Diagnosis: Auto-Immune Brain Disease

I took Ellie to a neurologist today to have her seizures evaluated since they're getting progressively worse despite continuing to increase her medication. General practice vets had previously diagnosed idiopathic epilepsy; the neurologist said that's unlikely given the results of Ellie's neurological exam. Their diagnosis is an autoimmune brain disease.

Ellie has been started on prednisone. We'll know within the month if she is responding to treatment, but the prognosis is not good. The vet said that, if we're very lucky, Ellie will have "a couple more years" but probably not. She seemed to think the disease had already progressed quite far, but that steroid treatment was worth a shot.

I've known for awhile that Ellie's seizures weren't typical of epilepsy, and the rush of strange medical problems and behavioral changes before they started seemed connected (even though several vets told me they weren't). I thought we would get a diagnosis other than epilepsy, but I wasn't prepared for this. I'm devastated. Ellie will be 3 years old in 10 days. It doesn't seem right or fair that she's suffering from this terrible illness.

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Comment by John Wolff on August 14, 2015 at 12:09pm: Oh that's heartbreaking. Life is often cruel, and we often don't know why.

I have to go hug my dogs now...

Comment by susan on August 14, 2015 at 11:00am: My heart is breaking for you and Ellie. I'm so sorry. I hope the steroids give her some relief and some extra time. I'll keep you both in my thoughts. /hugs

Comment by Holly on August 14, 2015 at 9:31am: SO sorry. I'm sure the cost would be exorbitant but I wonder if a neurologist for humans may have answers that vets may not see as often. So sorry for all of you!