Can Hydrocephalus be treated?
 

Hey guys, Im sorry to tell you guys that one of my baby girl has just diagnosed with Hydrocephalus, and to tell the truth, i am panicing and I really dont' know what to do...she's only 6 weeks old...
So I was wondering if there's any way, ANY kind of things I can do, to save her life or to make it better, please let me know...

Thanks.. :(

I am so very sorry to hear that your baby was diagnosed with hydrocephaly. There are treatment modes just as in humans and they usually involve shunts. The surgeries are expensive and there are frequently other neurological symptoms. I had a litter of 3 born Friday night and one of those babies most definitely had hydrocephaly. I kept her alive as long as she had fight and she lived 48 hours which is usual. Her case was severe. Your baby will need to be examined and treated by a neurologist or neurosurgeon.....

i am so sorry to hear about your baby
best of luck and our prayers are with your baby

I'm So Sorry...
 

That one of your puppies has that. Discuss with your vet the options and a prognosis of a quality life. :(

Im so sorry for your baby girl. I will have you both in my thoughts and prayers.

well...im keeping my hopes up
 

she's 6 weeks old and she's been growing and eating fine ...just like her brother and sister...she responses to people...she loves to play ....she jumps around and I didn't even realize that she had this problem until today the vet pointed it out...she hasn't have any seizures yet....
so I am hoping her diseases is not too serious... and can be treated...

What kind of tests did your vet run?
I had a vet years ago tell me he thought it Looked like a puppy I had, had hydrocephalus. But he just had to grow into his head. He had no symptoms.
He turned out to be fine.

well he just looked at the pup ......didn't really run any tests...
her eyes are kinda "looking down" all the time....
and her head is bigger then her bro and sis......
she does run around in circle sometimes...
but other then that she's normal

Maybe you can ask your vet if he can run test to confirm his diagnosis or you can take the wait and see approach.
When Bugaboo was a puppy he kinda had a big head.

here's her picture...my dear Charlene...her eyes are pretty bad but that's what I LOVE about her....she's adorable....
She's 1.3 lbs as of today compare to her bro and sis which are 1.5lb...she's not that much smaller.....

Thanks for posting the pics of Charlene. I would talk to your vet some more.
Best wishes to you both.

Bless her little heart..she's precious.

I sure hope you can find answers....how sad.

poor thing. i agree with you, she is adorable. are you going to keep her if the vet says she'll be ok?

Oh, Candice...I'm so sorry. You're best bet is to take care of her as long as you can and keep in mind her quality of life. Best of luck to you and your little girl...she is precious.

I hope that everything turns out okay with your baby girl! I will pray for her...

Aw, she really is adorable, but I would have to agree with your vet. Her eyes and the dome of her head are both symptoms of hydrocephaly. If she were mine(I had made up my mind to keep my little one that was born Friday with the same problem) I would keep her and make her life comfortable and she will know she is loved and wanted. If you feel she might be better as an only child, maybe a friend would adopt her and give her the attention she will need. She is a precious soul!!!

yea I think I am keeping her because i just feel like i will be worrying so much if others do....
I really want to see what are the chances with surger yand all that...I am going to a vet this friday to learn more about it...I really don't mind, as long as she doesn't SUFFER, that's the last thing I want....she's so adorable....
she acts normal and all that, I have heard that if after 3 months and she still have no signs of seizure that could be a good sign???

Sweetie, try not to look into the future. She is on loan to you for as long as she lives and you will enjoy her love and caring and every new skill she learns will be so much more appreciated...
We are here for you no matter what happens.....Prayers will always be said for you and her...

Candace - If your little guy has hydrocephalus - you shouldn't be asking us if there is a treatment or something you can do for this. You should be talking this over with your veternarian and following his advise. None of us are experts in this area. Your vet is.............


Carol Jean

Aww,she is precious. I will keep you both in my prayers. :littleang

Rini....you have such a way with words.....what a nice thing to say :)

Thanks
 

Thanks guys...maybe I am just trying to keep an open mind...and just hope there will be a miracle...maybe I am just lying to myself :(
but I am going to take her to few different vets and see what they say..and just learn more about this and what I need to do...

Especailly Rini, thanks for being there for me ALL THE TIME....and letting me know that it's ok...

Candace,

First of all give your sweet precious one a big hug and kiss for me. I know what you are going through as I have an 8 month old yorkie diagnoised with hydrocephalus about three weeks ago and I know how you feel.

Cricket has never had a seizure or gone blind which are two things that they were happy about. She has been put on dexamethasone twice a day. We are taking it one day at a time and she has shown some improvement. She has begun to walk, has always been alert and happy. She is not in any pain and I will go as far as I can to keep her happy. She eats well, drinks well and gets lots of love, brushes, hugs and kisses. She is worth any sacrifice that I have to make as long as she is happy with her quality of life and I will NEVER let her be in any kind of pain. I love her too much to make her suffer and I don't feel it is fair to her or me. So as long as she is not having seizures or is any pain I will do whatever I have to.

The downside of this medication is she can't stay on it forever and will have to be weaned off of it eventually. We are hoping to buy time for her, at her age to let the swelling go down in her brain. Cricket has not done the norm and was hard to diagnoise since she didn't show the beginning signs of hudrocephalus. Normally, it also shows up long before they are as old as she was when she had any symptoms.

This is not a disease that has alot of hope and it can be hard to predict the outcome of. I hope you have every success with your baby as I posted here when this first happened to me and I have had so many kind words, prayers and encouragement. I needed to know that I had support or at least someone to help give advise about this.

Please feel free to PM me if I can help in any way. My thoughts are with you.

Judy and Cricket :animal-pa