI on her to rule out encephalitis. Our vet is checking on what it would cost to have it done in Boston.

She is not being medicated as of now. The vet wants to get a better idea of how often she has seizures before we go down that road and I tend to agree with her. So now it's just a matter of waiting to see what happens.

It's now been 8 days since her last seizure and she's doing great. She turned 10 weeks old yesterday and in all respects is a normal puppy. She's doing great. It's been 4 years since we've had a puppy in the house and boy did we forget how energetic they can be. In the two weeks that we've had her she's about doubled in size. She now comes when she's called, knows sit and we are now working on down. And of course she's a perfect angel..........when she's sleeping. LOL

She's really livened this place up.

Take care,
Kim & Misty

Misty sounds like a wonderful puppy. Do you have any pictures to post?
Richard

Before you do all those invasive tests that usually turn up nothing maybe you should consider that the seizures are due to her just settleing in and getting used to the change of food and living conditions, as well as the vaccinations and worm and flea treatments. It might have been all too much for the little mite.

I've been thinking the same thing all along but the vet doesn't tend to agree with me, neither does the neurologist.

The fact of the matter is that we more than likely won't be able to have the spinal tap and MRI done anyway due to the cost involved. The vet's going to check on the cost so if Misty does start to show signs of having neurological problems at least we'll be prepared and know what the cost is going to be.

Only time will tell whether or not the vet and the neurologist are right. I'm really hoping they're wrong.

Kim & Misty

It's the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Do you really think they will admit to over vaccinating, worming and change of diet as the problem when for hunreds of dollars they can prove it is not anything.
Give it a week or two so long as she is not clustering and see what happens. If she has not seized since since the inital lot it may be over and she has adjusted to her new surroundings - heres hoping..

Our vet said we COULD have an MRI done (and he isn't able to do them, so it's not the money in his case) and he said it wouldn't help her. What it would do is either tell you just what is causing them, or as in most cases, you'd find nothing out and be out a bunch of money, still fighting the battle the same way the rest of us are.

Don't feel like a bad person if you decide not to have the expensive tests done. The way I feel is that if the MRI was curing her of seizures...then bring it on. But that's not the way it goes.

I had an MRI done and looking back on it with the knowledge I have now, I would NOT have had it. The spinal tap is a good thing in that it will let you know if the dog is seizing due to a tick borne disease and it will show if there are toxins involved. Trouble is, they have to inject the needle at the base of the skull and if there's a tumor there they could erupt it causing death to the dog. That is how the neuro talked me into getting the MRI because I wanted to skip it and just do the spinal tap.

It's tough because we're afraid we aren't covering all bases and fear we could be jeapordizing the dog's well being by not doing all the tests. Most of the time it turns out to be idiopathic anyway and we're out all kinds of $.

Vivian