# Peggy's peculiarities...



## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

Sooo, I kind of just want a thread to document Peggy's health problems and treatments and welcome any advice with regards to making her as healthy as possible!

Background: Peggy was born with a missing leg, the breeder was a friend of a friend and was 'worried they'd be stuck with her' which just broke my heart so I didn't hesitate in offering to take her. I collected her at 10 weeks and was instantly in love. It turns out that her single leg at the front was deformed, as well as her entire left leg being missing, there is no shoulder joint or anything where her left leg should be. She moved around absolutely fine though so I had few concerns. I got her insured and vet checked and she seemed absolutely fine. 

She's now nearly 6 months and although generally she's still doing really well, a few more problems have come to light as she's grown. She has 3 soft spots on her head, one above each eye and one in the middle, they pretty much are all in a line. This worries me so much as I know it leaves her little brain very vulnerable. I attempted to find her a little hard hat but no such luck. I try to protect her as much as possible but bumps are inevitable.

Her rib cage is deformed, it's very thin and has grown more into a V shape rather than a a nice round C shape (if that makes sense?) I'm worried that this is effecting her breathing as she gets out of breath very easily. She'll play or walk/run for just a little while and then stop to catch her breath, pointing her nose in the air and then making gulping motions to try and get more air quicker. I make sure that as soon as she gets out of breath we stop walking or I stop her from playing so that she has time to catch her breath. 

Her single front leg is growing at a slower rate than her back legs, she has really long skinny back legs and then a short front leg, so she looks like a little kangaroo. It's not hugely pronounced, I only just noticed it myself and it isn't effecting her movement much, she just looks like she's bouncing a little more than she did. 

And finally, I gave her a half of a Drontal last week and two hours later she started to vomit. She continued to vomit all night which was awful to watch, she's just so little! She seemed fine the next day and ate and drank well, so no huge problems, just no more Drontal for Peggy!

She has a 6 month review next week with the vets, so we'll see what he says. I'm tempted to get a full body x-ray just to see what's going on inside, but then of course have to worry about sedation, so i'll see what he advises. 

Sorry this is so long, I just want somewhere to document everything that's going on with her. She's the absolute light of my life and the best companion I could have wished for, so I really want to keep on top of all of her health concerns.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Wow! How great that you adopted Peggy! She does have some concerns. The worst, in my opinion, is the rib cage deformity, and her 'gulping for air'. I'd not let Peggy get too excited with excessive exercise etc. Let us know what the vet says.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I agree with Susan, gulping for air is not good. It could be caused by lots of things rather than her deformed rib cage so definitely one to discuss with your vet. Good luck with the check up and do keep us updated.
Many dogs don't react well to chemical wormers. I have stopped using them entirely. I get a worm count done instead to see if any worms are present, but so far they have all come back clear so no wormers needed. I use pumpkin seeds, coconut oil and raw carrot as a preventative. If they did show worms in their samples I would use diatomaceous earth, a natural alternative to chemical wormers. A healthy dog is quite capable of dealing with parasites, routine worming is not necessary.


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

I would do the xray. They don't always need to sedate the dog- often they can hold him or her still. That's how they did it with my ferret who needed to be x-rayed for a possible blockage. (he was fine)

Ask your vet. I would be hesitant to sedate her if she already has breathing trouble, but they may have another option. Douglas has trouble breathing too sometimes, related to his trachea, and coughs and coughs and can't catch his breath, so we are cautious about putting him under. He did go under fairly recently though and did okay.


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## michele (Jan 12, 2009)

Do you have a Bowen practitioner near you ? Dottie has a deformed spine and she has had the Bowen technique,(like the Alexander technique ) it's gentle pressure points on the spine and has helped her so much and with her walking as well worth looking into.


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

Thanks all, her appointment is on Wednesday so i'll let you know what happens! 

