Help: My Baby Girl is Turning in Circles and Shaking her Head
 

My little girl Bela who is 6 1/2 months old and weighs 3 1/2 pounds started turning in circles, pacing, and when picked up turning her head from side to side constantly. She's at the Vet. Hospital right now (staying overnight) receiving IV fluids, charcoal, and having her glucose monitored. The Dr. already did general bloodwork and found her liver and kidney levels to be fine and no elevated NH3 but is also doing a bile acids panel tonight. It was heartbreaking to watch her suddenly go from her happy go lucky little self to having no control or ability to relax. She seemed fine when she woke up but after the kids went off to school all I could her was the little bell on her collar jingling constantly as she pacing and turning! There is the possibility that she ate something or a very slim chance that she may have found a dropped pill (therefor the charcoal) but to top it all off our home had renovations done recently and she could have even ate a few paint chips (lead based most likely) that may have fallen? We try to be extremely diligent when taking medication and even with the remodel things were vacuumed up immediately but you just never know. Needless to say, has anyone had this happen to their baby very suddenly? My heart is broken and I can't think about anything else besides Bella sitting there at the Vet possibly in pain. I have a bad feeling that what is going on has nothing to do with paint or medication and I think that makes it even worse.
Thank you,
Heather

I'm sorry your tiny little Bella is ill. I can imagine the fear you're feeling right now. It is good she is at the vet hospital and they are doing the tests. The bile acid test, I hope, will determine if there is a liver shunt or not. I hope you get some answers soon. I really do understand the dread you have. Try to get some rest and don't look for reasons to blame yourself for what is happening.

All I can offer are my prayers for Bella to get well too. I don't know what would be causing her symptoms but I can imagine how frightening this is for you. The good thing is that you got her right in to the vet. If it is something poisonous, it sounds like he is filtering it out with the charcoal and fluids. Praying for the vet's skill and compassion in treating Bella, praying for Bella to be strong, resilient and bounce back to the health she previously enjoyed, and I pray for your comfort, peace and confidence that God will take care of this healing and get Bella back home to you soon. May He bless each of you.

I am praying that Bela will recover and be home soon. She is at the best place to get her better.

Hope she is better. Sending good thoughts and prayers to you.

Oh, I am SO sorry your Bella is so ill. I will definitely say prayers for her tonight. I hope that they can find out what this is and that it will be a simple fix.

I know someone who has experience with lead poisoning. Will see if I can contact her to post about it. But, it may not be that..could be neurological. :(

Lead poisoning in dogs is usually first suspected based on history (i.e. owner doing paint renovations in a home that may have lead paint (for example, an older home).

The dog may have neurological signs (spinning, circling, seizures). The lab results may show increased red blood cells or immature red blood cells. These signs may not always show up. Finally, serum blood levels must be tested for the presence of lead. A simple blood test will tell you if the dog was exposed to lead. If the dog was exposed and is over the canine normal values (0-20), then chelation therapy must be started.

Not to scare you but vacuuming up lead based paint while helpful to clean up lead paint chips that you see, is not sufficient to get rid of the lead dust which needs to go. You need to vacuum with a closed HEPA vacuum and wash the area thoroughly with a lead specific detergent. You have to make sure you are not tracking the dust all around. Many people will tell you to wash the area with trisodium phosphate (TSP) but this is caustic to the lungs and does not remove lead (it breaks the lead into lead phosphate). And finally TSP is horrible for the environment.

Please ask your vet to run the serum lead value if you suspect that your home has lead and please test yourselves as well. Lead is deadly and causes long term effects if left untreated. Lead poisoning can be treated with the drug Succimer (brand name Chemet) which is a chelating agent that binds to lead and removes it from the blood. Sometimes more than one course of therapy is needed to remove lead as it leaches from the bones (lead competes with calcium and stores in the bones and it can take a long time to get the levels down).

I have in depth knowledge of this topic so if you have a lead situation on your hands please feel free to contact me by PM.

Oh how scary this must be for you. I pray your baby is ok

I'm so sorry your little Bella is sick. Sending prayers that they find out what's going on and she's back to herself in no time.

Checking for an update on little Bella.

Bella's Home but ?
 

Im so sorry to hear this, sending prayers and hoping she gets better soon.

I hope she continues to improve!! Please keep us posted!

So sorry to hear about your furbaby! Please keep us posted on her progress and her test results. My prayers are with you that she is alright.

I'm sorry you are going through this. I know it must be hard. Just hang in there. I think the hardest part is not knowing what's going on.

I hope Bela continues to improve. I am sure you must be terrified for your baby. Will keep her in my prayers.

:getwellso

Keeping your little one in my prayers...

I am so sorry about your Bella. I pray your vet can find out what is causing her symptoms. Please update us when you get the test results.

I'm saying a prayer that your little Bella will be ok. Hugs.

By chance did your baby recently have vaccinations ? If yes it could be GME as GME has been associated with vaccinations. Also did they give her antibiotics while she was hospitalized ?

I'm so sorry to hear that your little Bella is sick.
I will keep her in my prayers.
Please keep us posted.

Update on Bella
 

Hope Bella continues to improve

Sending prayers for Bella. Hope you receive news soon as to the cause. The unknowing is hard on us "moms".

This is such great information and so glad that you shared. :)

I hope that they are able to figure out what is going on quickly and treat her. :hug:

Sending prayers for your little Bella!

I was wondering if you found out anything about the tests they did on your yorkie? It is good that they are doing the bile acid test. Yorkies esp small ones can have what they call Liver Shunt. My female yorkie was spayed at the age of 7 months and she is very small. (2.5 lbs) Then 4 weeks ago she had to have knee surgery for a luxating patella. The vet that did her surgery for that tested her for the Liver Shunt because she was so small. He said that if they have this that anestetia could be fatal because they can not metabolize the anestetic like they should. I hope things come back ok for your dog:) Please let us know what you found out. I was not even aware of this disorder until she had to have the knee surgery. My local vet never even mentioned this to me. I am relieved that she did not have it. But the head movement is a sign of the Liver Shunt. Sounds like the vet you are using knows what they are doing:) Best of luck to you. I know you must be worried sick. I know I worry about my little one. They are the best dogs so loving and fun.

Update on Bella
 

Bella is doing much better but I'm still curious if anybody out there has any experience with results of specific levels on the bile acid test. By the way she didn't show any indication of lead on her second blood test of the nucleated red blood cells, thank goodness and our Dr. really thinks she did get ahold of a dropped pill (medication taking is a very strict regimen now in the house.) Our Dr. said that the bile acid test should have a result of under 15 and she had a 30. He said he does often see elevated levels in yorkies and they have no illness. Actually he's seen them much higher with no indication of being ill. He does want her to be retested in six months but I'm just curious if this really should be a wait and see situation. She is not acting sick and is eating, drinking and going to the bathroom fine. Does anyone have experience with this specific situation?