In the Hospital

In the Hospital

Image by Proggie

A few days ago Bowie started behaving very strangely. He became slow, and stumbled around, often losing his balance. He stared at walls, walked aimlessly, often in circles, and sometimes even bumped into things as if he couldn’t see well.

I had given Bowie a bath a week earlier, and I thought that perhaps he developed an ear infection from water getting into his ears. An ear infection was a very plausable explanation for his balance problem. All it would require is some antibiotics.

On Sunday night I took him to a 24 hour Emergency vet hospital, where they performed a series of blood and neurological tests. They quickly ruled out an ear infection and were convinced that something was not right with his brain.

Monday evening I went to another Vet, and then Tuesday morning went to see a neurologist who was also convinced that this was a neurological problem. Blood tests ruled out various viruses, fungi and organ failures.

Based on a variety of tests and statistics, the neurologist was confident that Bowie had meningitis, and not a tumor. Bowie exhibited symptoms that pointed to several areas of the brain. If it was a tumor it likely would have initially manifested in one part of the brain.

If it was meningitis, it could be viral, bacterial, or fungal, or due to his own body’s immune system attacking itself.

The best way to determine what was wrong was to do an MRI scan of his brain, which Bowie had this afternoon.

Tonight I got the news that it was meningitis, and that it was caused by the immune system attacking his brain.

The only treatment is a type of chemotherapy every 3-4 weeks to dampen the immune system. As bad as this sounds, the drug is injected with a tiny needle and the treatment itself is not painful. I was afraid from prior experience with chemo that Bowie would be suffering during these treatments.

Bowie had his first chemo treatment tonight, and is staying in the hospital overnight. I just spoke to his nurse, and he is resting comfortably.

We hope that the treatment works, and that it will help him live a happy, normal life.