Initial symptoms of meningitis in dogs include: pain in the spine or back, which may also be stiff; muscle spasms in the back, neck or forelimbs; head tilt; the affected dog may shake when walking Staggering; gradual weight loss; vomiting and loss of appetite or loss of appetite; fever and low blood pressure. The clinical symptoms of meningitis in dogs are related to the cause of the meningitis, and will also change depending on which parts of the dog's central nervous system are affected.

If the initial symptoms of the dog are not treated in time, as the disease progresses, the sick dog will often develop more serious clinical symptoms: blindness, slowed reaction, intermittent coma or persistent coma. , epileptic seizures, complete lack of sense of direction, abnormal attacks on similar species or humans, and loss of consciousness.

What are the causes of meningoencephalitis in dogs?

There are many causes of meningitis in dogs, including infection and immune-mediated factors. For example, common infection factors include bacterial, fungal, viral and protozoal infections. These infection sources can pass through the dog’s sinuses. , inner ear, vertebrae, or traumatic injury reaches the central nervous system. In some cases, the source of infection also travels through the bloodstream to the greater central nervous system.
In addition, some internal parasites can also cause meningitis when they migrate through the brain and central nervous tissue of dogs, such as roundworms and heartworms, but meningitis caused by parasites is relatively rare clinically.
Meningitis in dogs can also occur non-infectiously and is caused by an immune-mediated inflammatory response (the body's immune system attacks its own tissues).
The occurrence of some diseases may also cause meningitis in dogs, such as rabies, Lyme disease (a disease transmitted by ticks), intervertebral disc infection, spinal infection, sinus infection, ear infection, Eye infections and rickettsial infections; certain toxins or drugs may also cause illness in dogs.