Houston, TX: Tiny, tiny 6 week old special needs chihuahua

[Christine]

What a huge name for such a tiny baby...just reading about her has made me fall in love with her. (I dare you to look at these pictures and not do the same!) Bless this lady who is caring for her now. Let's help her find the perfect for this precious baby. I am going to invite her to join the Board so if you have any advice to help her care for "Oppie" for now, I will make sure she sees it.

Remember the Transformers? The leader was Optimus Prime. Well this little lady has the dubious distinction of being named after him. Why? Probably because this sick little abandoned puppy wishes to be given the chance to transform into a happy, healthy, loving companion. It sometimes just takes the kindness and love of a stranger like that of the good samaritan who found her to help that dream come true. This little girl needs lots of attention and care and is looking for a very special person who will help her. Please see the below information and attached pictures. Contact is also listed.


Name: Optimus Prime

Sex: Female (not altered)
Breed: Chihuahua
Age: 5-6 weeks

Location: Houston, TX

Vet/Medical Info: At time of visit the vet estimates pup is about five weeks old, approximate dob 9/13/2011. Pup is obviously not spayed, hasn't had hw testing and has had no vaccines. Pup has bigger head than normal and has soft spot on side of head - not top. Pup has vision problems and had no reaction to any vision testing done. They believe pup will have issues, possibly genetic, but could not say exactly what. Exam was very brief because they did not want to charge for it.


Owner Info: This sweet 5-6 week old puppy was dumped at a local Petsmart in Katy, Texas. She is blind and cannot eat on her own. A good samaritan has taken her in and has been feeding her via syringe every few hours and also giving her puppy milk to help build her bones in her back legs. Her hind legs have a lack of strength, therefore she does not stand too well and wobbles a lot.

The vet said that she MAY have some sort of brain damage and/or water on her brain due to the shape of her head. She did not respond to simple vision tests performed by vet (i.e: cottonball test, near tap test) and does not look in any direction to respond to sounds. Her current owner (the Good Samaritan) has contacted many, if not, almost all of the local rescues in Texas (non-breed specific) in order to find someone who would take her in, but with no success.

The little girl has yet to really explore where she is and what is around her. Every time her owners other dogs or cats come up to sniff her, she does not respond in any way. She keeps her head down and continues her rest. She has very little to no activity throughout the day, although they have attempted to get her to move around but she just lays right down where ever they put her. She is not too badly under weight. She eats when the food is fed through syringe and drinks also without having any bad reactions to it. She is a lover. She will be the BEST lap dog. She loves to be cuddled into your shirt whether it be when you're driving or simply laying on the couch.

She does give small kisses and she knows the voice of a kind human and stops shaking when she hears it. She loves to be in her little pink crate and sleeps most of the night (wakes up around 2 am for a small feeding or a drink) but does not bark much (unless she feels lost) and is very sweet in nature.

Contact Info: Elyse Fusco, (832) 683-2676, elyse_marie18@yahoo.com

[critters]

It sounds to me like the baby is hydrocephalic, but surely a vet would recognize it???

[Jean]

I have a cat with hydrocephalus named Benny. I adopted him from my Vet. He is a flame point Siamese with blue, blue eyes. When I first got him the Vet put him on massive doses of pred to keep the pressure down in his head until he finished growing. He is almost 10 years old now and is now essentially non ambulatory. But, for the first 9 years of his life he was ambulatory but was wobbly and would fall occassionally. Benny sleeps a lot now and has severe nystagmus. He still is aware of his surroundings and watches everything that goes on in our home. He eats independently but chokes whenever he drinks so I give his subQ fluids. He was only on pred for about 1 year initially but has been on Pred now for the last 6 months due to the deterioration in his condition. He is the most loving little boy.
Christine have you heard anything about this little doggy?
Did you contact the good samaritan?
I'm surprised she wasn't put on Prednisone./Jean

[Christine]

I did write to her the day I created this thread and I just sent her a note to check the thread. (I always fear that my email went into a spam folder if I have never written to someone before.) Thanks, Jean.