Hi . I posted to request details of vets in Ebbw Vale for my brother. His cat died yesterday after suddenly becoming ill and rapide deterioration, he had to return to our vet in Gloucester. They don't know the cause suggesting possible meningitus, is this a danger to dogs? Does anyone know. He has 2 Maltese that he worships, he is now paranoid they will get ill. Also I had the cat here myself for a couple of days and am concerned for the welfare of my own dogs particularly as my Maltese bitch is due to whelp anyday now!! I recal 10 years ago I sold a Maltese pup to someone who's dog had died of meningitus but want to know if it can be passed from cat to dog.

Anyone know?

the litter i had that had kennel cough in oct two had menningitus it was a secondarly infection,to the high temp,then the fits,the nose discharge went to the chest then to menningitus,the adult dogs in the house were ok,

So far all seem well daily temps taken and normal. Pups were born ok now 2 weeks old and thriving but we will not relax just yet!

Sorry, I thought I had replied to this posting ages ago and obviously haven't :-(

My weimaraner bitch had meningitis twice when she was a pup. The vet thinks it stemmed from when she had cystitis, he said the cystitis may not have cleared up properly and one of the bacteria (or germ as he called it) may have got into her spinal fluid, which is apparently very difficult. Basically we will never know why she caught meningitis but we now know the signs to look for. Stiff and very sore neck, very high temp (104 degrees), off food, loss of coordination when walking.

To cut a long story short she spent a week in the Dick Vet Hospital in Edinburgh on a drip and was given antibiotics and steriods. We were advised that canine meningitis is different from the human form in that it is not contagious to other animals or humans. She certainly wasn't kept in isolation in the hospital.

Hope that takes away some of the worry :-) If in any doubt why don't you contact one of the neurological specialists at the Dick Vet or any other university type animal hospital, I am sure they can put your mind at rest :-)

Best Wishes.