1. How we got to where we are.

Hello!

This is Boson, my 15 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He's a friendly, funny, sweet and mischievous boy who loves the beach and playing with umpteen burst footballs!

This photo was taken 3 hours before our peaceful world was turned upside down.

We would like to share our journey.

The Start.

Sunday 5th August 2018 began like any other Sunday. My husband walked Boson when he finished work at 5am, I walked him again around 9am. We had breakfast, then we spent the rest of the morning in the garden. We played football, sunbathed, took some pictures, generally loafed about. Around noon it was getting a bit warm for a little black dog and a pale northern girl so we headed indoors. Boson curled up for a couple of hours sleep.

3 o'clock, time to wake Boson for his afternoon walk. I gave him a nudge, he wouldn't move. I gave him a shove, and realised he wasn't being lazy, he couldn't move. I picked him up and placed him on the floor where his back legs collapsed and he began shaking uncontrollably. We were very worried.

The Emergency Vet.

He was rushed to our emergency vets, which happens to be a huge veterinary hospital. He was examined, and it was initially thought he has a slipped disc or a spinal stroke (bleed into the spinal cord). The Neurologist came to have a look, but he wasn't convinced. Boson was kept in overnight and put on Methadone (I know right!!). After a sleepless night, the vet contacted us to say Boson was comfortable, but was going to have an MRI scan to take a look at his spine and spinal cord.

The MRI showed a normal spine, but an abnormal swelling in his chest (panic and tears ensued). A CT scan was done, cardiologist reported a fatty lipoma. panic over! Because the MRI was normal, 2 samples of spinal fluid were taken, and SRMA was confirmed.

The treatment is high dose steroids which were started immediately. he was kept in for a second night to observe his response to the drugs.

We missed him like mad when he was in "hospital", the house was too quiet without him.

He's Coming Home!

The moment we were hoping for came! The call to collect Boson! We turned up not quite knowing what to expect. He couldn't walk, and was in a state when we left him. We had been pricing up those trolleys for paralysed dogs! They called us from the corridor and there he was, standing, in a bright pink harness, wagging his tail. To say we were overjoyed would be an understatement! He had two shaved areas, one at the top of his neck, and one on his lower back, where they had taken the spinal fluid samples. Seeing the needle marks made me feel funny.

The Meds!

The nurse presented us with a bag of drugs and sheets of instructions. This is when things got real!

The first drug is Prednisolone. The steroid lifesaver that comes with a host of side effects (extreme hunger, extreme thirst, excessive peeing, excessive panting, the list is long!) Five tablets twice per day for a week. then the tapering off starts. A complicated process, if he's weaned too quickly he may suffer a relapse. Tiny pills, easily hidden in cheese! Good job, he needs 10 per day!

The second drug is Clindamycin. An antibiotic torpedo, which even when halved, is difficult to hide in cheese! Luckily only one per day

The third drug is Omeprazole. To reduce the stomach acid, and protect from irritation. Cheese doesn't stick to capsules, peanut butter for this one! Just the one of these too.

He's Home!

We got home, and Boson ran straight out for the longest pee he has ever had (first notable side effect!) The he slept. He didn't want to be touched or eat any food. He had a sad, tired look in his eyes. Scrambled egg was the only thing he could be tempted with that night. I slept on the sofa with him, I didn't want to take my eyes off him.

The First Full Day Home

He spent Wednesday sleeping. He was lethargic, refusing food, and drinking loads. I spent the day researching. This type of meningitis is usually secondary to an infection elsewhere. But in some (mainly young) dogs their immune system fights the central nervous system instead of the infection. The result being inflammation of the spinal cord, and the weakness he had. It is quite responsive to steroids. Its painful, has a long recovery time and relapses are common. I joined a Facebook group Surviving SRMA. They have some interesting info and cases. everyone is helpful and offering some sound advice. This is going to take time.

Small Improvements

On Thursday morning Boson was wagging his tail when I got up. He was still drinking a fair amount, and peeing a huge amount! The good news was his appetite was returning! Boiled chicken and turkey was the order of the day, and he seemed to enjoy it. It was noted too that he hadn't passed a stool since being home. He had a couple of short walks, but was easily tired and walked at a snails pace!

Knowing he was going to be weak for a while, I started looking for supplements to help boost his system. Milk thistle to help his liver process the drugs, slippery elm for his digestion, bone broth for nutrients, and kefir for friendly bacteria.

Steroid Induced Hunger

Today (Friday) we have started to see the hunger associated with steroids. Boson has always been a picky eater, not like our last dog that would hoover up any morsel. But now he is licking every bowl clean, and scavenging for scraps! Its about time, he's starting to resemble a rescued stray, skinny, dry nose, flaky and dull coat. He has got slightly more energy, and can make it onto the sofa unaided now! He has had a nasty bout of the runs, I panicked and called the vet. Its fairly common, but have to keep an eye on it. So he's staying on the cooked chicken and turkey with boiled rice for now. And he has the most incredible smelling wind!! Boson has also managed 1.2litres of water, much more than me!!

I do think Boson has been lucky that he was diagnosed quickly, and treatment started straight away. I cant thank the staff at Wear referrals enough for saving my boy. The outcome might have been so different. I knew nothing about meningitis in dogs, but I do now, and intend to continue learning about this illness. If he has a relapse, I want to be ready.

So this is us 5 days later. My boy has changed, but hopefully that's just the steroids. And the fact that he has been through so much. I will update regularly along the way, and add links to some useful pages. Hopefully this will help anyone else who finds themselves in this situation.

So goodnight for now, thank you for reading what ended up a very long post! Hopefully the updates will be shorter!

Lynnderella and Boson.