Monday, July 17, 2006
Pug Dog Encephalitis (PDE) is a fatal disease that only affects pugs. Village of Hope is a great resource completely devoted to educating others about PDE and raising money to research this deadly disease. Village of Hope is a great place to start in finding out more about Pug Dog Encephalitis or to connect with others who have witnessed first-hand the affects of this disease.
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Just two days before christmas this year we had to put our baby Otis to sleep for what we believe was PDE. He was 13 months old and he was a very happy, healthy fun loving puppy until one day he stopped junping off of the furniture and became lathargic. His vet gave him steriods, a sedative to calm him down because he was having trouble breathing aswell. All the lab work came back normal. Within a few days he stared having siezures and had diffiuclty breathing. He was unable to walk properly and he became unaware of his surroundings and his family. While at the vets office he had a few more siezures, became incontinent, had a 107 temp and had neurolgical problems. We had to make the decision to put him to sleep because he was suffering. It was so unexpected. We thought we were taking him in for a sick visit. It all happen in such a such a short period of time. We have his brother from the same litter. We hope and pray that this does not happen to him as well….Does anyone know if his brother is prone to this diesease now???????? please help?????
Our Pug is 9 mo. name Chloe and has been biting since we got her at 8weeks but in the last few months she has been aggresive and acts like she wants to attack us. She also has a luxating patella that has to be operated on but we do not want to put out so much money if this biting is encephalitis please give us some help
Some good news: My pug, Ug, who ended up in a specialized animal hospital has seizures and is being treated with phenobarbital. It has been a month and he has been seizure free. It does not look like PDE. I thought we were taking him to put him to sleep after an incredible cluster of seizures that he had. However the vet said it could be seizures and not PDE. He has been acting like his old self ever since his time in the hospital.
Chloe doesn’t have encephalitis. She may just have some behavioral issues. I’d check with a trainer or behavioralist. I have a Pug who, on occassion, has gotten aggressive with my other dog, and with me. But it’s usually over food issues- territorial stuff. Don’t suspect the worst- this is not a common symptom of PDE. Sounds like your dog is reaching a new point of maturity and is finding her place in the pack. She wants to assert herself as the Alpha Dog. Have someone help you, I believe that’s all she needs.
It is my understanding that PDE is hereditary and every puppy in the litter where a dog is affected by it will come down with it. If you still have the contact information from where you got the dog- I would follow up with them to see if they received word about other sick pups and alert them that this may be going on.
Keep an eye on your surviving pup. If you do not have confirmation that it was, in fact PDE- try not to get yourself to worked up. Dogs are like people and experience many strange disorders and diseases and it’s possible that your Otis may have just had something else.
Sounds to me like what’s going on with Kiya is something other then PDE. I wouldn’t search for something that’s not there. If you have it available to you, do the tests to rule it out. This includes and MRI test coupled with a spinal tap. The cost can be expensive (@ $1000+) , but if you have the money and would rather have the piece of mind- I say go for it. You could have an X Ray done of her spine to see if you can see a disc issue first.
PDE usually presents with seizures, disorientation, blindness in one or both eyes, pressing head against objects and so on. It’s possible your dog has an injury (that may have occurred last month) and I would do what I could to pin point that before thinking she has PDE. I would get a second opinion from another vet- HOWEVER… the neurologist knows more about PDE then an ordinary vet. They have a specialty and have probably seen more cases and have done research. Don’t get upset- but do get her care immdiately for her back issue if that is what it is.
PDE is not a slow moving disease. It was explained to me that most pugs die upon admission to the hosp for acute onset symptoms. A small percentage live out to about a month or a month and a half after symptoms. And a VERY small percentage lived maybe to a year. I’m sure there are expections to every single rule- but I wouldn’t bet any money on your dog having PDE based on your reports. If you noticed odd behavior last month or so, and now this- I’d bet on injury. PDE comes on fast and furious, for the most part- and that’s what makes it so devistating.
I lost my Miikka the morning of June 2008. Her symptoms started at 3:00 am (circling, pressing her head against the wall, jerking and crying out in pain) and by 6:15 am she was gone. I had no idea what happened to her (emergency vet kept telling me she ate something, but I know she was in bed with me) until I read an article on PDE. It didn’t relieve the pain I still go through, but at least I have answers. She was only 2 years old.
pugs can get PDE any where from months to 4 years old…
just enjoy everyday and pray for the best!
