We have a 2 yr old rat terrier that has been tentatively diagnosed with Granulomatous Meningoencephalomyelitis. She's in her 7th month with it and responded quite well to immuno-suppressive doses of prednisone. Our neurology vet suspects it may be an auto-immune disorder that is just mimicking the symptoms of GME (which is fatal and has no cure). She's going through a 6-month round of chemotherapy (Lomustine).
It's stressful not knowing if it's GME and I'll get home to find my puppy dead, or if the chemo will work and we may have 10 years or more ahead of us.
Has anyone else out there dealt with this?
Answers:
No, so sad. Below is some information, though.
I am so sorry about your dog. I can tell how much you love her. As you know there is no cure for GME. And there really is no cure for auto-immune disease of any kind, just a hope of remission for a time or treatments that help to lesson the severity of the symptoms.
Love your dog for the time you have with her. And please feel at peace if the time for hard decisions comes. As a dog parent, it is up to you to protect her from painful treatments that will not help. You are the one to care for her and help her pass in a painfree way. True love always puts the needs of the pet before the need of the human. If and when she acts like it is time to go, then let her go peacefully and painfree.
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My greyhound has steroid-responsive GME and we have been dealing with it for not quite a year. We noticed he was having problems about a month after we adopted him. He responds well to prednisone but we are unable to get him off of it. He is now having complications from the chronic steroid use and we are talking to several vets about switching him to another drug. He is only three years old and still is living an otherwise normal life, but we are doing our best to find the right treatment for him. We are not going to let him suffer, but we are not going to let him standby when there are treatments available. We are struggling financially because of this, but we don't have any other choice. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteMy pug was diagnosed over 5 years ago, and she was given maybe 6 months to live. She's doing well now; she still has some deficits (mostly visual) but she is very happy and loves her life!
ReplyDeleteI made a blog for her detailing her whole journey with this disease. There is hope! It's http://nellygme.wordpress.com.