Immune Mediated Meningitis - GME

CUBuffs

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Hi all,

I am new to the forum and came upon this forum as my 1 year old Bleu was just diagnosed with what they think is a mild form of GME with unknown etiology. He was a happy, active, life-loving Frenchie until this disease struck him suddenly a couple of weeks ago. He did not show any previous symptoms - he was boarded for a weekend and then we went to Breckenridge for vacation. The 3rd day we started to notice the symptoms - uncoordinated gate, lethargy, loss of hunger and thirst.

We initially thought it was related to altitude sickness or dehydration so we took him to the emergency vet up there and they got him on IV's and antibiotics. They tested his blood and only found a elevated ALT count on his liver but did not think it was altitude sickness form his pulseoxide meter. We thought he got better after the IV's. When we got home to Texas, we noticed the uncoordinated gate again and knew something worse was wrong so we took him to the ER vet that was open. They thought it was motion sickness or an ear infection (his ears looked fine) wanted to keep him a couple days to watch him at $800. The vet didn't seem that intelligent and I got a bad feeling of the place so I took him home that night and to his regular vet the next day (thank god!). His regular vet hooked him up to IV's and monitored him for the morning. They ruled out an ear infection or the ridiculous claim of motion sickness and thought it was neurological and recommended a neurologist. After ruling out liver issues, he eventually got an MRI and spinal tap. Noting no tick borne infections, the poor guy was finally diagnosed with meningitis of unkown etiology and they most likely think it is a mild form of Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis (GME).

He seems to initially be responding well to his meds - prednisone and cyclosporine - so we are hopeful he will continue to get better and we can taper these harsh meds off eventually. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with their baby and what your treatment regime was, how they lived with the disease over time, alternative therapies, etc. The causes/triggers of this disease are not known and there are theories in research papers indicating possibly vaccines, diet, environment, or other immune reactions. Any thoughts on causes or triggers? The only thing we did before we noticed his symptoms is give him his monthly dose of Trifexis, then 2 days later he developed this disease.

This experience has also made us reevaluated everything about our dogs' diets and overall healthcare. We are currently transitioning over to a holistic homemade diet and stopping the annual (seems like almost monthly) booster vaccines they vet requests. Many articles connect excessive vaccination to potentially neurological issues and our Frenchie had a rabies or parvo vaccine about 2-3 months prior. Our neurologist said that she does not even vaccine her dogs past the initial puppy vaccines as she feels the vaccines are like polio, measles, etc in humans where one vaccine builds enough antibodies for their lives and that the annual boosters the veterinary industry has moved to is excessive and motivated by profit. She mentioned you can just test your dog for the antibodies to specific diseases periodically (distemper, parvo, rabies) to see if their antibodies are low and then decide to boost at that time. There are many articles out there on the potential devastating effects of vaccines in dogs which may have slightly less strong immune systems or just have an adverse immune reaction (as vaccines are not natural).

We really appreciate any thoughts, experiences, comments, etc. and hope our little guy pulls through this to live a long, happy life!
 

Alice Kable

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Welcome to FBN, CUbuffs. I am so sorry to read about Bleu's diagnosis. I know nothing about GME, but it sounds like you are on the right track with your neurologist.
 

bullmama

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I have never heard of this before (had to visit google) but I'm willing to bet several pets have this undiagnosed!

I wish I had something to share but it certainly sounds like you are doing everything possible. I'm curious if fresh enzymes would be beneficial in your case.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk :)
 

FindBehr

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Wow, that sounds extra scary. I had to google this too- I'm sorry I don't have any personal insight, but share with us how you and your baby are doing it could help out another owner in the future. Good luck!!
 

2bullymama

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So sorry to hear your baby is so sick and came without warning. I have no experience with this and send well wishes and prayers. I know Trefixis has been linked to some deaths as have vaccines....

- - - Updated - - -

So sorry to hear your baby is so sick and came without warning. I have no experience with this and send well wishes and prayers. I know Trefixis has been linked to some deaths as have vaccines....
 

Babette

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I also have no experience with this - so thank you for the education! I'm sorry to hear that your baby is ill and wish a speedy recovery. I was also interested by your suggestion to have their resistance tested before re-vaccinating - there's a thought!

