>When you hear the message on your machine at the lab, you will get more
>details.  I hope you can get back to me.  I understand that if she does not
>make it that you would possibly want to see her.
 
     Fran - I have received your message, and will get in touch with you
tomorrow (5 July) when I get back in the office.
 
    Yes, I am very interested in seeing her, especially the brain.
Unfortunately, we were never able to find anything on microscopic
examination of her aunt.  Sometimes the brain is just "wired" improperly,
when this happens, we usually don't see anything abnormal, just bizarre
behavioral signs.Tumors and inflammation we can see, disease we can see, but
bizarre behavioral changes often leave no footprint.
 
    But it's certainly worth trying....
 
    Please, if you have her put down, get your vet to do an autopsy and save
all tissues in formaldehyde so that I can take a look.  Do not freeze the
body - this will turn all of the water in the cells of the body to ice, and
when you thaw them out, the cells bear no resemblance to what they looked
like before.
 
        Talk with you soon...
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1245]