:(:(:(:( I am so so sorry. That is just awful ....bless his little heart and yours too....you have my deep condolences. Losing a love is so hard

Yen, so very sorry, hugs:(

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.

I was thinking of you a lot today, Little Davinci's face kept showing up in my mind, I was so sad after reading of his passing. I wish I could say something to ease your pain :( I do hope you find the answers you are looking for just so you can have peace of mind. Hugs to you.

I am sorry I do not have the answers for you. I just want you to know that I have you in my thoughts as you are trying to understand what has happened. Please keep us updated as this may help others to understand also. I am very sorry for you loss and my heart goes out to you.

here is the info

Small dogs, big hearts: a guide to ... - Google Books

I think this is exactly what happened and why i believe this vet should have sent you immediately to a neurologist

Neck pain in this breed is very serious and should be seen by a neurologist as there are many serious conditions that can occur and hopefully someone else will be able to learn from this situation as we all learn from each other that neck pain you go to neurologist in this breed

I am terribly sorry for your loss and hope that you soon find a bit of peace. I can understand wanting to know why...just please don't get yourself caught up in the blame game.

Sounds to me as if the vet really did want to xray and that most likely would have resulted in a referral to a neurologist (they don't refer to a specialist without clear signs/symptoms and it sounds like pain was the only one...an xray would have been the next step).....but, I have a strong feeling that it would not have changed the end result. DaVinci seems to have been a very sick puppy. Just so unbelievably tragic. :(

I can't imagine what you are going through right now. I am so sorry for the lose of your furbaby. Sending prayers to you and peace knowing your baby isn't in pain any longer.

in california we do not need referrals to see specialists you can walk right in to ucdavis no problem it is not like other states- i have never had to get a referral to see a specialist for any reason

Yen, just getting a chance to stop by today and tell you how terribly sorry I am for you and all that has happened. I hope you find your answers as I know they will bring you peace. I would be doing the same as you.
RIP Sweet Davinci...

You missed my point; but this thread is not about that.

Again, Yen, I am SO terribly sorry for your loss. RIP DaVinci .. Heaven has another little angel.

Deb, this isn't the time or place. Yen is hurting. Let's give her time to grieve the loss of her baby, ok? He's gone. Arguing now won't do anything more than to cause this poor girl more pain.

understand and i am beating myself up for not being on those two threads to help her as i would have told her to see a neurologist and have been sick about this - post #24 on rimadyl i posted what is the neck issue as this could be serious and sorry i did not look for the others so i am very hurt - It may not have changed the outcome but at least i felt i could have told her to get to ucdavis neurology dept so i am hurting as well as i feel i failed someone in not being there

I want her to get the answers she wants to get and why i wanted the link posted here as i want others to know in this breed neck pain is serious

I think she is looking for answers so she can be at peace

Once a loved one has passed on an ER/Sick thread, we will physically remove any posts that may be (unintentionally) hurtful for the OP to read. This is one type of thread where we will physically remove posts, rather than delete them normally.

Yes, Yen wants some help and answers, but it needs to be done sensitively. Please don't make assumptions as to what she was doing behind the scenes in trying to get answers and help for DaVinci. Now that he is gone, she is trying to get information on what he died from, so that she can intellectually understand that part of it -- she will need the facts to put that part of this great loss to rest.

The emotional part of it doesn't have words to suffice.