TOPIC:

One of my fur-kids, Mack, an 11 year old, 86#, Lab/RB Hound mix, was diagnosed with granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME) yesterday. I'm VERY limited on what I can afford to do; since, I'm supporting 6, large (50~110#), dogs (all of whom have arrived here due to abandonment) on just over $700/mo total income. The diagnosis isn't 100% certain; but, my vet's symptom based "best guess" and the 104.5 degree temp. and his blood count. I can't find any injuries on him; but, his right leg is VERY swollen from his hip to his foot; and, I'm not sure if his (VERY) limited use of his hind-end is due to the swelling/pain; or, spinal involvement. The fact that he hasn't wagged his tail might just be that he just hurts too much to feel like he has a reason to do so; but, whether he had or not was one of the 1st questions my vet asked me. I'm having to lift him w/a towel to help him move around when he needs to; or, when I need to change his bedding.

I like my vet - he's pretty open minded for an allopathic vet; and, really cares about the fur-kids he treats; but, he has had only conventional training. I'm going ahead and giving Mack what my vet gave him (at least for now), in an attempt to get his symptoms managed enough for him to be able to move around on his own; but, I'm also adding MMS1 (20 drops in a 20oz. water bottle, just a little every hour - I don't want to risk him getting the runs when he can't go out to use the bathroom...); and, spraying his leg, foot, and spine with calcium hypochlorite (1tsp. to 8oz. distilled water.) I have no access to even warm water out here; since, I lost virtually everything out here to an arson fire in Jan. (pics are on my mskathyswebsite.weebly.com page, just click on the "fire" link at the top.) The m/h I'm using for a bedroom was never intended to be lived in; and, is way too far from the pole for me to use a water heater, even if I could find one laying on a curb somewhere. I wish I could soak him in a tub; but, the water would be too cold right now for him to tolerate. I haven't been able to get the right kind of air stone to make CDS.

The vet has him on 5mg. prednizone 3xday, to try to reduce the swelling; but, since that crap DEPRESSES the immune system, it seems counter-intuitive to give it to him. The "catch-22" is that I need to get him moving around on his own before hitting him too hard w/MMS1, to go after the actual problem. I'm hoping that I can "walk the tight-rope" - getting the swelling and pain down enough to actually treat the real problem aggressively; but, still START treating the real problem - without the 2 cancelling each other out. Anyone have any ideas?

Also, any ideas how best to treat him without risking herx'ing him?

Any ideas would be appreciated; since, I'm needing to monitor him almost continually, which precludes my being able to spend a lot of time on the internet reading.

Pam and I have been talking a lot since I posted this (THANK YOU PAM!!!); and, I wanted to post an update for those who come along later and find this thread.

Mack has gone from not even being able to lift his head to drink water on 05/22~23 to trotting and leaping onto a floor that was @18" high on 06/07. Initially, he wasn't able to get up; or, to walk on his own. I was having to use a towel as a sling to help him up; and, a nylon strap behind his butt, to keep him from sliding out of it when I helped in and out to use the bathroom or just get some fresh air. He was one VERY SICK boy!!!

The 1st night, I was squirting water and dilluted MMS into his mouth w/a syringe; and, he barely had the energy to swallow it. (I was having to be VERY careful not to aspirate him.) I have no idea of how much actually got into him; since, a lot of it wound up dribbling out onto the ground. I was thinking 1 drop per 25 pounds, instead of 1 drop per 25 kgs; and, I was trying for about 4 drops per hour that night. Probably less than 1/2 of that actually made it into him, as weak as he was. I was also rubbing calcium hypochlorite spray on his left hind leg (which was swollen almost 3 times its normal size); and, some of it might've worked its way into his system and helped him some, too.

Around dawn,my best friend (Adam) and I were able to get Mack over and into Adam's car; and, Adam drove us to the town where my vet's office is located. Even though I was fighting to "hope for the best," I was also having to force myself to "prepare for the worst." (My dogs are my kids - not "just pets...") I'd also taken my other 11 y.o. along, just so she'd understand, if Mack didn't make it - things were THAT "touch and go."