Please keep us updated as to how your pup's doing. Babetty and I will keep him and you in our thoughts.
 

Debra

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Like others, I have never heard of this. I will keep sending positive thoughts your way!!!!
 

Hector Rivera

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Hello, Just read your post on this forum and we are having to experience the same with our Frenchie "Chunky" here in Italy and trying to get your recommendation on a way a head with our baby. He has been diagnose with the same GME and was given the same treatment or at least we have not commence the cycloporine. We are given him the prednisone daily he weights 26 lbs and the dose is 25 grams. Would like to know what were the results for Bleu, if you can share. Our Chunk is now been with the MGE for a month and just had his MRI done and was diagnose as such. Appreciate any advise.

Thank you!
 

davidh

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[MENTION=222]CUBuffs[/MENTION] I am not familiar with this disease, and so sorry your baby is going through this. I would say, get him off the Trifexis now, and throw it in the trash. It has killed many bullies and other dogs, it is bad stuff.
 

mariabranco

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CUbuffs,

I read your post and would like to know how is Bleu? My frenchie Gaspar has been diagnosed with GME, although still at a very early stage. He is receiving treatment with omeprazole, cyclosporine and has done cortisone (now in the weaning phase). The only sign that made us take him immediately to the hospital was a small tremor in the right side of his lip. At the hospital we demanded all the necessary tests and was detected GME which led to an acquired hydrocephalus. I'm really worried! My baby is only 6 months!
It would even be nice to hear news of Bleu !!!

Kind regards from Portugal :)
 

Shawn Kleinart

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I would love to hear an update to your case.

It's possible my beloved Koa just died of GME/complications. Also, she was on Trifexis, otherwise very healthy, and I am trying to understand if there is a correlation between Trifexis and GME. She was not diagnosed, Maui just doesn't have the resources available to make that diagnosis. Koa was only 2 years old. GME is the leading theory postmortem by my vet. What is eating me alive is I gave me last dose of Trifexis to Koa, and she died 6 days later... I was planning on switching due to head tremors. I could have switched and not given that last dose. I will never know if that would have been the difference. The last dose was her 9th, monthly. The head tremor symptoms didn't start until the 6th dose, but always delayed by many days... so it was not until the 7th and 8th dose I thought there was a correlation.
 

Jakeyjake

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I'm so sorry about the loss of Koa. You are in our thoughts.
 

hannah

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Hi all,

I am new to the forum and came upon this forum as my 1 year old Bleu was just diagnosed with what they think is a mild form of GME with unknown etiology. He was a happy, active, life-loving Frenchie until this disease struck him suddenly a couple of weeks ago. He did not show any previous symptoms - he was boarded for a weekend and then we went to Breckenridge for vacation. The 3rd day we started to notice the symptoms - uncoordinated gate, lethargy, loss of hunger and thirst.

We initially thought it was related to altitude sickness or dehydration so we took him to the emergency vet up there and they got him on IV's and antibiotics. They tested his blood and only found a elevated ALT count on his liver but did not think it was altitude sickness form his pulseoxide meter. We thought he got better after the IV's. When we got home to Texas, we noticed the uncoordinated gate again and knew something worse was wrong so we took him to the ER vet that was open. They thought it was motion sickness or an ear infection (his ears looked fine) wanted to keep him a couple days to watch him at $800. The vet didn't seem that intelligent and I got a bad feeling of the place so I took him home that night and to his regular vet the next day (thank god!). His regular vet hooked him up to IV's and monitored him for the morning. They ruled out an ear infection or the ridiculous claim of motion sickness and thought it was neurological and recommended a neurologist. After ruling out liver issues, he eventually got an MRI and spinal tap. Noting no tick borne infections, the poor guy was finally diagnosed with meningitis of unkown etiology and they most likely think it is a mild form of Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis (GME).

He seems to initially be responding well to his meds - prednisone and cyclosporine - so we are hopeful he will continue to get better and we can taper these harsh meds off eventually. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with their baby and what your treatment regime was, how they lived with the disease over time, alternative therapies, etc. The causes/triggers of this disease are not known and there are theories in research papers indicating possibly vaccines, diet, environment, or other immune reactions. Any thoughts on causes or triggers? The only thing we did before we noticed his symptoms is give him his monthly dose of Trifexis, then 2 days later he developed this disease.

