John and I worried for a week over Spencer who at 18 months old suddenly became ill on April 13, 1997, from seemingly unknown causes.

We first noticed Spencer was lethargic, shuddering and seemed to be in pain. He walked with a "hunch" in his back and was hesitant about climbing up on the sofa or going up steps. An emergency visit to the vet that day showed a high white count of about 19,000 and a 105 F fever. At first thought, we suspected a possible back injury, but x-rays revealed nothing. Additional blood tests only showed the high white count. Everything else seemed normal. Our local vet kept him and treated him with antibiotics and fluids for two days.

Spencer seemed to show some improvement so he came home the evening of April 15. The next day, he had a fever, which spiked in the morning and evening at about 104.5 F. All during the day, he slept on the sofa. I checked his temperature every two hours or when I noticed him shuddering, an indication of a high fever. Then in the early hours of April 17, I checked on him around 4 a.m. He looked like he was drawing his last breath, and I could see his little heart pounding in his chest. In tears, we rushed him back to the vet clinic at 5:30 a.m.

Since Spencer's white count had increased, and the antibiotics had been ineffective, our vet suggested that we take him to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University in Ames where they could do a spinal tap and EMG to check him for meningitis. Most local vets are not equipped to do spinal taps nor do the lab work that goes with it, so Iowa State was our closest facility.

We picked him up at the vet clinic around 5:30 a.m. April 18 and rushed over to Ames for our 10 a.m. appointment. He was a real trouper during the 4-hour drive. He rode in his crate right behind me while John drove. I kept reaching back to stroke his ears, which he seemed to enjoy. Although we were still very concerned about him, I felt confident that the doctors at Iowa State would be able to diagnose and treat his condition.

John and I were very impressed with the professionals at Iowa State. Spencer was examined thoroughly by two specialists, and the preliminary diagnosis was necrotizing vasculitis, sometimes called "Stiff Beagle Syndrome." A spinal tap was needed to confirm the diagnosis and rule out meningitis or any other disorders.

One of the hardest things I had to do was leave Spencer in Ames, but Dr. Julie Ridgway, Spencer's primary doctor, assured us that the condition was treatable once it was diagnosed. She said she had only seen one other case of necrotizing vasculitis, and Iowa State gets a lot of unusual cases because it is a teaching hospital. Dr. Ridgway, who is from England, had actually suspected this disorder before she saw Spencer.

Necrotizing vasculitis, although rare, can occur in beagles at 6-12 months. Although Spencer was 18 months, he was showing all the major symptoms: spiking temperature, muscle and joint stiffness, profound lethargy, and an elevated white blood count.

Dr. Ridgway's diagnosis was confirmed with a spinal tap, and we knew the answer by the end of the day. The tell-tale signs were a high white count of 4,000 in the spinal fluid (normal is 1-5) and then the absence of any bacteria. They put him on different medication, and Spencer was responding well within hours. He remained in intensive care for two days, and his symptoms disappeared. We brought Spencer in on a Friday and happily picked him up the following Tuesday.

Spencer is taking a very high dose of the steroid Prednisone (20 mg/ 2 times daily. Since Prednisone commonly causes stomach upset, Spencer is also taking canine equivalent of Tagamet (Cimetidine), which was discovered by Dr. Ridgway's professor. Small world!

Because of the high dosages of steroids, Spencer drinks water by the bucketful and wants to eat everything in sight. The medication also tends to make him quite sluggish, so he lays around a lot. Basically he acts like a 10-year-old dog except when food and water are involved. He will have to take steroids for a few months, but the dosage should be decreasing soon. The good news is that he doesn't seem to have any permanent damage because the condition was diagnosed so quickly. We were also told that the symptoms usually do not reappear, especially as the dog grows older.

Since necrotizing vasculitis is so rare and occurs only in certain breeds of dogs, few veterinarians have heard of it. I am scrambling to find some more information to post at The Regal Beagle site just to make people aware of the condition. In my 32 years of having beagles, I had never heard of such a disorder. From what I understand, I'm not alone. I have not found a veterinarian in small animal practice that has seen or even heard of the disorder in beagles.

I want to stress that necrotizing vasculitis is quite rare, but should your young beagle ever experience symptoms much like Spencer's, have your local vet check him for common maladies. If your beagle goes undiagnosed and does not improve, mention this disorder. I'd hate to see a beagle put down because a rare condition went undiagnosed. Necrotizing vasculitis is treatable, and with proper care, Spencer should be his old self after he kicks the steroid habit!

©1997 Patricia M. Robidoux

Updates:

July 31, 1997: Spencer is doing very well! He shows no signs of ever being affected with this disorder, but continues to take medication once a week. We are so thankful to have received such wonderful medical treatment, both from our local vets and from the staff at Iowa State.

June 27, 2000: You would never know that Spencer had ever been so ill. He's going to be five in November and is a very active little dog who loves to play! Although he still shows symptoms of necrotizing vasculitis every few months, we treat him with Prednisone the second we notice a problem. The biggest tell-tale symptom in his case is "bowing." He'll rest on his forelegs and leave his rear elevated. When I see him doing this, I immediately start him back on medication, usually 5mg of Prednisone once daily for a couple of days, then down to every other day until he's properly weaned off the meds. We have not yet found the lowest effective dose for him. ALWAYS check with your vet when administering medication. Prednisone is a steroid and dogs cannot be removed from it "cold turkey." It also can cause liver and kidney problems if used for extended periods of time, so Spencer is closely monitored by our veterinarian.

More about Necrotizing Vasculitis...

This page contains technical information about this condition, written for vets rather than the lay person. Still, I found the information quite useful and was amazed at how Spencer displayed many of these clinical symptoms. I am dumbfounded at the lack of material available on this condition, so I'm pleased to share what I have found so far.