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Since I last wrote about Abner’s apparent stroke there have been some major developments. Around the beginning of September we noticed that the other side of Abner’s face had become paralyzed. We assumed that it could be another stroke but since his behavior had not changed we didn’t do anything about it. He was still eating, drinking, playing and doing everything else normally. Then, about a week later around September 8 we noticed a pronounced difference in the way he walked and his balance. He was extremely unstable and shaky, and had extreme difficulty walking up and down the steps. He also had a pronounced head tilt. He walked almost as if he was drunk.

Fearing the worst I called the next day and had them move his appointment up to Friday the ninth. I came home from work preparing myself for the worst but there he was, still going strong but still showing the same signs. At that point I was glad that he was at least no worse than the day before. I took him over to the vet and the vet said that it was most likely one of three things: a stroke, meningitis, or a brain tumor. He said that strokes in dogs were rare so he was pretty much ruling that one out for the time being. He said the more likely culprit was either meningitis or a brain tumor. It could be either viral or bacterial meningitis though, so he prescribed Abner a steroid to reduce the swelling and an antibiotic.

So it basically boils down to this: if the meningitis is viral the steroid will reduce the swelling in his brain and body and then the virus will have to just run its course. If it’s bacterial the antibiotic will take care of that. However, if it’s a brain tumor then it’s just a matter of time before it kills him.

The good news is that after just over a week on the medication Abner is showing signs of recovery. His face is still paralyzed but he’s regained much more control over his walking and stability. He still goes very slowly and carefully down the steps but he no longer falls when making the attempt. He can even run with very good stability. It appears on the surface that the medication is having a positive effect on his condition.

I don’t know whether or not he’ll bounce back from this but I figure that the medication has bought us some more time together at the very least. Abner is happy and is behaving completely normally, aside from some facial paralysis and a small amount of instability. He’s eating well and doing the things he normally loves doing which mainly consists of sleeping. All we can do at this point is hope for the best and take each day at a time