She's getting an MRI and spinal tap in the morning, I hope I get the results tomorrow. I'm just scaring myself now on WebMD...

How's Shadow doing right now? How's Ghost? They must have been so excited to see you after your trip??

I am so sorry this is happening to your poor baby! I sure hope you get some answers today and I hope it can be treated with meds or diet! Let us know, prayers to you guys!

I've been silently following this but I really hope you get some answers for poor Shadow

She seems perfectly fine this morning, talkative and rambunctious with Ghost. You wouldn't believe she was having problems at all. Ghost wasn't outside with us when it happened last night, but completely left her alone when we came in. I drop her off at 0900, and then I have the day off today so I'm not really going anywhere until the Neurologist gives me some answers.

Our Husky rescue is working with a young pup now who has daily seizures and is otherwise completely normal. They bounce back quick.

Really hope you can get some answers, I know how difficult it can be to watch. My Malinois had seizures during the last 6 months of his life.

I didn't see this until just now, it's awful and I'm really sorry for you guys. It must be really hard to cope with and hopefully things will get much better for you guys shortly.

I really hope you get some answers Meredith. I'm so sorry this is happening. Please keep us updated. <3

arooroomom wrote:

Our Husky rescue is working with a young pup now who has daily seizures and is otherwise completely normal. They bounce back quick.

That's actually reassuring. Everything I've been told/read says that seizures in young pups usually have some sort of serious underlying cause and not just idiopathic epilepsy.

She had another seizure this morning in the lobby of the neurology center, and I'm actually glad she did so that they could see it. I know there are differences in types of seizures, and to the untrained eye like mine those differences can be hard to miss. I don't think she's having the kind that's associated with some more serious issues, but I'm still glad they got to witness it for the diagnostic process.

This wait is killing me, but I'll at least have a good direction to go in when I pick her up this afternoon. They'll do a preliminary read on the spot, and then send it out for the radiologist to give the final report within the next 24 hours. They're going to take a look at what they see while she's still under anesthesia, and if they think it's warranted they'll do a spinal tap to look at the CSF for evidence of central nervous system inflammation (like meningitis or something). She has no other evidence of infection though, so we'll see.

oh Meredith i just want to give you a good hug right now. i hope you can get some answers soon to get her feeling better!

Just catching up on this. OMG, I'm so sorry Meredith. I would be a freaking out as well  I hope that they're able to control them with meds. When we thought Asia had a seizure I was so scared! It ended up not being a seizure and we think it ws vertigo due to an ear infection. Scary as shit either way!

Yeah he has been having daily seizures, sometimes multiple, since he was brought into rescue at 4 months old. He is on pheno but "they can't get the dosage right" is what I keep hearing. Either way he is healthy otherwise, normal neuro function, and growing.

I've been talking to the president of our rescue, and she was telling me that Keppra and especially zonisamide work better than phenobarb in younger puppies. You might want to toss that out if they aren't already aware.

I've been silently following this thread - I'm so sorry to hear this! I'm sure with Shadow's seizure in the lobby, they can figure out which one it is. My thoughts are with you guys. Thank you for the updates!

The neurologist just called and said Shadow is all done and did really well, and they said to come in at 3:00 to go over the findings and discuss a treatment plan. Aaron is going to leave work early and come meet me, and as soon as I get home I'll update the thread.

So here's the deal. It's not exactly good news, but it's most definitely not worst case. Shadow's MRI came back with some pretty big abnormalities stemming from abnormal brain development in utero. With these abnormalities, she has a fairly serious case of hydrocephalus, or fluid on the brain. The left side of her brain is mostly fluid, and the ventricle on the right side is larger than normal. This explains her extreme mellowness and lack of coordination. On top of that, there is an area of inflammation in the region right next to the more fluid filled ventricle on the left side. They went ahead and did the spinal tap, and the neurologist took a peek at the fluid before it was sent off for the official report. He said from what he saw the fluid looked normal, so he thinks the inflammation is more swelling/edema rather than encephalitis or something like that. We think that's what is causing the seizures. I'll have the official pathology report on that by Monday, but he really doesn't think it's going to turn up anything else.

Anyway, the vet thinks that it can be managed medically, and she's been started on Keppra (anticonvulsive) and Prilosec (yes, the heartburn medication) because one of the side effects of that is a diuretic, and it's particularly good at reducing build ups of cerebrospinal fluid. We also have prednisone on hand in case she's having more issues over the weekend, or if she has a hard time coming out of the anesthesia this evening. She seems to be coming out of it ok, but is really whiney. I think that's more a function that her ass is chilling in her crate and she wants to play with Ghost. If the medication doesn't help enough, we will explore putting in a shunt which will take that excess CSF and drain it into her abdomen. That's what they do with human children who are born with hydrocephalus.

I stopped back by my normal vet on the way home since I had to drive right past it and my vet wanted to see the scans. I told her she might want to have a drink or two before she did it, because her brain just does not look good at all. Both she and the neurologist think that as long as we can manage the fluid and seizures, there's no reason why Shadow can't lead a relatively normal life. If we can't manage them, then it becomes a lot less optimistic. We're keeping her quiet and under observation this week, and as long as she's responding well to the meds we can start increasing her activity again in a week or so.

And this is why unethical breeders should have very nasty things done to them...

Ahh this just touches the heart I am happy that it is not worse. Hopefully observation works out and meds are good.

Poor poor baby. It makes my heart hurt to read it all. Hopefully you will be able to get it all under control and Shadow can lead a normal life.

Well, I really hope the meds manage it and I'm glad its not horrible news. I'm glad you get to stay home too, I'm sure you need to relax! I hope she won't be too much of a wild girl with low activity! I'm sure she'll live a normal life and be alright. When she's better, she and Dizzy and Mechta must have a playdate!

Oh I am sorry to hear this.. Glad it isn't the worst news... Hoping is can be manage with meds to gso you can give shadow a great life.

I'm so sorry that the news wasn't better. Lets hope the meds help. I'm praying for you guys

Glad you got some answers. Hydrocephalus is fairly common in Chihuahuas so I see people dealing with it all the time on the Chihuahua forum and plenty of cases managed alright. It is dangerous so it needs to be carefully monitored, but definitely manageable. Hope everything works out with the management techniques they're advising.

Thanks, Val. So lots of people on there are managing fine with meds and not having to do shunts? I really hope we don't have to go that route, I've heard they have to be replaced a lot and it's going to be hard to afford multiple $5-7K surgeries. We're starting to save up now though in case we have to go that route.

It's been a challenge to quasi-restrict her activity tonight, Ghost has been a little rough with her so we've beed doing some crate rest. She's normally good about going in the crate, but tonight she's been really whiney. She's also more uncoordinated than normal and very restless, and I think it is still aftereffects from anesthesia. I've been holding off on the prednisone, but I might go ahead and start giving it to her.

Poor girl. Hope the meds work! She's lucky she has you guys as her people..I know there are people out there that wouldn't stick through this with her.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Thanks, Val.  So lots of people on there are managing fine with meds and not having to do shunts?

I believe so and it definitely helps to catch it early so that you can manage it before it gets too dangerous. I haven't followed most threads on it before since it didn't affect my dogs, but I did loosely watch the frequency people dealt with it. I won't lie though, there have been both good and bad outcomes, but enough positive outcomes to give hope that Shadow will be able to live a decent life without too much hard core interference. Now I wish I'd paid more attention to the numerous threads on the topic.

Hope Shadow starts feeling better soon.