Meningitis and encephalitis in dogs are serious inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system that cause severe pain and neurological dysfunction. Early recognition and treatment are critical for welfare and survival.
Dogs with meningitis — particularly SRMA — experience some of the most severe pain described in veterinary medicine. The combination of meningeal inflammation and neck pain causes extreme hypersensitivity: affected dogs cry out when touched, refuse to move, and hold their head rigid. The distress is compounded by fever and generalised malaise. Welfare intervention requires urgent pain management (opioids, anti-inflammatories) alongside immunosuppressive treatment. Delays in diagnosis — often because severe neck pain is initially attributed to orthopaedic causes — prolong suffering unnecessarily. Once diagnosis is confirmed and treatment initiated, welfare improvement is typically rapid and dramatic in SRMA. Long-term monitoring is essential as relapse is common if corticosteroids are tapered too quickly.