What is wrong with my dog - $15,000

It all began with my dog showing signs of a sore leg, before you know it my dog was leaning to one side, almost showing signs of being drunk, ultimately loosing balance. We took our dog to emergency, we met with a neurologist who thought the signs could be a stroke, this is where it gets weird . A full set of X-rays, MRI, Spinal Tap. Bloods we cannot find the cause of the issue. The specialist vet team is left scratching their head. Weve checked b12, ticks, inner ear /ear drum infection. Yeast infection. Infectious disease tests,bacteria tests We’ve spent $15,000 to date and still don’t have an answer

Hello.  This is a typical question on these boards, but of course we have to be honest; what you have described is a symptom called ataxia and there are many, many possible reasons for it.   Your specialist neurologist, who hopefully knows more about neurology than myself, has met your dog and having done many tests and appreciated the findings, is in a much closer place to offering a diagnosis or differentials list than ourselves.  When a diagnosis hasn't yet been offered, it is easy to tell ourselves that they have failed, or to overlook the value of the work that has already been done.   So perhaps it may be useful to reframe the situation.  When they first saw your dog, a specialist neurologist would have done tests and / or examinations and thereby identified where in the body they thought that the lesion might be.  Sometimes they might come up with a shortlist of areas eg 'a lesion in X part of the brain could present like this, but so could one where the neuron connects with the muscle.'  Typically more tests eg mRI scan looking for brain changes in an appropriate place, or muscle biopsies or reflex tests can be performed.  Using logic to eliminate possibilities, your vet will eventually be left with a 'shortlist' of things that might still be going on.  This is called the 'differentials list.'   Good questions for your vet therefore include, 'What are the remaining differentials?'  And 'What can be done in order to distinguish between these' or sometimes, 'Is it important to.distinguish between diseases Y and Z, or do you already know what you need to do next to help?'  Touching base with them in this way can help you to understand where they are up to with this process at the moment, and sounds to be a vital next step at this worrying time.

Hello.  This is a typical question on these boards, but of course we have to be honest; what you have described is a symptom called ataxia and there are many, many possible reasons for it.   Your specialist neurologist, who hopefully knows more about neurology than myself, has met your dog and having done many tests and appreciated the findings, is in a much closer place to offering a diagnosis or differentials list than ourselves.  When a diagnosis hasn't yet been offered, it is easy to tell ourselves that they have failed, or to overlook the value of the work that has already been done.   So perhaps it may be useful to reframe the situation.  When they first saw your dog, a specialist neurologist would have done tests and / or examinations and thereby identified where in the body they thought that the lesion might be.  Sometimes they might come up with a shortlist of areas eg 'a lesion in X part of the brain could present like this, but so could one where the neuron connects with the muscle.'  Typically more tests eg mRI scan looking for brain changes in an appropriate place, or muscle biopsies or reflex tests can be performed.  Using logic to eliminate possibilities, your vet will eventually be left with a 'shortlist' of things that might still be going on.  This is called the 'differentials list.'   Good questions for your vet therefore include, 'What are the remaining differentials?'  And 'What can be done in order to distinguish between these' or sometimes, 'Is it important to.distinguish between diseases Y and Z, or do you already know what you need to do next to help?'  Touching base with them in this way can help you to understand where they are up to with this process at the moment, and sounds to be a vital next step at this worrying time.