Luxating Patella in My Chihuahua

Nyota and the Knee...

While playing in the yard, Nyota fell to the grass and started shrieking in horror. I followed suit and cradled her. She had her leg extended, so I checked it and could not find any visible injuries. I picked her up, carried her into the house, laid her gently on my bed, and got a flashlight to thoroughly examine her. (I keep a flashlight next to me bed for this very purpose ever since I found a ‘bump’ in her fur and saw that it had legs…eek! It was a tick!)

Nyota at the dog park.

I could not find any injury on Nyota and she began moving around, cautiously. I put her bowl of water on the bed next to her and offered her a drink. Then, I did what any overly-paranoid pet parent would do—I called the vet.  As with most of my phone calls to the vet, they were calm and they asked a serious of questions, then they determined it wasn’t an emergency, but since I insisted, they agreed to make an appointment for the next day.

"She takes me to the vet for everything...bug bites, diarrhea, you name it. It's annoying."

In the meantime, Nyota limped a little, but was walking relatively fine and continued to ignore her pet steps and leap onto the bed/ couch/ chair. By the time the next day arrived, I was doubting if I needed to take her to the vet, but the hysterical, over-protective pet parent in me knew I should take her.

The vet quickly diagnosed her problem—Luxating Patella http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=457

Basically, my vet described it as shallow knee joints, but you can click that link to read a more medically correct definition. The vet said she’d been born with it, so running in the yard had just caused her knee joint to pop out, and then back in, and it wasn’t injury-specific in her case.

The vet did this really interesting exam where she rotated all of Nyota’s joints from behind. I think it might have felt good, because Nyota seemed to enjoy it.  The vet said she could feel her knee joints popping in and out, that it was fairly common, and they could try laser therapy and Rimadyl (doggie pain killer/ anti-inflamatory). There is also a numerical system she used to rate Nyota’s Luxating Patella. I’m sorry that I don’t remember it, but her score was relatively good and the doctor said she felt like Nyota would not need surgery. The surgery she would suggest to correct this disorder deepens the joint bone so the femur can sit more securely.

Over the next month, Nyota would limp periodically and her trips outside seemed joyless—she wasn’t running around anymore, but rather strolling and exploring.  I returned to the vet and the doctor suggested surgery. She said her dog had it, and they didn’t do the procedure in our area, so I’d have to take Nyota about an hour and a half away to a vet surgical center.  I had a lot of questions:

How long is the recovery?

About 30 days. The initial hospital stay is over night.

Can I stay with her in the hospital overnight?

No.

Can I ask to stay with her overnight? She really can’t be apart from me.

You can ask, but it might be best to leave her rest. Someone will be with her around the clock while she receives IV pain medication, but she will go home with oral pain medication.

Will it be extremely painful for her?

My dog seemed to be fine after a day or so. She was moving around and adjusted well.

What is the risk of death?

All surgeries carry the risk of death.

At this point, I opted for the ‘last ditch’ non-surgical option of three weeks of laser surgery.  I came to this decision because I felt like I needed to try absolutely everything before I’d put Nyota at risk for a surgery.

Nyota went to laser therapy three times that week, two times the next week, and once the following week. Basically, it looked like a bar-code scanner gun that they use in grocery stores. They held it to her knee, in several places, for a few seconds at each location, and then she was done. It was warm, but didn’t cause her any pain or discomfort. By the end of the second week, she was running around the yard. I realize this will be a life-long problem for her, and as the vet advised, she’ll probably have the surgery at some point in the future, but for now, she is doing quite well.

Because  I foresee that Nyota will have to live with this issue, I decided to explore other non-surgical options via google. I felt like if there was only ‘some way’ I could wrap her leg with an Ace bandage to secure the joint, it would help immensely. (A very tiny Ace bandage!) This led me to several sites that sell doggie knee braces!  I am in the process of ordering Nyota a knee brace. This is not to be worn all of the time, but for periods of activity (a.k.a. yard play/ walks). I chose the Mutt Knee brace  http://muttkneebrace.com/index.html  (click for their website) because some of the other braces have metal parts and frankly, at 15 pounds (yes, she’s gained two pounds!!!), I don’t think she needs to be impaired by the additional weight of metal anything.

A doggie with a knee brace.