My pug is almost 6 and has had seizured since he was little and has never been that often. Mybe 3 to 4 bad ones a year. Just recently he has started having different kind of seizures, where he isnt uncontrollably shaking, but does ket bothered and start runnign his head into everything and have stuff flying out of his nose and mouth. This has happened about 8 times in the last 3 weeks. Then he had oen last night and another bad one a few hours later. His bad ones are usually when he uncontrollable shakes and cant walk and has to go to the bathroom. And he usually hides under the bed for a while after those. But again, the bad ones dont happen often. Do you think this is PDE progressing or something different?
i have a 5 year old pug who has begun having nearly inexplicable episodes of aggression in the last 6 months. from all the things i hear about PDE, i am very confused - on the one hand, i feel like her problems are behavioral, since she has no seizures and seems just fine. but then i hear people talking about losing pugs so suddenly, and that sudden aggression in a pug is a symptom, since it is so rare in the breed. i am planning to take her to my vet this week in the hopes that we can rule out PDE. are the tests for the disease pretty accurate? will i know for sure if she has it from a spinal tap, or MRI, or will i need both? if she seems fine except for her bizarre aggression, is she in pain, or should i feel a need to put her to sleep just because she has it?
My brothers pug (Gromit) is male,3yrs old and has suffered approx 4 fits over a couple of years.Th last two yesterday and 6 mths ago were quite severe.I only heard of PDE through the internet. He has other symptoms as well. The vet has’nt mentioned any of this to my brother. After his fit yesterday,poor Grom seems very subdued and not himself.He is eating,drinking all the normal things but he is not well. The vet gave him a painkilling injection but we do not know now what to do.If it is PDE he has then we know we cannot help the outcome.We are all very upset and really don’t know what to do.
i am concerned about my pug, he just started to have 2 episodes of seizures, he is acting to slow and apart. He is getting to tired fast and have no stamina as always. Please can some tell me if my dog can have this PDE.
I went to the Vet and all his labs were good exept for the White blood cell high. He had a Urinary infection.
We had to put Seymour to sleep this morning. I felt really bad because I let the vet try for 2 days to get his seizures under control because we were holding out hope that it was epilepsy. If I had done my research sooner I would have realized that his behavior after his first seizure 2 months ago was indicative of PDE but I simply did not know better. My kids are going to be heartbroken, he was the first dog that was their dog and it just seems so unfair that we only got 2 1/2 years with him. We will not miss the shedding but I will certainly miss seeing him crawl all over my kids and lick their faces and the way that he made them laugh. Seymour made them laugh harder and louder than any joke ever could. We all loved him and will miss him.
Just last week I lost my two year old black pug named Marley a.k.a. Bobo to pug encephalitis. I’m very numb right now, he was a part of my life for 2 years and 3 months. I adopted him when he was a week old and he’s never left my side. He will be in my heart forever and he touched many other people.I love you Marley and mommy will always be here for you…
My husband and I just lost our sweet little Chick P, a Pug/Boston Terrier mix, to PDE yesterday morning, she was only 9 months old. She went from being happy and lively to unresponsive in a matter of days.
She started exhibiting strange but nonspecific syptoms on Tuesday such as extreme lethargy, but was still eating and drinking.
We initially thought she was injured or had an infection but all of her blood work, xrays and an ECG came back normal. But by Friday she began to have seizures and cry out in pain. We rushed her to an emergency animal hospital at 8:30pm and she passed away in her sleep at 1:30am.
She was our little baby and the pain of losing her is overwhelming. We have a 2 year old Pug named Rooah and we’re so afraid that she will meet the same fate as Chick P.
We lost our precious Bella to Pug Dog Encephalitis this morning. She was only 1 year and 9 months old. She had been sleeping all day and refused to jump off of the bed and go down stairs for the past 3 weeks. We took her to the vet and they thought she had strained her back, so they sent us home with pain meds. After that she continued to deteriorate, and both of her left legs seemed to be a little weak. Three days ago she had a panting fit, which I now think followed a seizure we were not aware of, and so we took her to the ER vet. They said she could have an infection, or it could be PDE. She was ataxic, heavily panting, and wandered the examining room as if she was lost. She no longer recognized us. The next day we took her to our vet and he said he agreed it was a cerebellar/CNS disorder and that it could be PDE, a tick borne disease, or Toxoplasmosis. He kept her for blood work, X-rays and to monitor. We picked her up later that day and he sent us home with Doxycycline to cover for tick borne disease. She seemed to get a little better over the weekend, but her limbs were still a bit shaky, and she seemed to weaken the longer she stayed mobile. She still spent the whole day in her kennel, and seemed afraid to be held or touched, which was very unlike our baby bella, who loved to sit on mommy’s lap when she studied. Last night we went outside to potty, and she was so weak she fell down when trying to find a place to potty. When she came inside for the night she started panting, would not eat her dinner, and then after about 10 minutes of panting, had a seizure. This led to 3 more occuring throughout the night, with heavy panting in between. In the morning she could no longer move her arms and legs, she seemed to have lost her vision, she was shaking uncontrollably, and she continued to pant. This is when we decided we could not let her suffer any more and took her to be put down. I am convinced she was in our lives as an angel to brighten our days, and we will always remember her as the spunky, happy loving baby girl who loved golf balls and going to the park. I will never forget her, and it will be hard to accept this loss that seems so premature. I hope someday we will understand more about PDE and find a way to keep our babies from having to suffer through this horrible illness.
