Boltz Update 12 October 2020

Boltz has been transitioned off of steroids so we can move forward with additional testing, including a spinal tap and bloodwork to be conducted on Thursday October 15th.  We will also draw enough blood to repeat a CBC, Full Blood Panel and complete the DNA test to determine if he has the mutated gene associated with Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) in dogs.  The Veterinarians required at least a week of no steroids before the spinal tap because of the tendency for steroids causing a higher white blood cell count.  But, transitioning off of steroids needs to be done slowly over time to reduce any additional side-effects.  Boltz had a bit of a challenge during the transition, but is now seeming to rest more comfortably.  This condition continues to be challenging to diagnose because he has moments where he has limited control over his back legs, then he has moments where he is mobile.  The symptoms don’t fit a clear diagnosis to point to one thing, which is why we are choosing to do the spinal tap.  We are going to concentrate on three tests, a Neurologic RealPCR, detecting any indication of one of the tick-borne organisms could be causing the neurological disorder. Even though we have tested for tick issues in bloodwork in the past, their presence may have been below the limits of detection in bloodwork but may be identified in spinal fluid.  The second test is Fluid Analysis with Cytology, which would provide details on proteins and more importantly cell types and appearance that could help identify cancer cells.  The last test is Aerobic and Anaerobic cultures, to indicate if there are other bacterial infections.  The procedure will require a full immobilization, so I will post after the procedure on Thursday to let you know how he did, but we don’t anticipate seeing any results until early next week.