The website gives a lot of information about the product/ ordering/ how to measure.  I’m so very glad to have found an alternative to surgery and I will post updates after we’ve used the device enough to evaluate it!

Measuring for a knee brace might be hard with all of this fur! If I need help, I will go to my vet!

"My FurMom doesn't worry about medical costs because she bought doggie health insurance for me long ago!"

"Know why I'm sitting down? Because my butt is cold! Scroll down to read about why my FurParent shaves my butt!"

I love the ♥ on her head.

This scarf is for photos only! Read below about why you shouldn't collar your ChiSpaniel!

The Truth About the Fur...

Whenever I mention that my dog has a blog, my friends laugh at me. I then explain how I take my duty to share my knowledge of ChiSpaniels very seriously.  When we first got Nyota, I had never had a small dog in my life. I grew up with varieties of snow dogs and German shepherds. My first dog was an Alaskan Malamute, then I had a white German Shepherd (a brilliant dog!), and then I had a Siberian Husky.  All of my dogs shed, but never needed shaved. I’d take them to the groomers, but they didn’t need their nails clipped. Nyota was a very, very new awakening into small-dog hood for me.

Nyota needs her nails trimmed every two months. If I don’t take her, she inadvertently scratches us, she puts holes in my clothes, and I’m sure it feels uncomfortable for her.

"Messing my head fur up only annoys me, FurParent."

The fur is a whole new issue. Basically, Every other month, Nyota gets hygiene shaves, every four months, she gets her fur clipped, and once a year, I have her shaved completely.  Inbetween that time, I have professional clippers. Don’t skimp and buy the cheap ones, they break and can painfully pull at your pet’s fur. If you can’t afford at least the ‘better’ clippers for around $100, you will end up taking your dog to the groomer’s.  My trips to the groomers are $20 or less. This was a big surprise to me because my large dogs can be upwards of $50 per session.  But, it makes sense…smaller dog, less fur…less grooming time/ work! Also, with so much fur, the options are unlimited as to the fur-do's you can give your ChiSpaniel.

The groomer called this a "Field Cut" - naked on top, tripped on the bottom.

If you’ve lucked out and been blessed with the fuzzy variety of ChiSpaniel, you will know that the Cocker-like fur takes a lot of upkeep to prevent problems. Fur mats are inevitable. Sometimes my dog does this squiggling on her back thing that instantly dreadlocks parts of her fur together. I will wait until she’s calm, and pet her until she’s nearly asleep, and then carefully snip the mats out with scissors. However, this will only work part of the time, for some of the areas.

Pre-shave and super fuzzy...sitting on top of the table while we are trying to do schoolwork! 

Mats can bind up in your clippers. I purchased a small, hand-held, mini-clipper for areas around her ears, but they were useless and I threw them away. Scissors work best for mats in easy to reach places like on the back of her legs. Around her ears is a different story. This summer, the groomer told me that the skin around the ears is so delicate that you have to be careful because it will just peel back when you are clipping it (HORROR! I was mortified! I nearly took my dog and ran out of there!) So…I err in the side of a professional and simply take Nyota to the groomer.  I might get an extra week or two between grooming if I clip here or there, but overall, she’s taken somewhere at least every other month.

It just keeps growing...and growing...and growing...

When I have to do more than just simple snipping on Nyota and require actually using my clippers or nail snips, I place a non-slip backed rug on top of my dryer, connect Nyota’s harness to a short leash, and secure it  somewhere so she can’t jump off, but mainly so she knows she’s tethered and won’t pull away as I try to clip her. I turn the clippers on and just set them down, safely out of the way, so she gets use to the sound, and I give her a treat. This method works best for me because it secures her at a high level so that I can do my job, yet not risk having her jump from the height or slip off and fall while I’m handling her.

This is Nyota’s grooming schedule:

She looks like a mini-pit bull when they shave her head/ face! 

April: full body shave! I take my dog to the groomer’s near me. I call him the Nazi groomer because when I say he shaves everything, I mean E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. He shaves her face! Her privates! Her tail (buh-bye white tuft at the end of her tail!), Her whiskers! Her eyelashes! Her ears! It all GOES! When this happens, Nyota transforms into a different dog both visually and personality wise. My sister sent me this meme which perfectly describes her:

Naked Nyota is humble, passive, and meek…and she looks like a rat! I travel with a blanket for her and put her hoodie on her when it’s cold or at night!