Back in 2003, I had 2 littermates and 1 of them died of PDE within 3 weeks. She was 1.5 yrs old. She had every symptom listed under PDE. My other dog is now 6 yrs old and she had a couple of seizures the other day. This is the first time. The vet can not rule PDE out since her littermate died from that. Pugs are in danger of this disease from 6 mos to 7 yrs. Ever since she’s had her seizures she seems different. I hope I do not lose her to this terrible disease.
We just lost our baby Claire yesterday to PDE. It started in February with was thought to be a spinal issue. She was wobbley and stopped urinating. A MRI showed a birth defect, but a spinal tap revealed an inflammation problem. She was treated with high doses of steriods and seemed to come back well-running and urinating by herself. After the second decrease in steroids she had a major seizure and we took her to the ED attached to her Neuro Vet. They got her seizures under control-but she wasn’t quite ‘Claire’. Three weeks later and a down hill spiral, we decided it was enough. There are drugs to control or manage this-not cure. We didn’t get a chance to try it with Claire, but there’s good research on this. The drugs are Atopica and Cytosar. If your vet has never heard of these-switch vets-to someone that has knowledge of this.
We had to put our two year old pug Faith to sleep just three days ago. She developed PDE and was gone within 48 hours. At first we thought she just had a pulled musle in her leg because she would not jump off the furniture and walked favoring one leg. We just thought that she was rough housing too much with our new 12 week old puppy Hope. But it was worse then that, a few hours later she had her first seizure and oh my goodness, that is the hardest thing ever to watch— she was in so much pain and would cry out after the seizures. At first the vet thought it was epilelpsy and sent Faith home with us on Phenabarbitol because all day at the vet she was responding to it and had not had a seizure. Well, we had a good two hours with her and then she had another seizure and started circling and running into things. My husband and I knew it was PDE we just knew it in our hearts. We ended up putting her to sleep the next day because we did not want her to have to suffer anymore and we could tell even being heavily drugged that she was in lots of pain. I miss her so very much. I just hope and pray that we never have to go through that again. God Bless You Faith—may you be happy up in heaven and know that you will be missed dearly.
My best little buddy in the world has PDE I think. He got ill last Wednesday went into a seizure and then threw up for about 2 days. He has had moments of barking at nothing prior to this and now is very unsteady when walking and had had 4 seizures since the first. I have no many to get him help. I am out of work and can barely make it to keep a roof over our head. I so love my little boy, he is my world. I have cried for hours since I have been reading about PDE. It is so very hard. He already doesn’t act himself and it so breaks my heart.
We lost our baby boy, Max, to PDE just last week. He was two years old, and my best friend in the world. Months ago, we started noticing a leftward “drift” when we would walk him, but didn’t think much about it. About a month ago, he started having difficulty maintaining his balance. The vet said it could be something neurological (PDE), or an inner ear infection (which we treated for). He seemed to get some better, but then the symptoms returned and got worse. He fianlly got to where he could barely stand, and when he did, he would pace in circles. The night before I had him put down, he paced all night and ran inot things knocking them over. The next morning, he started having seizures and was in a lot of pain, so I had no choice but to have him put to sleep.
He was the life of my house, and I miss him SO BAD!!!!
i had pde in my pug gracie. she was my first pug. exept she was inbread when the vet told me shes gonna live “just give her some rise hamburger” i did that exact thing he said but gracie would just puke it back up. and that night it got worse gracie started to have lost muscle usage had 1 seizer and the worste you could ever think happend gracie was haveing another seizer i held her in my arms and then her eyes clouded her tong was light voilet her mouth was open… i was yelling her name at her shaking her. then thats when i felt like i died. LOVE U gracie. R.I.P. all pugs who have died of this deasese.
