Our second diagnosis

Our vet was able to make an appointment for Hobbes with the neurologist at Cornell's Companion Animal Hospital the very next day.  Got directions from Google, packed up Hobbes in his crate, and off we went.  After an extensive interview with the doc and his assistants, Hobbes went off with them for some preliminary tests, and I spent a few hours walking around Cornell.  I figured they would do whatever they needed to do, give me a diagnosis, and then home we would go. 

When I spoke with the neurologist that afternoon, he said that the tests they had run were inconclusive, and so they wanted to do two things--an electrodiagnostic test to check Hobbes' nerve and muscle functions, and if that didn't give a clear answer, then he wanted to do a nerve/muscle biopsy.  What to do?  I hadn't brought any of Hobbes' food or jello with me, and I wasn't prepared to spend the night.  The doc reassured me that they knew how to take care of a dog with mega-e (duh!!  This is one of the premier animal hospitals in the country!), and that they would likely want to keep him for two nights, especially if they did the biopsy.  So, I left Hobbes in their wonderful hands, and home I drove (another 3 hours or so).

The next evening I spoke with the neurologist, who had conducted both tests, and because they couldn't find anything to contradict the diagnosis, he determined that Hobbes had (and still has) acquired Myasthenia Gravis.  That means that Hobbes wasn't born with the condition--he somehow developed it during his very brief life.  The next morning I packed up the car again, and off I went to pick up Hobbes.  I was thrilled when he recognized me, and ran to me across the waiting room floor!  Along with all of the meds Hobbes was taking for the mega-e, he now got to add pyridostigmine to his daily drug cocktail, well disguised in his meatballs.  The picture to the left is Hobbes after his visit to Cornell.  I call this his centerfold pose.