Two days ago I noticed a change in my 1 and a half-year-old rottweilers character, she was still very friendly but just seemed drained and out of energy (Very unlike herself). I took her to the vet thinking it could be sunstroke because she runs around all day in the hot Australian Summer. They told me it was a form of arthritis and kept her in the vet overnight. I was working so a family member picked her up the next day, I went downstairs after work to say hello and she didn't even notice me. She looked very confused and it took 5 minutes of me saying hello and patting her before she realized I was there, she finally looked at me and started wagging her tail, It was as if the entire time I was patting her she was dreaming or something.
I knew something was very wrong and continued to pat her, a few minutes went by and she began coughing up white foam, she then began having a seizure. I rushed her back to the emergency vet and later that day they told me she has bacterial meningitis. The veterinarian who is very experienced told me it is one of the worse cases of meningitis she has seen, currently, my dog is being pumped full of steroids and antibiotics and has a small chance of surviving.
I have no problem spending thousands of dollars to save her. The killer for me is that the veterinarian seems to think meningitis has made her blind, there's also a possible chance of brain damage. She's a big energetic dog who runs around all day playing with my elderly rottweiler, my household all have full-time jobs and are rarely home during weekdays so we can't look after her full time.
I'm now stuck with a dreadful choice, do I continue to pay thousands of dollars clinging onto a chance that she may survive and be permanently blind or do I let her go. A part of me wonders if it's even fair to keep her alive, a large energetic dog blind at such a young age doesn't seem fair.
Although one and a bit years old seem shortly cruel to me, I hold on to the fact that my dog has had a good life, two cooked meals a day, showered in water during summer and tucked under blankets in winter. If she has another seizure tonight, I have told the veterinarians to put her down. If this happens it will be the first dog iv ever owned who hasn't made it past age 10 (human years).
Questions, Has anyone dealt with meningitis in their dog before? What was the outcome? Also if my dog survives and is blind, what sacrifices must be made and how tough is it mentally on the dog?
Also, iv owned many dogs, never have I heard of meningitis. My brain keeps looping back over the previous week, I listed the early signs that I unfortunately overlooked, If you plan to raise more dogs please, look out for changes in character.
Early signs :
- She was growling at my other dog, they never fought or growled aggressively at each other before.
- I attempted to hose her with water on a hot day, she proceeded to run in fear back to her bed. My dog loves water, normally when I water my gardens she runs straight into my hose to play.
Late signs:
- No energy, during this stage my dog seemed like she may be concussed, widely open eyes and tongue was hanging out. The main reason I took her to the vet on the first day.
- unbalanced on feet.
Really late:
- Walking in circles confused.
- Foaming, followed by seizures
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/dxlwv3/dog_meningitis_advice_please/
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