We lost our dog Yoda last night to PDE and it was horrible to watch him go from an active playful dog to one that could not get up on his own. I tried everything to get him better once we saw the on-set of him getting sick. I even flew him to NJ to a great Vet for care and they extened his life for a few weeks, but he was never the same. He was weak, red eyes, not eating on his own, not drinking and just sleeping all that time. He did not have seizures until just the other day he had one. The Vet tried steroids and antibiotics and it worked for a while, but he never was the same again, this all happened within a month. Last night I put him to bed feeling that he did not have long and when I woke this morning he was gone. He will be truly missed because he was loved very much. This is a horrible thing to watch and I feel for anyone that has to go through this. The best thing to do is keep them comfortable and love them as much as possible.
A ray of hope.My pug Sasha was diagnosed with PDE 18 months ago.An MRI of the brain and spinal tap was performed to arrive at this diagnosis.Initial onset was intermitent seizures followed by loss of mobility to limbs and stiffness to neck.Like in most cases the veterinary neurologist informed me the disease was acute and untreatable.My initial thoughts were to put her down and not have to see her suffer as the disease progressed.My local vet prescribed phenobarbitol to help control the seizures,Atopica(immunosupressant)and prednisone on a daily basis.Within a few days my Sasha was back to running in the yard with her brothers.She still has some intermitent seizures but none of the paralysis or other symptoms she displayed at onset.I know things could change at anytime but for now things are good.Enjoying every day we have with her.This is just to let others know there is some hope,and that you may be able be with your pet longer then you think.Wish I had read more stories like this when I started researching into this disease.I thank God every nite when she cuddles up next to me in bed.
Hi everyone, My Puggle Sophie, most likely has PDE. We are currently trying to rule out epilepsy by having her on the potassium bromide but I know she displays all the signs of the PDE and every sign seems to point in that direction. I have two small children at home and unfortunately I did not plan for something like this at all. Can anyone tell me how much will this cost to treat even if I am understanding that the inevitable is death??? I know my vet will recommend us to see a neurologist but I am at a loss of what I am financially able to do. Someone please give me some info thanks!!
I’m sorry about your Puggle. I spent roughy $4500 on my Claire-I’d do it again-but the outcome wasn’t good. It was like watching a fast moving Alzhiemers disease. Try looking into ‘village of hope’ website and Dr Greers notes. She’s now at the university of Indiania. good luck and lots of prayers!
Well, unfortunately its going to cast ALOT of money. My Girlie cost close to $9,000.00 and still died in three months. I cant tell you what to do. You have to do whats in your heart. I feel like I had alot of false hope butthen again maybe she could have lived longer. I dont know I just know its alot of money for a very unceratin thing. Your objective should be to keep her comfortable and have no pain. Sometimes we keep them alive for us because we cant let go. Unfortunatley i think that was my case. I will pray for you and I hope you and your family enjoy every moment you have with her.
Allison Carmello
This is a reply to Sophie’s owner regarding costs for PDE diagnosis and treatment.Cat scan or MRI to diagnose encephalitis.$600/$1600.Spinal tap to know if PDE or treatable encephailitis $700(includes cost for anesthesiologist to put dog out).My Sasha weighs 16 lbs. and her monthly meds total $130(Atopica an immunosuppressant,Prednisone and Phenobarbitol for seizures).Bloodwork to monitor phenobarb every 3 months $128.If your dog displays all the classic symptoms for PDE may want to go to spinal tap for diagnosis to save money.Hope this helps in your decision to treat.Best of luck,Rick D.
Just yesterday our 2-1/2 year old pug started acting strange. I never witnessed him having a seizure, but all he wants to do is go outside, walk and run around the yard sniffing at the ground, and circle like he is constipated. We have another dog so he’ll never be gone long because he doesn’t want to miss anything. However, when I got up this morning, he was outside again and kept going outside all morning. He must be worn out but won’t quit. He did slow down last night around bedtime. Any help?
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Heather
12/30/2008
I have a 3 1/2 year old female pug, Kiya. On Sunday while waiting for her turn at the water dish her front paws slipped out from under her. We thought that she had slipped on some water from the dish. She wasn’t able to lift her head off the ground and her front paws seem to be paralyzed. If we try to stand her up she pushes her paws out and her head to the ground with her butt up in the air. We waited to see if she got better on Monday but she wasn’t. We took her to the vet and he said that she probably had PDE and that he has only seen one other case and it presented with seizures. We are devasted. The vet called a neurologist and they seem to disagree with the vet saying that it might be a slip disc in her neck. We have her on steriods. My husband also realized that the last month or so that Kiya would hesitate when jumping off the couch and have to be picked up and put on the floor. All Kiya does is lay around. Has anyone elses dog presented like this? Maybe diagnosed with PDE but really wasn’t? I can’t bare to put her to sleep if we don’t have to, but I also can’t bare to see her suffer like this.