New Chi owner here! Health

Discussion in 'Chihuahua' started by Borkborkimadork, Jan 31, 2022.

  1. Borkborkimadork

    Borkborkimadork New Member

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    Wren

    New Chi owner here!

    Hello!
    Okay so, on top of being a noob in the world of chihuahuas. I’m also rather new to using forums. And I spent way too long navigating this forum trying to figure out how to post a thread, so Please bear with me. This will likely be a bit of a ramble.

    So my mum rescued a; from what we have figured out; disabled 7 week old Chihuahua pupper. She’s very small and it’s a bit of a shock to our world because we have cats bigger than her right now. I’m used to large breed dogs and all their behaviours etc. But this little one has been an interesting experience. She’s about the size of pound of butter right now.

    To start off;
    I think I’m mostly looking for insight and if anyone has seen/heard or experienced something similar to this in a puppy in general and what the outcome was etc. I’ll take any information y’all will throw at me haha.

    Her name is Geillis (Gae-leesh/Gae-Liss) aka Gilly aka Gelly aka Jelly Bean . She’s a medium hair black/dark brown tri(?)/silverish chihuahua.

    The person we got her from said that she had “some weakness” in her legs and will likely build up the muscle in them etc. She really dumbed it down and made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal (as some breeders do). I somewhat knew what I was getting into, thinking that she might be a little wobbly and awkward etc. I knew she had struggles before I even went to see her, the person was very open about everything. But upon further investigation into her little existence, I’ve since discovered that there’s more problems than what initially meets the eye.

    Off the bat she’s a champ with lots of spunk and sass, she can really cruise around on her belly if she’s determined enough and she’s rather stubborn. She’s eating and drinking and isn’t anymore lethargic than a typical sleepy puppy is after some adventure and excitement in a new home. She has a loud whine and just started finding her howl. She’s great with the rest of the pet fam and already has a favourite dog buddy and cat friend (Our black boys Bjørn and Kaspur.) so I’m not concerned about behaviour or anything like that. But I’m concerned about her little legs, I don’t think they cause her pain as She doesn’t act like she’s in pain. But even dogs are really good at hiding things, so I am worried.

    The way she stands reminds me of a dog in a video I once saw on Instagram where the dog had this sort of vitamin deficiency where the they would walk on their front feet weird, like over extended and awkward. So I did some googling and found something similar called Rickets? She has no balance, can’t stand for very long, her back legs are a bit gibbly and her front feet are almost like she’s standing on her elbows and the toes lean outwards. One back leg can’t have very much pressure on it, so when she stands up (which has mostly required help) she relies on the other side and almost sort of curves her body in a C shape. She struggles with walking foreword or turning around. When she’s able to stand she is very stiff and because of this she tends to just lie down most of the time and scoot around. She has movement in her back legs, and can wiggle them around to help move while she is on her belly. She also uses her chin to help move around while she tries to scoot. She can sometimes sit up by herself and randomly can stand up alone and scuttle off to get into something. But then she will also face plant. Which makes me think she also has significant weakness in her front legs.

    The second concern I have is that under her tail is very bald and I can’t seem to find any information in connection to puppies with bald tails online.

    Any comments/insight/advice/opinions based on personal experience are welcome!
    To add- I’ll be making an appointment with a holistic vet tomorrow to see if I can get her a chiropractor to look at her spine and all that as well as a different vet to check out the balding and other things. I’m mostly asking here to feel more prepared with questions when I take her to the vet.

    I’ve tried to attach some pictures. Please disregard my dirty freezer. I have a cat that likes to dig up my plants after I’ve watered them and then take naps on the freezer ‍♂️. 8A10C08E-3892-4A4E-AE77-1D1475BEBDD8.jpeg D66D8BD5-E713-4F79-AF13-C22F4A6463CA.jpeg 887FB76E-810D-47FB-920C-4BF7E44C8D51.jpeg 9D88301E-7699-4873-AF4E-C6C26C8A142A.jpeg 387E6BAD-EEAA-4B52-94D8-9A24F2699750.jpeg

    Thanks in advance!
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  3. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    He's a real cutie.

    The vet visits and chiropracter are ideal. It may give you some insight into how to help your guy. It's good news that he does have some movement in them and it may be that massage will help, but I'm sure your chiropracter will advise

    Wishing you all the best with him and hoping that with a bit of help he will gain strength and coordination in those legs of his x
  4. Toedtoes

    Toedtoes Member

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    It can be caused by any number of things - a spinal injury, bone deformation, joint disorder, neurological damage, etc.

    As such, I would highly recommend starting with a traditional vet for the leg issue. They can determine if it is rickets (caused by nutritional deficiencies) or a joint disorder or a damaged spine, or a neurological or muscular cause, etc, and can refer you to an appropriate specialist.

    If they find permanent damage that cannot be repaired, then a holistic vet and/or chiropracter can work to decrease discomfort, improve mobility, etc, over the long haul.

    But by starting with a traditional vet, you open up your resources and skills to diagnose and cure/treat the underlying cause.
  5. Borkborkimadork

    Borkborkimadork New Member

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    Wren
    Thanks for the tips!
    I ended up taking her to emergency because the one vet I was able to get ahold of freaked out and wouldn’t take her then told us to go to emergency immediately because it sounded like an emergency to her (it was not). The diagnosis was that it’s a birth defect called congenital medial patellar Luxation. Which is basically saying that her knees are out of joint. And it sounds simple, but it’s actually kind of intense as she will need multiple surgeries to correct it.

    I made a GoFundMe to try and help with the costs as it will likely set me back over $10k oof. But gotta do what will give her the best quality of life. 2ADF6717-D46A-4D6E-835A-7ABA4902ADAE.jpeg
  6. Toedtoes

    Toedtoes Member

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    Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately this is very common with puppy mills and not unheard of with backyard breeders.

    Hopefully the surgeries will get her moving fairly easily.
  7. Helidale

    Helidale Member

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    I am so very sorry. Please let the breeder of Geiliss know the prognosis because her parents should not be bred from again - at least, this mating should not be repeated. Morally, I would hope that the breeder might make a contribution towards the surgery, but I suspect that this will not happen. Best wishes for your little one.
  8. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    Toedtoes likes this.
    So sorry to hear the diagnosis. Thank heavens she has an owner who is willing to do whatever it takes to help her.

    Good luck - give her cuddles from me.

    Please come back and update on her progress from time to time. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in hearing of her progress

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