This is Sandy Streit.
 
My Amber is sick and we are at our wits end.  I'd appreciate hearing from
anyone who has experienced anything like this.  I apologize in advance for
misspellings.  And I'm not very knowledgeable about medical items.
 
The patient is Amber: female, age about 2, spayed, desented.  Distemper
vaccine (Fervac): 2 shots last year (April/May), booster given around
1/1997.  Last rabies vaccine, about 2 weeks ago.  No signs of illness until
Sunday.
 
Symptoms started on Sunday.  Normally she's very active, wants to be freed
from her cage at dawn.  She just laid in her bed.  Poop was mucusy.  We
offered her "duck soup", but she did not eat any.  She did take water,
Nutracal, Linatone and rasins.  Thought it was a colf/flu.
 
Monday morning she seemed about the same.  She laid flat in her bed, not
trying to move.  We fed her Ensure, Pedialyte, Dyed, Nutracal, raisins.  Her
eyes looked sunken.  She had some what ridged muscle tone.  By afternoon she
seemed worse so we ran her to emergency vet.  She perked up a bit when
there.  Vet confirmed no blockages.  She is urinating fine.  Poop were
loose, but she hasn't eaten any "solid" food.  Temperature normal.  She did
get up twice to walk around a bit and to eat a little.  When trying to use
the litter box she would have to visit several to produce any thing.  We
kept pumping fluids and liquid food into her.
 
On Tues., our regular vet checked her.  Temp still normal.  Slightly high
white blood cell count.  Blood tests showed liver not working right.  No
sign of paralysis, but he thinks some neurological problems may be
occurring.  She shakes her head slightly, bristles her tail like she's being
over stimulated.  He gave her a cortisone shot.  Best guess was hepatitis.
She was put on Baytril.  She was much improved
 
Wed she was still good, however still refusing solid food.  She eagerly eats
duck soup and Pedialite from a spoon.  Still visiting several litter boxes.
Poop is loose, but volume increasing.  Vet feels that is from the change in
diet.  She did get up and walk around a bit that evening.  She seemed almost
normal, just a bit run down, which I but attributed to having been ill.  I
thought she was on the road to recovery.
 
Thursday, in morning she was still active, but by early afternoon she had
relapsed.  Back to the vet.  Assumption is cortisone is wearing off, so the
symptoms have returned.  More tests have eliminated blood sugar problems.
She still has that odd head shake when you rub her.
 
Tonight the vet called.  He's thinking it's some sort of brain problem.
 
Possibilities:
 
Distemper: Not likely, since she's been vaccinated.  No discharge around the
eyes/nose.  Pads not thickened.  No rash on chin.  We do get raccoons on the
deck, so there's a small chance it could be this.
 
Brain tumor or cancer?
 
Poison: To my mind, the symptoms seem to fit this scenario, but I can't for
the life of me think what she could have gotten into.  No pesticides in
house.  The last time we "flea sprayed" the house was in Jan., using a
product from the vet.  He said it was done too long ago to be the cause.
When we go outside, she's on a lead.  She hasn't picked up anything outside
to eat.  All cupboards have childproof and ferret-proof locks.  Could a
spider/centaped bite inject enough poison?
 
Encephalitis: This is really an oddball diagnosis.  Anyone ever seen this?
 
Virus or bacteria infecting the brain?  The hope here is the cortisone will
reduce the inflammation in the brain, and eventually her immune system will
kill the infection.
 
I asked if the rabies vaccine could have caused this.  According to the vet,
the vaccine is dead virus and therefore is not the cause of this.
 
Metabolic problem?
 
To diagnose some of these options, we'd need to do a spinal tap, which seems
risky, or an MRI, which will show brain tumors.
 
At this point, we are treating with cortisone (or some similar medicine) and
an antibiotic.  The vet wasn't terribly encouraging.
 
Any insight/advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks
Sandy Streit
[Posted in FML issue 1951]