Hi guys, it's been a while.
I sorta need a place to talk about this.
On the 12th, Toby had a brush with death.
Toby is my parents' 8 year old Shiba Inu/Pomeranian cross and they have bonded with him closer than either of them have ever bonded with a dog. (I'm a typical adult millennial who still lives at home.)
Anyway, on the 12th my mom woke me up at about 7am in hysterics saying "help me! Something's wrong with Toby!" so I jumped out of bed and I went to see what she was talking about.
When I went into the yard, I found Toby spinning in circles. At first it looked like he was trying to itch his rear, but the more I watched him, the more I realized that this was completely out of his control. He could not stop spinning to the point where he would try to get water but couldn't because he would just continue to spin. He would try to lay down but in seconds he would be spinning again or even involuntarily moving his hind legs.
It was terrifying.
Needless to say, we rushed him to the vet. The closest vet to us is a 2 hour drive away, so it was a very tense 2 hours with my mom crying in the passenger seat and Toby in his crate in the back...Still circling. The entire 2 hours. Uncontrollably.
Once we got there, they were fortunately able to squeeze him in between surgeries. The vets and nurses seemed to be very concerned. Asked us if there was any way that he could have hit his head (No.) or gotten into something (Maybe?).
When we took him out of the crate he was still spinning. :(
We had to leave him there and wait for a call and that was a very tense time as well. When we got the call, the news didn't sound good.
His brain was inflamed, as were the nerves in his eyes causing his pupils to remain at complete dilation which essentially was leaving him mostly blind. :(
They determined it to be one of 3 things but they cannot confirm a cause:
-A brain tumor
-Granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME)
-One other thing, I can't remember.
They said that if it was GME than the prognosis isn't very good...About 14 days. My parents couldn't afford the MRI to see if it was a brain tumor.
My mom cried so hard that she puked.
SO the vets sent us home with steroids and antibiotics as we were determined to give him a chance.
Watching him that night was heartbreaking. He seemed like a ghost of himself. He continued to spin, although not constantly. But he was very wobbly. His head was bobbing around a lot. And he was extremely restless. It was all very distressing to witness.
The next morning he seemed a lot better though! Though still occasionally spinning, a little wobbly, and very lethargic, he could see a little bit and could walk in straight lines.
Fast forward to now and he is still on steroids and antibiotics. He is back to himself for the most part but I am still concerned. We don't know how he is going to do once the steroids run out. We don't know whether this is in temporary remission that will continue to spring up. And we don't know if there is a tumor in there.
Idk. I guess I just really needed to talk about this. Very scary situation.
I sorta need a place to talk about this.
On the 12th, Toby had a brush with death.
Toby is my parents' 8 year old Shiba Inu/Pomeranian cross and they have bonded with him closer than either of them have ever bonded with a dog. (I'm a typical adult millennial who still lives at home.)
Anyway, on the 12th my mom woke me up at about 7am in hysterics saying "help me! Something's wrong with Toby!" so I jumped out of bed and I went to see what she was talking about.
When I went into the yard, I found Toby spinning in circles. At first it looked like he was trying to itch his rear, but the more I watched him, the more I realized that this was completely out of his control. He could not stop spinning to the point where he would try to get water but couldn't because he would just continue to spin. He would try to lay down but in seconds he would be spinning again or even involuntarily moving his hind legs.
It was terrifying.
Needless to say, we rushed him to the vet. The closest vet to us is a 2 hour drive away, so it was a very tense 2 hours with my mom crying in the passenger seat and Toby in his crate in the back...Still circling. The entire 2 hours. Uncontrollably.
Once we got there, they were fortunately able to squeeze him in between surgeries. The vets and nurses seemed to be very concerned. Asked us if there was any way that he could have hit his head (No.) or gotten into something (Maybe?).
When we took him out of the crate he was still spinning. :(
We had to leave him there and wait for a call and that was a very tense time as well. When we got the call, the news didn't sound good.
His brain was inflamed, as were the nerves in his eyes causing his pupils to remain at complete dilation which essentially was leaving him mostly blind. :(
They determined it to be one of 3 things but they cannot confirm a cause:
-A brain tumor
-Granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME)
-One other thing, I can't remember.
They said that if it was GME than the prognosis isn't very good...About 14 days. My parents couldn't afford the MRI to see if it was a brain tumor.
My mom cried so hard that she puked.
SO the vets sent us home with steroids and antibiotics as we were determined to give him a chance.
Watching him that night was heartbreaking. He seemed like a ghost of himself. He continued to spin, although not constantly. But he was very wobbly. His head was bobbing around a lot. And he was extremely restless. It was all very distressing to witness.
The next morning he seemed a lot better though! Though still occasionally spinning, a little wobbly, and very lethargic, he could see a little bit and could walk in straight lines.
Fast forward to now and he is still on steroids and antibiotics. He is back to himself for the most part but I am still concerned. We don't know how he is going to do once the steroids run out. We don't know whether this is in temporary remission that will continue to spring up. And we don't know if there is a tumor in there.
Idk. I guess I just really needed to talk about this. Very scary situation.
