The first step in the evaluation of your animal will entail completing a questionnaire and providing a detailed history. This will be followed by a physical examination. This aims to identify any diseases of other organ systems that may have effects on the nervous system (see Figure 1A, below). Examples include a tumor that could spread from distant sites such as the kidney or bladder to the brain or an infectious disease that has produced a fever, cough, runny eyes and nose. A detailed examination of the eyes may be very helpful. In particular, the tissue at the back of the eye called the retina is very similar to nervous tissue and can provide important clues in the diagnosis of neurological disease (see Figure 1B, below).
Figure 1A: Kidney of a cat that died of the neurological form of FIP. Note that one half of the kidney is swollen and irregular (arrows); similar changes are often found in lymphosarcoma. Swelling of the kidney was suspected on palpation during the physical examination and subsequently confirmed by an abdominal ultrasound examination. B: Photograph of the retina (a structure at the back of the eye) from a dog with canine distemper. The grey area (arrows) is caused by an accumulation of white blood cells that have been attracted to the area due to the presence of the virus. Similar retinal abnormalities may be found in other infectious diseases such as cryptococcosis, the disease that has appeared recently on Vancouver Island.