When my vet got there, he got him right on in (he's a really good guy, who actually cares about his patients; but, he's had only allopathic training - at least he IS open-minded about alternatives and doesn't get too upset when I "go my own way" on treating my fur kids... After seeing Mack's progress, he's even interested in learning more about MMS! ); and, checked him over. Mack's temp was 104.5; and, his white cell count was through the roof. (MMS might've been a factor in that; but, in a good way.) We couldn't find any evidence of anything like a snake bite; and, some of the other syptoms (such as rocking the night before, shortly before things got really bad) were consistent w/GME. He gave him a shot and me some pills to give him; but, didn't seem too optimistic.

When I got Mack home, Adam and I had to carry Mack back to the house; and, I immediately started giving him about 3 drops every couple of hours. I backed this off after Pam brought the 25pd vs 25kg issue to my attention. Another friend (who's currently borrowing my CS generator) brought me a gal. of colloidial silver and a tub of NFZ, either that night or the next. (Things sort of ran together at that time.) My plan was to stagger the MMS and the CS; but, Mack didn't care much for the silver. He may have sensed that the MMS would help him more. I made a poulitice out of about half the tub of NFZ, enough DMSO and MMS to dilute it to about the consistency of molassis (sp?), slathered his swollen leg from his toes to his him with it; and, wrapped it w/cling wrap. That was on for aprox. 12 hours. When I took it off to change it, about 90% of the swelling was gone from his leg; so, I decided to wait until it cooled off a bit before reapplying it. It turned out that I didn't need to, though; since, within about an hour, the rest of the swelling was gone and Mack had gotten up on his own, walking short distances before laying back down to regain his strength. I threw together a ramp for him; so, he wouldn't have to climb the 2 steps into the house; and, still had to help him to get up and down it. At that point, I started "hitting him harder" w/MMS; but, watching him closely for any signs of herxheimer. (I didn't want to risk overloading his liver and/or kidneys w/dead pathogens.) Around that same time, he started accepting food again (he just turned away from it, prior to that - even canned food); and, I started putting about 3 drops into canned food, diluted w/distilled water. (Some of it was probably getting "used up" before he ate it; since, canned dog food could probably use some disinfection...) I did that almost hourly the first day or so after he'd gotten to where he would eat; but, wound up backing it off to just a couple of drops every couple of hours. Mack continued to slowly improve; and, get around more / better. I scaled it back to about 3 drops about 6 times a day; and, started getting a little bit of sleep. (By this point, I was pretty well brain-numb with exhaustion...) He's still up around 3 drops (on the theory that mixing it w/canned dog food probably uses up some of it before it gets into him); but, now, it's about 3 times a day. It does seem like he gets a bit lethargic when it's getting close to time for me to dose him; but, he's a smart kid; and, it could be that he has the schedule figured out - wanting to make sure he's laying right next to my bed; so, I don't forget or put it off "med time..." ;p

I found a good link for GME, which might be useful to someone else who's fighting it. Even though it's focused on rabbits; and, from an allpathic perspective, it's a pretty decent article that explains what's going on w/GME: www.gwexotics.com/.../77554b90-a660-11e0-a685-0050568626ea.pdf‎

I had been trying to find out exactly what type of pathogen causes GME, in order to get a better handle on how long I needed to be treating Mack. It turns out that it isn't bacterial or viral based. It's a microsporidial, which is commonly hosted by rabbits and can be spread through the urine of infected rabbits. (We live out in the boonies; and, even though rabbits have to be extremely bold - or suicidal - to come into my fence, with 6 large dogs around, a few DO...) If anyone has had any experience treating microsporidial illnesses w/MMS, please share what you can about it here, even if it was w/humans.

I hope this helps (and gives hope) to anyone else who comes along in my (and Mack's) situation. Feel free to contact me; and, even though I AM "Still Learning," I'm willing to help in any way that I can...