Upon examination, Reilly was alert, responsive, and fully ambulatory. She displayed no paresis (weakness) or ataxia (unsteady gait); only a constant, rhythmic spasm of her left thoracic limb (forelimb). She did stumble a couple of times while walking, and at one point, she lost her footing when she shook; her chin hitting the floor.
Although she was able to navigate around the room, cranial nerve assessment revealed an absent menace response in both eyes, an absent palpebral response from the outer corner of the eyes, and slightly reduced sensation on the inside of her nose. Additionally, proprioceptive (awareness of paw placement) deficits were noted on the left side of her body when she did not correct the left fore or hind paws if they were turned upside down. The remainder of the neurologic examination was unremarkable.
Based on the examination findings, Reilly’s neuroanatomic lesion localization was intracranial (in the brain), which raised concern for central nervous system inflammatory disease (meningoencephalitis); as it was also suspected that the abnormal movement of the left forelimb mentioned earlier was actually a manifestation of seizure activity.
