Nancy, here's the story on what has happened to Gigi. She was fine when I first got her back in July. I got her Booster shot in August. She also went into heat the first week of Aug. I waited until the middle of Sept to get her spayed and get those rotted teeth out, and micro- chip.
The day I brought her in for the spay, was a day that I wasn't feeling well... while she was in with the Vet, I really got ill and they had to call an ambulance for me. So I am ridden with guilt because I could not be with her as she was coming around. The groomer who was their offered to bring her home to me later that night, because the vets would be leaving. When she bought her home Gigi seemed to be very alert and tail wagging, she even ate. So I figure this was great she came out of it fine. The first problem came the same night and continued up until just this past week She refused to drink water or anything that is liquid. I had to force syringe her several times a day to prevent dehydration, and soak her kibble and add water to canned food. On the third day I took her back to the Vet to make sure that their wasn't something wrong with her mouth or throat, since it was possible her throat could have been sore. They said everything seemed fine and couldn't understand why she refused water but would eat. Here and their she would act different, but at first I couldn't put my finger on it. Then about 10-12 days later she really started acting weird. She was constantly checking the top rear of her back, not scratching or biting it like most dogs do. She would walk a little and then stop check her rear and then would just stand there and look into space as if she didn't know what else to do, then she would walk over to the legs on the dinning room chairs and bang her nose on it and smell and then go to the next leg on the chair and then do all the rest of the chair legs. Then she would stand and freeze and just stare again like she was looking into space and didn't know what to do next. I would call her name several times and no reaction.i would clap my hands, whistle, bang on the floor....no reaction. Finally, I would pick her up and all she wanted to do was wiggle to check her back. This constant and I mean constant, checking her back is still going on, as is her smelling and checking every piece of furniture in the house that has legs on it. Yesterday, she graduated to smelling the corner of the walls. Then one morning, I couldn't find her. She found her way into the laundry basket in my bedroom closet. She refused to come out and fought me when I picked her up with wiggling and wanted to go back into the basket. I stayed with her and she didn't seem to be in any pain, she just wanted to sleep. So I go myself ready for the day, and then called her, she refused to come to me. Bare in mind, I was going to change her name to Velcro, because that suited her personality more then the name Gigi. So this behavior was very troubling to me. When she heard me in the kitchen, she came out of the bedroom because she wanted to eat. But when I spoke to her, she ran as if afraid of me and acted like she was confused and didn't know me. I tried several times to get her to come to me,but she wouldn't. This went on all day, all she wanted to do was sleep and hide. She ate only after I stepped a distant away from her. Then she would run and hide in the laundry basket again. At one point when I took her out into the living room and got down on the floor to see if I could get some happy playtime out of her, she again acted like she didn't know me, and then started with the back thing and the chair thing again. I didn't like the look of her eyes either, they looked spacey....I don't know how else to describe it. I called the Vet and described all of this, brought her in and she checked her back and it doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong. We put her down on the floor and the Vet saw her do the checking of her back and she then walked around the room and started banging her nose, then smell the legs on the exam table and no reaction when we called her. It's as if when her head gets in that mode, she hears nothing! The Vet got down and even gave her a couple of light pokes to see if she would react and nothing...she would just keep checking her back and smelling the legs on the exam table. So, unless I can afford to spend a couple of thousand of dollars and take her to a specialist and have an mri and brain test done, their is nothing else I can do. The Vet thinks that it is possible that she could have had a seizure after the surgery and it is possible that the anesthesia caused it, but her associate Vet doesn't think the anesthesia caused it. But then that is why they have you sign all those papers before surgery, one of which does not hold them responsible for the side effects of anesthesia, because every dog can react differently to it. Their is nothing they can do for seizures either, other then put a dog on phenobarbital and then they are stuck on that for the rest of their life. I have not seen her actually have a seizure, but she could have had one or a couple during the night without my knowledge and she could have had one while she was in the cage at the vets and no one caught it or won't admit to it. For the past two weeks she has started to act more normal again, but I notice that when she does get excited, she starts for her back and then the smelling of the furniture legs, It doesn't seem to be as constant as it was though, so I am hoping maybe over time she will get over what ever this is. Oh, I just remembered she also does that space look and starts pawing (digging) at my clothes when I am holding her to. Then i have to turn her around and her paws are still going in the air like she is digging for a few seconds before she stops and calms down Their are different meds that they use for anesthesia and some can cause seizures. Seizures can cause brain damage. So their you have it...She was fine before all of this! And it is true that Yorkies have a history of not waking up from anesthesia. http://www.doglogic.com/sideeffects.htm ♥ Peggy & The Girls ♥ -----Original Message----- From: Nancy Lucky <[email protected]> To: chihuahuas <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, Nov 27, 2010 9:32 pm Subject: [Chihuahuas] Spaying small dogs and brain damage from anesthesia Okay everyone I feel so stupid but I have never ever heard of small dogs getting brain damage from having anesthesia or that you should not spay a dog under 6 lbs. I have heard that if you don't spay them they can get uterine cancer and infections and all kinds of problems. I have had both my chi's spayed and neutered and it was all great. But now I have Maggie who I will have to decide on. So where do I find the facts on the brain damage information and the pros and cons.I have trusted and loved my Vet for the last 30 years but maybe I am blindsided. Confused and worried chi mommy - Nancy
