chiari malformation in biewer yorkie
 

I have never posted anything on the internet before so bear with me if im doing this wrong. I wanted to make all aware of the symptoms of chiari , SM . Being an empty nester I decided to get a dog. Saw a puppy on the internet and fell in love( Teddybearfaces.com) . Prices were ridiculous $3500 for the 5 month old biewer. She came down to $1600 and I thought I was getting the deal of the century. Flew to CA picked him up, cutest most precious thing I'd ever seen. He was being advertised as 3lb adult weight, Actual adult weight is now 6lbs. But I didn't care I was in Love. Ollie is very smart, well behaved and lives to please me. All good until about 9 months when he started a very strange behavior of raising his right paw and shaking it like it was on fire. Took him to my vet he run all sorts of blood work and took x-rays. Nothing wrong. He began doing it 3 to 4 times a day. Took him back vet says normal healty dog. Couple months pass and I take him back and the vet says leave him with me for the day so I can see what he's doing. Drop him off at 8 and pick him up at 6 vet says everyone here just loves him your so lucky to have such a great dog saw nothing abnormal all day UGGGG I go home and decide to catch it on video on my smart phone. Very hard to do since the shaking only lasted maybe 15 seconds. But I finally did get it and showed the vet.
He was shocked and had no idea what could be causing it. refered me to a neurologist she did an MRI bill was $2500 that day. Her prognosis was chiari malformation and put him on pain med and anti imflamatory. Didn't help went back and was told his case was severe and consider letting him go. Went home and read as much as I could find on Chiari, SM. If he was diagnosed earlier meds may have helped. I wasted months taking him to my vet and $100's on a condition he'd never seen. I took him to long island new York for surgery age 18 months. Very Long recovery from the surgery.Total bill there was $7,000. Ollie is now 5 years and still has symptoms, raising arm, shaking it while sort of dancing in a circle, then lays down and chews and licks that paw never makes a sound. On a bad day I give him his pain meds. Most of the time he is happy and playful. I'll never know if putting him through surgery was the right thing or selfish thing to do.

I can understand second guessing your decision......dont do that. We love these babies and we do everything within our power to provide for them. He has a good quality of life, other than when he has his episodes, which you give him medication for. He plays and enjoys life around his episodes. Love him and do what you can for him....and stop second guessing your decision, you have done no harm and you are doing medically/surgically what you can for this baby. Bless you for that......

:thumbup:


Nothing to feel guilty about - the dog is lucky to have you and vice versa!

The love you have for your sweet dog shines through in your post. Please feel at peace knowing that you are doing everything possible to give your baby a quality of life and I believe she knows and loves you for it.

Love what Yorkiemom1 said! It's so very obvious you love Ollie and it's only natural to want to keep your loved ones with you for as long as possible. You've been a great mom to him and I'm sure he knows.

Ollie is one of the very lucky furbutts to have such a loving and devoted mom like you. Please don't feel guilty or selfish for being so. :)

chiari malformation in biewer yorkie
 

Thank You so much for your kind replies.
Does anyone have or know someone who has a dog with chiari?
I would love to know how old they are and how their doing on the meds?
I'm worried long term meds will cause liver damage.

chiari malformation in biewer yorkie
 

I'm pretty computer illiterate but if I did it right there is a picture of Ollie in the Photo Gallery. Such a handsome gentleman.

I'm so sorry. Did you let the breeder know?

chiari malformation in biewer yorkie
 

Yes, I kept her informed during the whole process. Dr Marino also typed up a letter with Ollie's diagnois that I e-mailed her. She was asked to please inform all others who have dogs from Ollie's parents and let them know what to watch for and to no longer breed them. I was very stupid to buy a dog from a website online. I don't even know if she owned the parents. Learned my lesson the hard way. On the other hand if I hadn't I can't bear the thought of what would have happen to him.

Did you get references? Talk to her vet?

I have been breeding and showing Biewers for over 9 years. I have puppies available right now. Anyone is welcome to visit. I have reference and my vet will be happy to talk to you.

For more information contact me at dee@houseofwags.com

Unfortunately I came across YT after buying Ollie. If I was looking now I'd know all the right questions too ask. Teddybearfaces had a very professional website and a page with all their happy customers. I googled their name and found nothing negative. Euince was very nice and seemed very professional and knowable. After reading threads here I now realize there were red flags, like different breeds, & advertising teacups at ridiculous prices. I think they are probably a broker. I no longer see their website. They are probably operating under a different name now. I posted here hoping to find someone else with a yorkie with chiari, SM. No Luck so far. My vet seems to think Biewers can have more health issues because the gene pool is small. Ollie came with IBC registration. A lot of german names , Vater and Mutter, I assume that means dam and sire. Under Mutter typed in red Rheinland-Pfalz-Sieger Champion of Continent. I think I will try to contact IBC. I hate to think they'd still be breeding his parents.

Ollie is lucky to have you !

Thank You. I feel lucky to have him, he is such a great dog!

Yorkies are addictive. I have 3. Ollie, Bella and Pixie. All with totally different personalities. Ollie is the sweetheart, loves to please you. Pixie thinks she the boss and Bella has no idea shes a dog. She 100% believes shes a human baby. I'll never tell her otherwise.

Ollie is Beautiful ! Thank God for you! Ollie has a life period because of you. What med/s is Ollie taking ? Often when a dog OR human has a Chiari malformation they try to compensate with other body parts and as a result of that may put out other areas of the neck or shoulder , causing a pinched nerve that will not rectify itself without treatment either from VOM or Physical therapy. My Sassy was not diagnosed till the age of 6 yrs & lived to 11 yrs old. Sassy did not have surgery as it was not recommended due to her size & the danger of it. Sassy was on meds for the rest of her life with few issues until the end when she want into a major seizure that just could not be controlled by other meds. Sassy did see a Chiropractor when she had issues with her neck or shoulder, she had adjustments to the affected areas & message as well & with these treatments was able to live a happy comfy doggie life. Chiari comes in diff severities & shapes so it just depends on the individual with the deformity. Dogs can & often do live out their normal life expectancy with treatment alone. Many dogs & people live with Chiari & never know they have it. Dont ever use a collar on a chiari dog, Harness only. After surgery did they do another MRI to see if there is a possible pinched nerve in the mid to lower neck area ? Ollie deff has a pinched nerve it's now a matter of where it's being pinched. If the surgery was the normal V cut out of the back of the skull then it's most likely NOT at the Chiari site but lower in the neck or the shoulder area& this is common. If a VOM or Chiropractor finds no outages then some accupuncture may help with the nerve issue.