Keirdan-Pet of the Month

Keirden Ehrenberger is a 6 year old male German Shepherd.  He has been a patient at River Valley since his owners Steve and Mary adopted him in December 2008.

On February 2^nd Mary came home from work to find Keirden acting strangely.  He proceeded to have a grand mal seizure.  Mary brought him in to River Valley immediately, and Dr. Laurie Miller examined him.  He was recovering from his seizure, but slowly.  On physical exam he was uncoordinated, was having trouble seeing, and was disoriented.  Blood tests were performed in the clinic and were within normal limits.  Mary took Keirden home to monitor him closely for any more seizures or other signs of illness.

Over the next few days Keirden remained seizure free, but still was acting abnormally.  He would pace in circles, and easily trip over things.  Steve brought him back to River Valley on February 7^th for a medical progress exam with Dr. Miller.  On physical exam she found he still had neurologic abnormalities, and recommended a referral to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center for a neurology consult.

At the U the veterinary neurologists performed an MRI.  It showed that Keirden had a brain tumor that had caused the seizure and neurologic abnormalities.   Treatment options for the brain tumor included surgical removal or radiation.  The Ehrenbergers decided to go ahead with surgery.

Surgery was performed at the U of M on February 23^rd.  As much of the tumor was removed as possible, and submitted for histopathologic analysis.  This showed it was a meningioma, which is a tumor that grows from the lining of the brain called the meninges.  A postoperative MRI showed some traces of tumor still left in Keirden’s brain.   Keirden recovered well from his brain surgery and was discharged on February 25^th.   He has had some small seizures post-operatively that are being controlled with medication.

Because of the tumor cells still present, additional therapy was recommended.  The tumor that was removed was frozen, and killed tumor cells are being grown in culture to make a vaccine.  In a few weeks Keirden will be given injections of the vaccine from these killed tumor cells.  This will stimulate his immune system to eradicate the trace tumor cells left in his brain.

Keirden is an amazing dog owned by wonderful people.   He is a great example of the advances and strides that have been made in veterinary medicine.   Within 3 weeks of his initial seizure he had a brain tumor diagnosed, surgically removed, and was back home recovering with his family!