The breathing thing concerns me most too, it's really noticeable, she can't go very far without stopping to gulp for breath. I spoke to the nurse today who said that the Vet would tell me what he felt she needed in terms of any investigations and that an x-ray might not be necessary. I think I would push for it even if he doesn't think it's necessary, just for curiosities sake, as long as she could be awake for it. 

I've never heard of the Bowen technique, i'll have a good google and do some research. I'd try anything for her!

And thanks Stella, i'll try the food items you suggested, i'd much prefer a more natural wormer for her, she looked so ill bless her!


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

I definitely would get a chest x-ray. A lot of the time they can do it without sedation. 

She sounds adorable by the way. Any pics of sweet Peggy?


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

Do I have pictures? I have tonnes of pictures! lol 
She has her own Instagram if you want to have a gander there ---> Instagram
And i'll add a few at the end of this post! 

So, the vets appointment went completely as I expected. He said there was nothing he could do in terms of her bone problems (the chest and the leg) and it was just a case of making sure they weren't causing her pain. He was surprised that she could move around as well as she could. He listened to her heart and said it sounds fine and probably wasn't the reason for her shortness of breath.

As for her breathlessness, he suspects that it's a structural problem with her windpipe, like a narrowing somewhere along it, a growth, or large tonsils. He's going to x-ray her tomorrow morning. Unfortunately he's going to have to sedate her, as she's too nervous and skittish and wouldn't keep still at all when he touched her. I'm petrified. He asked if I wanted to have her spayed whilst she was under but I said no, as I didn't want her sedated longer than absolutely necessary and he said there was a possibility that she didn't even have reproductive organs due to her other deformities so it just didn't seem worth the extra risk.

I have to drop her off in the morning and she'll be there all day, she's going to be so scared! I'm devastated for her. He also said if the x-ray came back clear that he would suggest a bronchoscopy, but she would have to be 'sent away' for that as they couldn't do it in house. He also said that there was a possibility that it was just something she would have to live with.... so we'll see I guess. 

The x-ray will cost about £200 which is fine, and I'm sure my insurance will cover it, plus the bronchoscopy if it is needed. 

I bought some diatomaceous earth and she tolerated that well, how often would you suggest giving it to her? Every day? And will it cover all parasites? 

Ok, picture time (I'm so sorry for how long this post is!)

Puppy Peggy... weight 480grams! lol 
Here she is with her brother...









The day after I got her at 10 weeks old


















And as she's grown...



























And here's my pretty little girl just a few weeks ago...


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## Corona Pup (Jan 27, 2015)

Omg! She is the cutest!!!!!!


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## xxcass (Jan 7, 2013)

What a beautiful baby!!


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## fizzy n kirbys mum (Jan 17, 2005)

Bless her - sweet little thing ... What a worry, I feel your pain watching a chi with breathing problems is horrid, I have an asthmatic chi ...

Hope the vet trip goes well and they find some answers - I'm sure she will be ok and it will all be forgotten once she is home & in your arms


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

Ooooh she is perfect. I adore her. Look at that beautiful little angel face. <33


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## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

She is beautiful. Sending prayers for a safe procedure.


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

Thank you all, I too happen to think she's the cutest! lol 

She did well with the sedation and came round really quickly and wasn't sick. She did dribble for a few hours and was really sleepy. She was not happy with me at all, took her a while to even look at me! I think she blames me for dropping her off! lol 

It wasn't good news. She has an enlarged heart and the vet thinks it could be pushing into her windpipe causing her the breathing problems. He also said that the back of her throat was red and swollen and that inflammation could be the cause of her breathing problems. He's given her an anti-inflammatory to take for 7 days and then he wants to see her again. He's advised to not let her exercise at all so that she doesn't get to the point where she's gulping for air. This is difficult as we have a new puppy who wants to play all the time! 

So yeah, I'm really scared. The vet doesn't know what caused it and he doesn't know how it's going to effect her in the long run. He doesn't want to give her heart pills until she's showing signs of heart failure as otherwise she's fine, she doesn't have a murmur and her heart sounds fine so he wants to be conservative with her treatment. 

