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Christine, I've just found this post and I can't tell you how happy I am that she has improved. Probably happier than you'll ever know. The reason being, the symptoms you were describing sounded very very similar to what my bitch had. She was diagnosed as having slipped a disc and was put on steriods, however 2 weeks later she got worse and was rushed to the Dick Vet Hospital in Edinburgh. Within a couple of hours she was diagnosed as having meningitis :-( We nearly lost her and if we had given her antibiotics and steriods at the start of it she would never have deteriorated the way she did. Thankfully after a week she improved enough to come home.

I don't want to worry you or anyone else for that matter, she sounds like she is improving and that it probably isn't meningitis, but please please keep a close eye on her, (I know you will anyway ;-) ) as I would hate for anyone / any dog to go through what we did. When we look back the signs of meningitis were all there and we missed them :-( Meningitis didn't even cross our minds until it was very nearly too late.

Hi Claire, what an awful thing for your poor dog & I`m glad she`s better now :) The reason I`m so aware of the least little change in any of mine is because past experience has taught me it`s going to be the start of something nasty, they don`t believe in doing things by half. People think I`m paranoid about them!! I like your bit about not wanting to worry us, as if!!!! Just be even more paranoid now:) :) Believe me, she`s with me most of the time, the only place she can`t go in is the kitchen & like I said, even sleeps at the side of the bed but now I`ll be watching her like a hawk!! But at the mo she appears to be back to her normal self
Tell me Claire, did she have no other symptoms like a temp? Just wouldn`t put her head down? Thanks a lot for the info :)

Hi Christine

At first she had a bit of a temp but not much. Just mainly a stiff neck. She was given an injection of steriods and antibiotics and 24hrs later was a lot better. Vet thought she was responding to the steriods so continued with those and stopped the AB's. Little did we know she was actually responding to both because it was a steriod responsive meningitis.

Her neck continued to get stiff again, she would eat but wouldn't put her head down, she would wag her tail a little but wasn't interested in going for walks. When she would lie down she would lie on her front, back legs tucked under, front paws out and would slowly try to put her head on the floor but then would give an awful groan (I can still remember what it sounded like). I would put a pillow under her head and that helped. She eventually started having difficulty walking, started wobbling, this happened pretty much overnight. She couldn't climb the stairs one morning and that was when I decided enough was enough and we rushed her to the Dick Vet. We were told by our vet we couldn't go as we needed a referral first, I basically told him to just phone the referral through because we were on our way. She had a temp of 104 when she was admitted. :-( All of this happend over a 2 week period, we were in regular contact by telephone with our vet who assured us that it all still sounded like a slipped disc and that she should be rested as much as possible.

When she was admitted the vet performed a spinal tap almost immediately and also put her on a drip. We went to see her the next day and whilst she was still very poorly and was having difficulty in walking she was so much better. A week later she came home. She had a lot of muscle wastage in her right hind leg which over a period of 12 months improved but you can still tell her leg is not right. Her right pupil will sometimes be a different size from her left one. This is apparently a side effect from having meningitis. Apart from being immune deficient which could have been caused by the meningitis OR it could have been caused by her puppy vacs she is relatively ok. We keep a very close eye on her and keep a stock of AB's just incase although now we only live 5 mins from the vets. :-)

She had a second bout of meningitis a couple of months later when she was having her first season. A specialist said that her immune system could be compromised anyway whilst having a season (just like a womans during her monthly cycle) so we had her speyed before she could have another season, just incase she caught it again.

Hope this long winded email is of interest :-) Pleased to hear Bonnie is still doing well. :-)

P.S. I'm also very paranoid but then given what I've been through with my dogs I don't care! Better than being ignorant in it ;-)

Oh Claire, what an awful time for her! She was so lucky you took her straight to the hossy, poor thing! The symptoms are very like Bonnies, shows you eh, you`ve just got to be on top of everything all the time. Glad to hear she`s ok now tho :) Bonnie is back to her old self I`m glad to say, & yesterday was digging & found a baby cricket & ATE it before I could stop her :) & v pleased with herself she was too LOL. First time she`s done it for ages. Mind I`m still keeping a close eye on her in case any symptoms return.
I`m sure your post has been v interesting not only to me, but to others as well Claire & thanks a lot for telling us. Hope your dog stays well too.
Christine, Spain.
(who only gets paranoid when there`s summit wrong with them) :) :)