Thank you all for the warm welcome and the advice! I do appreciate it.
I have some t-shirts and sweaters for my little guy as he does get cold quite quickly. I keep my home temp set to 19.5C which is about 67F. I work from home and he curls up and sleeps below my desk in a little bed. At night he sleeps in the bed with my husband and I and he usually snuggles up to one or both of us. He loves the fireplace and will sleep right next to it, or by the (enclosed) fire pit in the summer. He also loves it when he finds a warm spot on the carpet where the sun is coming in through the window... He's not a big fan of going out when it's cold or snowy. His little paws and ears get cold fast for sure. He has very thin, soft hair, and I keep it quite short. I'll try bumping up the temperature a bit and see if that helps.
Most of the time the shaking happens when there are strangers hanging around... Whether it's our home or someone else's. He shakes in the car, in the carrier, at the groomer's, at the vet... Fear is definitely a probability as he's a pretty nervous little dude. He's equally curious though so he likes to explore, and he LOVES other dogs. He used to pee every time I left him alone, even for a minute, but he only does that occasionally now. He gets diapered when I leave the house though as he can't seem to hold it.
Other times I've wondered if it's dietary, or just low blood sugar even as he sometimes won't eat for several hours into the day. He's quite picky, I've had him on 3 different kibbles (Petcurean, Acana, different Petcurean) but he prefers human food like chicken, vegetables, and fruit. Spoiled. :P
I guess I could have given some more info on the medical condition... After the fall, my vet sent me to the neurologist and the neuro wants to do an MRI because he thinks he may have something called AA luxation. The thing is, his worst symptoms were immediately following the fall and he has been walking normal since about 4 hours after the fall (in July). I guess most dogs that have this defect are missing part of the vertebrae, but it could be clearly seen in the radiograph which suggests it's possibly not the case. The neuro still thinks my boy walks funny. After the last neuro visit, I called the breeder and she took a couple of her show dogs out and sent me videos of the way they walk. Totally the same as my little guy. She says she's never had any of her dogs with AA lux, and that it's most common with the tiny yorkies. Cosmo is a big boy, he's 8lbs. So, a $2600 MRI to rule out AA lux seems excessive unless he starts showing symptoms again... Pain is a symptom, but I think he lives a pretty normal, active life. He does not seem to be in pain.
Treatment for AA lux is either 16+ weeks in a neck brace or surgery. I'm hesitant to put my boy through any kind of surgery, I think it would be fairly traumatic given how anxious and attached he is to me. It would have to really improve his quality of life to be worthwhile... And I don't think he is lacking in that area right now. |