This experience has also made us reevaluated everything about our dogs' diets and overall healthcare. We are currently transitioning over to a holistic homemade diet and stopping the annual (seems like almost monthly) booster vaccines they vet requests. Many articles connect excessive vaccination to potentially neurological issues and our Frenchie had a rabies or parvo vaccine about 2-3 months prior. Our neurologist said that she does not even vaccine her dogs past the initial puppy vaccines as she feels the vaccines are like polio, measles, etc in humans where one vaccine builds enough antibodies for their lives and that the annual boosters the veterinary industry has moved to is excessive and motivated by profit. She mentioned you can just test your dog for the antibodies to specific diseases periodically (distemper, parvo, rabies) to see if their antibodies are low and then decide to boost at that time. There are many articles out there on the potential devastating effects of vaccines in dogs which may have slightly less strong immune systems or just have an adverse immune reaction (as vaccines are not natural).

We really appreciate any thoughts, experiences, comments, etc. and hope our little guy pulls through this to live a long, happy life!

I just thought I would directly quote what she said, in hopes it sends an email to her so she comes back to the forum with an update.

I know whenever someone directly quotes me I get an email notification.

Hope this helps
 

hannah

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I would love to hear an update to your case.

It's possible my beloved Koa just died of GME/complications. Also, she was on Trifexis, otherwise very healthy, and I am trying to understand if there is a correlation between Trifexis and GME. She was not diagnosed, Maui just doesn't have the resources available to make that diagnosis. Koa was only 2 years old. GME is the leading theory postmortem by my vet. What is eating me alive is I gave me last dose of Trifexis to Koa, and she died 6 days later... I was planning on switching due to head tremors. I could have switched and not given that last dose. I will never know if that would have been the difference. The last dose was her 9th, monthly. The head tremor symptoms didn't start until the 6th dose, but always delayed by many days... so it was not until the 7th and 8th dose I thought there was a correlation.

Sorry for your loss :( Hopefully [MENTION=222]CUBuffs[/MENTION] will come back and update her story and it could possibly give you some peace of mind.
 

Mallox

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We are going through something similar with our boy Mako. Just after he turned 1 years old he started losing his balance, seemed to get better whist on Prednisone but returned when medication stopped. After many blood tests, x-rays & spinal fluid test (all clear) we had an MRI done, radiologist suspected a chronic inner ear infection that had gone unnoticed and then a second opinion by a neuro specialist came back with a lot of 'may or may not' comments & assumptions based on his breed but she says everything is pointing towards GME / MUO. Hes back on Prednisone now although doesnt seem as effective this time, specialist reccomended Clorosporine although vet is holding off on it for now due to side affects it can cause. We're really worried about him & hate seeing him ill for so long, we just hope we can find a way to manage it. Anybody with any advice or an update this thread would be greatly appreciated.
 

Honeys Owners

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Just checked- Trifexis contains milbemycin and spinosad. Spinosad is also in Comfortis, and milbemycin is also in Sentinel and Milbemax. I wonder which ingredient could be the problem, since most of us are giving our bullies heartworm and flea and tick prevention, and would avoid that ingredient. I'm guessing it's probably spinosad since that's a newer ingredient? I just gave my 5-6 year old dog ( not sure exact age ) her 3 years rabies and the core vaccine, but I don't plan to check her for antibodies for the core vaccine disease coverage for about 3-5 years, since she probably has coverage for life now.
 

cdehostos

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I too have a French Bulldog who is turning 4 in March. He started showing symptoms of GME about a year and 4 months ago. He relapse 9 months later and now relapsed again 1/31. This time he is on the prednisone (10 mg), Pepcid and tramadol for pain. He is in so much pain still and the meds are taking longer to work. His vet keeps telling us there is nothing else they can do. But Odin (my frenchie’s name) is a warrior and does not want to give up and he is fighting this horrible disease. Would love to hear more about what your experience has been and if there is anything else out there that could help my baby get better. Thank you.
 
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