Full-on Fur Nyota will cut a bitch in an alley.  As her fur grows back, the transformation is slow, but sure. She’s mid-fur length now (August), and she’s snippy sometimes, and sweet the other times.

Naked Nyota
Not even a whisker! :(

June: The vet gives her a hygiene shave and clips her nails. I utilize the vet because it’s cheap and fast. Groomers like to take appointments where they cut, shave, and bathe when I just want her butt shaved and her nails trimmed, so I take her to the vet’s…plus, the longest I usually wait for the vet tech to have an opening is a week. Some groomers schedule months in advance.

September: Vet’s for a hygiene shave, nails clipped, and her feet clipped around her nails. (The pom-pom feet are back!)

Pom-Pom feet!!!

November: It’s time for the annual groomer’s fur-do. I take her to a friendly groomer  who will bathe, clip, get rid of any mats, give her a hygiene shave, and do her nails. We do not go to the Nazi groomer because he will shave her face every chance he gets and it’s holiday photo time.

January: Back to the vet’s for a hygiene shave and her nails clipped. I wait until as late in January as I can because after this, I will hold off until her annual shearing with the Nazi groomer in April.

I waited until after her Easter Bunny photos to have her shaved!

Fur products I use:

I use a variety of brushes on Nyota simply because she loves being brushed so much that switching the type of brush seems to make her happy.

I use the flea brush on her head:

The therapy brush on her ears, legs and belly:

And a regular hairbrush on her back.

Her fur is exceptionally fine on her ears and legs. It is where the mats most commonly occur.  I also used fur detangler, but it doesn’t work that well. It smells great, so I keep it in my bathroom and use it as an air freshener.  The other product I use is fur hygiene wipes. I only mention these because poop WILL get caught in your ChiSpaniel’s fur and if it’s on her fur, it will get on your FURniture. No one wants that, so wiping is necessary so much less frequently if you keep their bum fur shaved. Nyota actually comes to me when she needs her butt wiped now!  She will tap me with her paw and cautiously sniff her butt.

Adorbs.

In conclusion, my advice is to keep after your ChiSpaniel’s fur. Daily brushing, snipping out mats, and periodic grooming will keep them healthy and happy. Now, when my friends laugh about my ChiSpaniel blog, I say, “I write it to help people. I wish I had known when I got Nyota that I’d need to shave her bum every other month!”

"She shaves my butt...oh, the shame of it!"

ChiSpaniels and Collars

I’ve never collared my ChiSpaniel. Chihuahuas are noted to have fragile necks, so I have always opted for harnesses. Any time I see a Chihuahua or Chi-mix in a collar, I cringe. The last thing you want to do is pull your Chi by the collar and accidentally snap its neck!

My favorite harness for Nyota is a soft one! She barely pulls when she’s on a leash, so there is no need for heavy or bulky harnesses/ leashes. I opt for secure and comfortable ones instead.

Nyota sniffing a daffodil in the Spring time.

My favorite place to doggie-shop is PetLondon.net , but many of their products can be found within the United States if you simply search the manufacturer’s name. When Nyota was under a year old, I only needed a mesh-velcro harness for her. Because she was so small, that was enough to secure her and because she was young and just learning about walking on a leash and being put into a harness, the Velcro closure was super fast to get on her!

Remember, ChiFriends…Harness, don’t collar, and always, always keep identification on your pets! You never know when they will accidentally get lost!

Even more unknown, is the need to properly restrain your dog in your vehicle in case of an accident. Most dog restraints FAIL. I’ll refer you to an informative article as well as a link to the best-rated dog safety harness for vehicles:

Read this for info on what happens when your dog is in your car during an accident:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2013/10/28/the-best-seat-belts-for-your-dog/

Read this for info on purchasing SleepyPod’s ClickIt dog retraints:

http://sleepypod.com/clickit

2 Year Annual Vet Check-Up

Nyota recently visited the vet for her annual check-up.  (Sorry, I’m late to blog about it…life got in the way.)  The animal hospital that I take her to tries to keep pets seeing the same doctor throughout their lifetimes.

