Canine Meningitis

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the three-part covering that surrounds the brain. These parts---the dura mater, arachnoid and pia mater---help protect the brain by preventing it from moving too much. Meningitis is a broad term that refers only to this inflammation. There are many kinds of meningitis that can come about from a wide range of primary disorders.

  1. The Meninges

    • According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, the meninges seem less prone to infection than other bodily organs in a dog, which is believed to result from the good design of the body's natural protection for the nervous system. Generally, if the meninges become infected, it is due to some kind of damage to the other layers of protection, such as a bite from another dog that pierces the meninges and allows bacteria to travel in.

    Symptoms

    • Most commonly, a dog with meningitis will have a fever, difficulty moving the neck and muscle spasms around the spine. The dog is also likely to have hyperesthesia, extreme reactions to things such as touch and sound. Your dog may also have neurological signs such as paralysis, but not all dogs will demonstrate this. The Merck Veterinary Manual states that neurological signs are usually only seen in dogs with chronic meningitis.

    Causes

    • According to VetInfo.com, an informational veterinary medicine site featuring veterinarians, many things can result in canine meningitis. Canine meningitis can be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, chemicals and parasites. Distemper and parvovirus are the most common viruses to result in canine meningitis, while staph infections can result in bacterial canine meningitis. There are also other, little-understood kinds of canine meningitis such as steroid-responsive canine meningitis.

    Diagnosis and Treatment

    • To diagnose meningitis, the Merck Veterinary Manual says a veterinarian will take a cerebrospinal fluid sample to examine the cells and fluid itself. Because the appearance of the cerebrospinal fluid changes from disease to disease, a veterinarian is the best person to diagnose a dog.

      Steroid-responsive meningitis can be treated with a course of corticosteroids. If the disease clears up after the full course, it is assumed that the dog had steroid-responsive meningitis, according to VetInfo.com.

      Other kinds of meningitis are not so easily treated. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, canine meningitis resulting from bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics, but this treatment must be administered long enough for the antibiotics to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.

    Related Disease

    • Canine meningitis can also occur alongside canine encephalitis, which is an infection of the brain. This combination of infections is called canine meningoencephalitis. Canine meningoencephalitis can result from the same causes as canine meningitis. Canine meningoencephalitis is diagnosed and treated similarly to canine meningitis.