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Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie  thank you everybody, your kind words mean a lot to me. thank you.
this is very hard for me, i miss davinci so much, and i also really want to know what happened to him.
i met with the vet on Wednesday afternoon, he showed me the x-rays and explained to me what he believes to be the cause of davinci's death. i was really overwhelmed and i am not sure i completely understand, so i asked him to please write some stuff down for me so i can research and try to understand.
this is what he wrote down for me:
Occipital dysplasia
hydrocephalus
C1/Atlas malpositioned
Occipital bone is part of the skull
the joint between the occipital bone and the atlas (also called C1) was improperly positioned.
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so basically i was told that the cause of death was Occipital dysplasia, i asked him to tell me how certain we are that this was the cause of death, i asked him to please tell me a percentage. are we 90% sure, are we 100%, but he will not tell me, he just says that if this was his pet he would accept this as the prognosis.
i still don't understand, please help me understand.
he said davinci would need an MRI if we wanted to be more sure of the exact cause of death. but then he called UC Davis and UC Davis told him that they would not perform MRI on pets they did not treat.
Can they look at X-ray and see what the cause of death was? this was not my regular vet, my regular vet will be back on monday. this vet is younger, he went to a conference and took the x-rays of davinci with him for a specialist to look at it. and what he told me was what the specialist told him basically. i asked him to please ask the radiologist to write a report.
they still have davinci's body... i don't know what to do at this point. do you have any advice for me. does anyone know anything about occipital dysplasia and how we can find out if that was the cause of death?
on wednesday when the vet talked to me, he told me that it was pretty definite that was the cause of death, but the following day, he seems to be saying that scientifically we cant be sure, i am wondering if he is concerned about potential law suit or something to be modifying what he had told me. i am just a sad mother who would like to know what happened to my baby boy. |
You have my most heartfelt sympathies for the loss of your sweet DaVinci.
I will attempt to explain:
Occipital dysplasia: Is basicly a hole in the skull, is very common in round-headed toy breeds. A small hole may go unnoticed, but a larger hole will be uncomfortable as the brain cannot shift without interference. One symptom is that the dog will lower it's front end, and walk backwards, possibly seeking some kind of relief.
hydrocephalus:
This is a neurological disease in which there is excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, the malfunction of drainage system of the brain responsible for evacuating the cerebrospinal fluid from the brain into the circulatory system. When this occurs with Occipital dysplasia, the brain cannot shift to accommodate the excess fluid build-up, causing, pressure, pain, and seizures.
C1/Atlas malpositioned: unlike other vertebrae, which interlock one to the next, the Atlas (also known as C-1) relies solely upon soft tissue (muscles and ligaments) to maintain alignment; therefore is uniquely vulnerable to displacement. Displacement of C-1 can occur without pain and thus, often goes undetected and untreated. It can be congenital or acquired.
From your description of events in both threads, I believe DaVinci was experiencing some kind of pressure from the excess fluid build-up and/or the Atlas malposition when your DH picked him up, hence his struggle to be put down. There can also be a congenital defect between the Atlas (last vertebra, top of the spine) and the Dens (place the two meet and fit together. If the dens was congenitally malformed, DaVinci would be predisposed to this disaster occuring at any point in his life, from any reason ie: turning his head to the side quickly could cause it, or shaking his head too.
I hope this helps. Also, I would like to add that getting an xray would more than likely have caused more damage. Many don't survive just the xray as positioning is critical and it doesn't take much of a slip to be catastrophic. Treatment involves emergency neuro surgery to shunt the cerebrospinal fluid away from the brain, to relieve the pressure, and ortho surgery to stabilize the C1 and the Dens.
I think the best way to determine 'why' would be a necropsy.
Again, I'm so very sorry for your loss. My thoughts, prayers, and my heart are with you and your family during this devastingly sad time...
Kathy