Sick Chihuahua (SAD)

My girlfriend purchased the cutest chihuahua a couple of months ago and though its technically her pet I found it impossible not to love this tiny dog. On monday night I got her out of her cage after our nap ( I work nights so I was having a nap before going in.) and she was limp, lethargic and weak. We had one situaation like this before and took her to the vet immediately and were told that she just had an upset stomach and were given some medication to help and all was well in a couple of hours. So I assumed this was the problem again and she would be fine. My girlfriend was away on vacation for a couple of nights. So I gave her some water and left for work thinking if she wasn't better in the morning I'd take her to the vet. When I got home she was much worse I rushed her to the vet and later found out that shes hypoglycemic (dangerously low blood sugar). She didnt die but was close, but she cant see and I fear my misjudgement may have permanently left her blind, shes still at the vet right now but her vision has yet to improve. I feel so terrible and can't help to feel guilty that I could have easily corrected the by giving her sugar had I known. I'm also angry that the vet completly misdiagnosed her before as I'm now sure that the first time she was in an earlier stage of hypoglycemia. Has anyone else had this problem and if so did the vision return? I'm not a religious man but i have been praying all night that her vision returns.

There is still a chance that her vision may return. It all depends on long she was hypoglycemic. The longer she was low, the higher chance she had of having a seizure. Most times as the blood sugars level off to normal, the vision returns. If she seized the sugar stayed low for a long period of time, you run the risk of the tissues in the eye dying off from lack of oxygen being delivered and the lack of sugar in the system to keep everything running. A good thing to have with small breed puppies is a nutritional supplement called Nutrical. It helps keep the sugar levels up and also gives vitamins and nutrition to growing little bodies. You should give it a few times a day to help keep her sugar up. Also feed her several times a day. Something that small should have 4-6 meals a day to keep sugar in her system. Good luck with her and let us know how she does.

Hypoglycemic episodes are not unusual in toy breed puppies, but the issue may be much more complex then just low blood sugar. This puppy needs to be checked for what is termed a porto-systemic shunt, aka a portacaval shunt. In simple terms, this is an abnormal arterial-venous vascular connection that causes blood to bypass the liver, and it is a life threatening abnormality. Congenital shunts like this are a common cause of recurring hypoglycemic episodes. Ruling this out is fairly easy; usually just a matter of measuring her blood ammonia when she has fasted for 12 hours and again a couple of hours after a meal. Refining the diagnosis from that point on and treating the problem effectively can be much more complicated.

Thanks for the info guys. I have good news. We got her back this morning and it seems all is well. She seems to be able to see alright and is active so hopefully she is on her way to a full recovery. She was tested for liver shunts and they came back normal. So more good news there. My girlfriend and I are so relieved it feels like a 1000lb weight has been lifted from me. I look at this as an important lesson learned the hard way, never take an animals health for granted and never assume. She was in sugar shock for at least 12 hours! I think the one thing that may have saved her life was when I gave her a little bit of flat coca cola I thought at the time it may give her an energy boost, that may have given her just enough sugar to live through the night while I was at work. This was such a scary experience, in the three years I've been out on my own this is the closest I've ever come to losing a pet that's solely in my care, what a horrible feeling. The other good news, at her first vet appointment a month ago our vet gave us a voucher for six weeks free pet insurance so it looks like all the expenses will be covered as well. I think her vision might still be a bit off but when you expect the worst any vision is better than none at all. My girlfriend took her to work today, so she could keep an eye on her and I can get some sleep, I've been up for 41 hours on a two hour nap yesterday afternoon. Thanks again guys, take care, I'm going to bed.

Oh yeah by the way the vet gave us the full rundown on how to prevent this in the future. He also gave us a product called high-cal which is the same as nutrical.

Good to hear. May she be healthy for you and your girlfriend always.

[IMG][/IMG] Thanks, here's a pic.

She is adorable!!!!!!!!! What a cutie.