Nyota was placed on the baby scale and I learned she now weighs 13.9 pounds.  I suspect she will hover at this weight for many years to come. The doctor did the usual things, and Nyota wasn’t very cooperative. She kept scrambling for me to hold her, but in any unfamiliar situation, that’s what she does.

The doctor said she’s in great health and was patient with my insanely obsessive pet questions:

What’s this bump on her head?

Her skull.

She doesn’t have a brain tumor?

No.

Is this tooth decay?

No, it’s a stain.

Why does she shake her ears? Could she have ear mites?

No, she doesn’t have ear mites. She has floppy ears; she’s bound to shake them.

She scratches, but I can’t find any fleas (and she regularly receives flea treatment). 

Why?

She might be allergic to flea spit. If it becomes excessive, bring her back.

Is it safe for her to get all of her shots at once?

Yes.

Are you sure?

Yes.  We can give them at two different times if you’d like.

No, I believe you.

Nyota received her shots and was adored by the crowd in the waiting room when we were leaving. The secretary at the desk said that she owned a Cocker Spaniel and most bite, so she was afraid to pet Nyota, but Nyota didn’t bite her (thankfully).  I’m beginning to think that everyone has their own version of what breeds ‘normally’ do.

Since Nyota was fully up-to-date with her vet care and healthy, I applied for doggy health insurance for her. I had been comparing policies and benefits with different companies for a few weeks. I decided to go with Healthy Paws Pet Insurance. (You can follow that link.) I answered a few basic questions and entered my info/ credit card payment and it was that easy! 

I chose the highest level of insurance that I could because I’m a worrier when it comes to Nyota. I never want to sacrifice her health care if I’m in a financial bind. She’s already had one surgery in her life to correct a cherry eye (common with Cocker Spaniels), I had to call doggy poison control ($60 for a 1 minute phone call), and take her to be seen for her bug bite. So, for 90% coverage of all costs and only a $100 deductible, my payment is $34.56 per month. Please note—I could have gone with a lesser level of coverage and have a smaller payment a month. Really, it’s a very good idea to get your dog health insurance. When I watched the documentary, Madonna of the Mills, I learned some people had paid over ten thousand dollars to correct their dog’s health problems.  You never know what will happen! 

Insect Bite on My Dog

I never leave Nyota alone. She has very bad separation anxiety, even when I leave her with a pet sitter.  Besides that, I’m also concerned with leaving her alone in a house…what if a fire broke out? Is it fair to leave my dogs locked in a house where they would die? No…so, they go to the pet sitter, even if I’m just going to the grocery store. (Yes, I’m paranoid.)

A week after Nyota’s annual check-up, I returned to the pet sitter’s to find that her mouth was swollen. No one had seen her digest or be bitten by anything. I frantically called the vet. I wasn’t very calm, to be honest.  They instructed me to administer her some Benedryl and monitor her.

The Benedryl did reduce the swelling.  Later that night, she vomited three times. I contacted the vet again and they agreed to see her. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken a dog to the vet for a bug bite. My other dog still has a scar from where ‘something’ bit her. (The vet thought it was a spider.)

There was no visible bite on Nyota. She seemed to be swallowing both food and water okay.  They rectally took her temperature and after that, her visit didn’t go well. She was so irritated from having the thermometer shoved up her bum that she didn’t want examined any more. They actually had to take her from me to another room to administer her shots. They gave her IM Benedryl, a Steroid, and two shots for nausea. I was instructed to take her food away for the rest of the night and only offer her boiled chicken/ hamburg mixed with white rice.

We went home and had a diarrhea filled weekend. Thankfully I still had a pack of pee pads on hand from when she was a puppy, because she literally ran to them and had diarrhea every 30 minutes for most of the next 24 hours. I kept her on the boiled meat/ white rice diet for two days, and she was exceptionally sleepy/ not herself. The bite occurred on a Friday, and by Monday, she was nearly herself again.

I still have no idea what bit Nyota. She was indoors when it happened, but any insect can find its way into any home, at any time, so the possibilities are endless.

From this experiment, I learned I needed to always keep a few things on hand, such as Benedryl (make sure it doesn’t expire!), pee pads, and a syringe to administer liquid medications since my dog won’t easily swallow pills.