aceofspades

Our dog is 7 months old and just diagnosed with steroid responsive meningitis (SRMA). He is responding to all the meds he's on, THANK GOD, however I am wondering if getting him on supplements is the answer in boosting his immune system seeing as a lot of evidence points to it being immune system related. Has anyone tried this? This is our first puppy and the worst experience I ever had to go through especially when we were sent home from an emergency vet after xrays came back normal and he was at a loss of what was wrong. Our poor pup was in severe pain. I am in fear of him relapsing.. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you

2manydogs

I would look into giving Bovine Colostrum daily. It will help with his immune system.

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Kari ~ Keeper, servant and mommy to the following crew



**Proudly Raw fed since 2010**

Merckxmom

NO! I did this and it cause my dogs meningitis to get worse, because of the nature of the disease. Steroids are an immunosuppressive, and will be slowly weaned off, make sure they wean your dog slowly, as I don't think my dog was properly cared for in that area, and we;ve had 2 relapses since the first diagnosis 1 year ago. One of the flare ups was pretty much my fault because I did what you are wanting to do, after steroids were done I gave him echinecea and that was enough to put his immune system in overdrive, causing it to get out of whack and the meningitis is activated again. My email is tiflowder@gmail.com, feel free to email me as I am very well versed in this now, and currently Merckx is getting over his 2nd flare up and they're talking about putting him on more serious drugs with awful side affects. I know the pain of watching your puppy who should be spry, be in terrible pain and not wanting to play or tug of war.

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.Tif

Leslie415

I know I'm a bit late replying to this thread but I just joined the forum today. My 1 yr old boxer has been battling steroid responsive meningitis for almost two wks now. I am really worried about his rate of recovery. I know this is a painful disease but from what I've read elsewhere we should be seeing more improvement than we are.

We feel confident in the diagnosis and have been on a prednisone/tramadol/gabapentin regimen since the beginning. After he got the diagnosis and the initial steroid injection he seemed to be recovering miraculously (for about 24 hrs) but since then, it's been very slow. He sleeps all day and isn't interested in his toys at all or playing.

Is this normal during this stage of drug therapy?
Thanks in advance!

owenowlsnest

The lethargy may be from the high doses of prednisone. I can't remember, but I think we were using 30 mg pred. twice a day to start off. It makes them act like they've had some awful stroke.

He should be very hungry, and drinking tons of water! It is usual to run bloodwork to make sure the prednisone is not elevating liver enzymes. If so, they may prescribe something like Denamarin. Another issue is that it can be really rough on the stomach. Gastritis is very painful. Your vet probably will watch for these other conditions.

It's a long process, but you'll get into the swing of things. It really makes a difference when they reduce the prednisone.

PassionateFire

So sorry you are going through this! Cujo had SRM in 2011 but got through it without any relapses so far, make sure they take him off the steroids VERY SLOWLY! I think I updated here every time his dosage was lowered (Cujo might have meningitis :(). They weaned him off over 6-7 months.

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Leslie415

Thanks for your responses. I'll keep all this in mind. He's actually only on 15 mg prednisone 2x a day.
I'm glad Cujo is better and I'll keep my fingers crossed he stays that way!