Sterile Meningitis

Hi Rob,

I’m sorry mate but I’m not going to be able to be of much help as aseptic meningitis is just about unheard of in greyhounds, and personally I have never come across one either with that specific illness.

You are going to have to be guided by your Vet in this situation as I can only assume that he/she has undertaken all of the required tests including a spinal tap to confirm the diagnosis, and is therefore in the best position to guide the treatment.

In regard to the long term outlook as to the Greyhound recovering enough to have a successful racing career, this will depend on what has caused this to occur in the first place.

If it was caused by a viral infection or some type of head trauma/infection the recovery should be complete. However if this condition is the result of an immune system lapse the long term prognosis is not as good, as the problem is likely to reoccur when the dog is placed under the stress of racing or even just from the excitement of chasing the lure around the track.

In this situation it’s unfortunately a case of wait and see how the dog progresses with the current treatment, but as you can imagine the longer the treatment takes the less chance you have of getting the dog physically sound and fit to race and it’s a real concern that your Vet now believes that a recovery could take as long as six months.

Because of this I believe you may have to resign yourself to the real likelihood that you now have a pet Greyhound rather than one that could have a successful racing career.

Cheers,
Tom