We FINALLY Know What's Going on with Chopin - Written by her Foster Mom

Chopin arrived in CP November 11th of last year. On a transport with several breeds of dogs, packed in a van, she shared a crate with 6 other 7-8 week old cairn puppies. She was one of the Composers - Mozart, Schumann, Rimsky, and all the others. There were 12 scheduled to be surrendered. On Sunday we received a call. There was one more. Would we take a 13th puppy, a sick one? So Chopin was included, just in the nick of time.

Monika met the transport in a Cracker Barrel parking lot. When she looked in the crate of 6 bouncing, wiggling puppies, there was once lying still on the bottom of the crate - Chopin. Luckily, Kathy Hunt was there to take the other 12 puppies and dogs, because Monika was on a mission. She had to get that little girl to the vet before we lost her.

Chopin's heart rate and blood pressure had started dropping before Monika got her to the vet. She was on her way out of this world having used the last of her strength and will to survive just to get to St. Louis. Monika's soft voice saying, "Hang on little girl. We're going to make it. Hang on!" over and over may have been the only lifeline that kept her in this world until they got to the vet. Dehydrated, starved, her eyes were crusted shut with infection, swollen and sore. We'd don't know how much time, if any of her 5 months of life, she had been able to see the world, she was surviving through. After she got home, Chopin would stand and stare out the window in wonder, as if she'd never seen the world before.

Once home she started displaying strange symptoms and we ran numerous tests. Liver shunt, dry eye, CMO, EPI, worms, parasites, and a myriad of other problems were considered as we tried to figure out what was going on inside her little body. But she just didn't thrive. She was 4.2 pounds at 5 months when she came into CP (the 7/8 wk old puppies weighed that much and more). Around Christmas she was spayed and they removed the 14 baby teeth that hadn't fallen out so she no longer had 2 sets of teeth crowding her little mouth. Piranha mouth had to find a new name.

By January she was almost 7 pounds, but having flashbacks, lashing out unexpectedly, curling her lip, snarling, baring her teeth. During those episodes she didn't recognize me and her eyes showed fear, pure terror. Then they would end, she'd give a little moan of recognition and cuddle close for comfort.

This was a puppy with problems, but we couldn't find them. She'd pace as if she was nervous, scared, or in pain/discomfort. Yet she'd been x-rayed, tested, poked, prodded and we couldn't find anything. Some things helped a little and she would improve for a time, but we couldn't find a clear path of progress for her. She would be fine for a few weeks, and then she would have a day, a few days, or sometimes of week of snarling, circling, not eating - a bad spell. Just when I'd get her to the vet, she'd turn a corner and get better again. But in the meantime she would have lost a pound, lost some trust, and we'd have to start again.

Earlier this month we took her to University of Missouri Vet Hospital in Columbia. These are the people that helped Beacon and Casatta. The people in the Internal Medicine dept started at square one and ran several tests; a full blood chemistry, x-rays, ultrasounds. We assumed that since she wasn't gaining weight, she must have a problem in her digestive tract. We'd ruled out every other digestive problem we could think of.

The good news is that in the week before we got to the hospital, she gained 2.25 pounds! She now weighs 12.9 pounds, a respectable weight for a girl of her age and build.

They found a very high concentration of sodium in her system with elevated chloride, potassium, and other chemicals, that in and of itself could cause problems in her metabolism because it threw her system so far out of whack. It also led them to look at other possibilities. They needed to do a CT scan to see if they could find out more.

I had to come home and leave her there overnight. This was very hard. It's the first time in the 8 months she's been here that she's been away from me. Because of her health and behavior problems, if I went out of town, she went with me. I haven't left her with anyone else. Because she could be aggressive when uncomfortable/in pain, and because the test they would have to do would inevitably make her uncomfortable, I worried that she would gain a 'reputation' at the hospital. But we needed to find out what was going on and how we could help her, so I drove the 2 hours home and waited.

The next night I drove back to Columbia after work to pick her up and hear what they had found from the CT scan. Chopin has hydroencephalus, fluid surrounding her brain. There is also a malformation of her skull caused Chiari malformation. It's a birth defect that can compress her brainstem if it progresses. The hydroencephalus is putting pressure on the 'thirst center' of her brain causing a condition called, hypodipsia, meaning she doesn't have a thirst sensation. Even though she's thirsty, and uncomfortable, she doesn't equate that to needing to drink. When offered water, she will sniff at it and refuse it. This is probably causing the high sodium content in her body.

High sodium can cause reduced mentation (ability to think), behavior changes (aggression), seizures, and death. Thus it is essential she consume enough water daily to flush the sodium out of her body. The amazing thing is that her prognosis is fairly good. As long as she consumes adequate water daily (13 oz at this point), her sodium levels are monitored, she eats a low sodium diet, and the Chiari malformation doesn't increase/progress, she should thrive. A simple solution for a complex problem.

Without the help of CP, this baby would have been dead before November 12th last year. Now, again with your help, we were able to find out what is wrong with her and how to help her. Remember when you donate to NLOL you help Chopin and all the kids like her.

I can't say it enough. Thank you SO much for all of your help. Everything you do, big or small, adds to what we are able to do at CP to help these dogs.

Thanks - really.....thanks bunches.