I'm just so scared for her, and scared that I might have to watch her health deteriorate if there's nothing that can be done for her. In the meantime I'm going to try and do everything that I can to keep her heart healthy, so if anyone has any good suggestions for supplements etc. then i'd love to hear!


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

So everything else was normal? She is structurally sound? 
We had a JRT many years ago who had an enlarged heart. He took pills all his life to manage it and it never deteriorated. There are bound to have been advances in veterinary medicine since then as well (this was 30 odd years ago)
You could ask for a referral to the holistic vet in Bath. He is excellent and would help you look at all the options for managing her condition. 
holisticvet.co.uk


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

One of my chi's has this condition. She is on vetmidin (heart) as the heart IS enlarged, and she also takes theophylin (spelled) a bronchodilator for the trachea. Has done very well for a year now on this regimen. Vet says she does not have any fluid build up----yet. So no diruretic. If her throat is red and swollen, that doesn't help either. Hopefully the meds will help.


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

The vet wasn't there when I collected her and the nurse couldn't really answer my questions so I'm going to speak to him on Friday. I'm not sure if they can tell from the X-ray alone if she's structurally ok otherwise. When I spoke to the vet on the phone he just said that the heart was bigger than he would expect and it was possible that it was pushing on her trachea. 

I have a list of questions for him now anyway, so I'll be sure to grill him on Friday. I'll also ask him about the medication, vetmidin and theophylin as I'd rather prevent her heart from getting worse rather than waiting for it to get worse and then try to treat it, that just seems back to front. Luckily she doesn't have fluid build up or a cough so it seems we caught it early!

It's reassuring that your dogs have done well after this diagnosis, everything that I've read online has pretty much given her 6 - 24 months to live and I'm not ok with that! 

I'll ask about the holistic vet referral. My insurance does cover homeopathy treatments but I think only up to about £400 in treatment so I'll have to be careful.

The poor thing, she's just coming into her first heat and she's not very happy!


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

*Update after Peggy's follow up appointment: *

Her breathlessness has got worse throughout the week, she's struggling for breath after exerting herself less. The metacam doesn't appear to have worked as her glands are still a little swollen in her neck. 

The vet is wonderful though, despite things looking a little bleak he was really reassuring. He said his own dog was in heart failure and on a lot of medication for it, but the Vetmedin was working wonders and keeping him alive when he shouldn't be surviving and said it was a wonder drug! 

He showed me her x-rays, her heart is huge, it's filling pretty much the whole of her chest cavity and her lungs have very little space to expand. Luckily her lungs are clear and she has no fluid build up yet.

He's referred her to see a cardiologist this coming Wednesday where she's going to have a scan, ECG and possibly a Holter monitor as she's skipping a beat every 5 beats or so. He wants to make sure that she doesn't have a narrowing in her aorta before he prescribes Vetmedin. He said she doesn't need a bronchodilator as she's not coughing and has no fluid build up. 

Sooo, things are not good, but we have options, so that's something! The cardiologist is the best in his field, he does research on heart failure in dogs so he really knows his stuff so I'm confident she's going to get the absolute best care. 

My vet also said that my pet insurance should cover most of it, he'd heard great things about my provider covering all expenses, including travel which is good as the specialist is miles away! 

And lastly, she's taken to sticking her tongue out all the time, I think it's because she's lost her puppy teeth at the front of her mouth, and it's the most adorable thing imaginable!










Happy Valentines Day from Peggy and I! :love4:


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm sorry it isn't better news, it sounds like you have a great vet though. Peggy is adorable with her tongue out, you and she will get through this together. xx


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

I absolutely adore Peggy--she's beyond precious!!!! I'm so sorry she is going through so much, and I can only imagine your fear. Peggy is so fortunate you love her so much to take such wonderful care of her. Both of you are in my prayers.


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## Elle408 (Nov 12, 2014)

Thank you for the prayers, they're so appreciated!

