# GME: Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis



## moonieromance (Jul 10, 2007)

My 11-month-old shih tzu Maya suddenly fell ill last Sunday. She was fine, playful, and happy one moment then suddenly started having seizures and drooling. She became immobilized. We brought her to an animal ER within the half hour but they were baffled by the symptoms. Within 12 hours, she was nearly at death's door and was barely breathing.

The next morning, we were referred to a canine neurologist. He suspected it was "autoimmune encephalitis" which is more common in young female small dogs. He had seen many cases before, he said, and prognosis was poor. My husband and I were devastated. Her MRI showed multiple lesions, especially within the motor parts of her brain and the right eye nerve, and her spinal tap confirmed a diagnosis of GME, or "Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis," which is when the body's white cells attack the brain for reasons unknown.

Maya was at the hospital for over 1 week and dropped over 1 lb. from her original weight (she was 10 lb 4oz) being on IV fluids. However, she has improved a little every time we've seen her; more movement, eating more, moving eyes. She knows who we are and perked up every time we visited, but generally has been immobile except for some leg and head movement. She was put on high doses of sedatives, steroids, and antibiotics. We just took her home yesterday; she is unable to stand yet but has a good appetite. She has tried to stand on several occasions. She is on phenobarbital which makes her very sleepy and uncoordinated, as well as prednisone, cyclosporine, Pepcid AC and finishing out the course of antibiotics. 

According to the neurologist, he has seen thousands of cases of GME just like Maya (young and healthy, then suddenly stricken) and has helped dogs and families maintain good quality of life, but prognosis is still unknown at this point. He said that the Internet was not a good source of information and that this disease *can* be treated with steroids and other mmunosuppressives for life but that lifespan is still severely shortened. There is still not enough research on what may have caused GME to strike our little Maya.

He said we'd have to take it day by day and that the next 3 months are crucial to determining how she will live out the rest of her life. If she regains control of movement and bowel function, as well as no more seizures or drawbacks, her future will look brighter.

Maya's first birthday is next week and we hope whe will be getting back to her spunky self by then.  We love our Maya and are trying to stay positive about her recovery. 

Any advice and support is appreciated. 

~Andrea


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

I am sorry you are going thru this, it is truly heart breaking. You sound like loving parents for Maya and she is lucky to have you. A good question to ask the vet is if this autoimmune encephalitis is "progressive"--meaning will more and more white blood cells keep attacking the central nervous system or do the meds arrest (stop) that action.

On the upswing, in humans the brain is regenerative (the younger you are, the more chance you have at rennervation). So you also want to ask the vet if it is possible for the brain to "self heal" to some extenet or is the damage that was already caused permanent in nature (sounds like he is looking for some return and you should know in three months time but you might just want to clarify that).

My warmest wishes are with you all!


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