(This is going to be long, sorry)

It was such a long day yesterday, I had to travel for 2 hours to get to the vets, which was a long walk, a train journey and a taxi. Peggy was not too happy about all the travelling, I think she knew where we were going!

The vet listened to her heart for a few minutes and said that she didn't have a murmur and she wasn't coughing and she didn't have fluid build up, so he couldn't see how it was one of the common heart problems that they see in small dogs and said that he was veering more towards a structural lung problem. He was limited on how he could check for this, as he couldn't perform an endoscopy on her as she was so tiny and a CT scan would cost upwards of £1000 and it would mean sedating her again which he wanted to avoid. 

So, he said that the best way to settle on a lung problem would be to rule out a heart problem and that he wanted to do an echocardiogram and a PCV blood test.
I left her with them and went to wander the town for 4 hours (actually just settled in Costa coffee and drank gallons of hot chocolate! lol) 

When I returned she had a patch of shaven skin on her neck and a little bruise and blood from the PCV and she was very glad to see me. 

The vet then went into a very detailed explanation of her problems. She has a very large hole in her heart, a muscular ventricular septal defect with bi-directional flow between the left ventricle and right ventricle which means deoxygenated blood is being circulated through her lungs and causing the breathlessness, he described it like how your body would respond if you were at altitude. The extra work her heart is having to do is causing pulmonary hypertension and a mild polycythaemia (extra red blood cells), the left side of her heart is really thick too. 

The vet said that it was really quite rare and my local vet certainly would never have seen this problem.

As for treatment options, we're very limited. He's written on her report that her long term prognosis is very poor, which he hadn't said to me in person so it was a bit of a shock. He can't close the hole as she's too small to receive an occlusion device and he wouldn't perform open heart surgery on her as it just wouldn't work, the surgery would probably kill her. He said that it's likely that she'll need blood letting in the future to reduce the red blood cells, and will need a monthly PCV test to make sure the polycythaemia doesn't get worse.

For now, she's on an exercise ban and he's ordering Sildenafil (a form of Viagra!) in a smaller dose for her which she'll start in a few days. He can't tell me how long she's got, it could be months or up to 3 years or so, but it's likely i'll have to make the decision to put her to sleep when the breathlessness gets to a point where she has no quality of life. Her small size is in her favour just purely because she doesn't need to go on walks, she can be carried everywhere and she doesn't mind it, so she does have a good quality of life without needing the exercise that a bigger dog would need, we'll just see I guess.

I'm devastated, I love this little girl so much, she's so sweet, funny and loving and I haven't had nearly as long with her as I want. I'll do whatever she needs though to have a happy life, however long it might be! 

Thanks for listening :love2:

P.S. There's a possibility that my insurance won't pay out as it's a congenital problem, so it depends if they consider it pre-existing or not. Fingers crossed. It's already cost £750 for the last two appointments!


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## Chiluv04 (Dec 19, 2013)

I'm so sorry to hear this. What a lucky girl to have an angel like you by her side. No doubt she will have an amazing life for the duration of time she is here. Please keep us informed xoxo.


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## Ellie Huahua (Feb 10, 2015)

This little girl has got a lot going on, you wouldn't think there was anything different about her - her eyes are so bright and her fur is so shiny, she is VERY beautiful (photos are awesome, and I can't Follow on Instagram because I don't have a Smartphone but I have saved her Instagram page to my Bookmarks so I can see her)!
I think it's smart that you have made this sort of online document of her health and Vet visits, and to share with other Chihuahua owners too (I have learned LOTS from this Thread), others here can help whether it's with knowledge or just emotional support.
I will be following this post on Peggy because I would like to hear about her progress, I was holding back tears reading so far - the devotion from you is pure, can tell she will have a VERY happy life because of you! :love1: x x x


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I'm sorry it wasn't better news. Concentrate on enjoying every moment you have together, Chihuahuas are tough little things and she may surprise you with how well she copes.


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## Moonfall (Nov 16, 2012)

She will be strong- chihuahuas are tough little dogs. And she will give you so much love for however long she's here.


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