I am not good at telling a story the short way but I'll try.
Dolly developed a bare spot on her spine near her tail, where her diaper waistband is. I took her to the vet thinking it was 1) hot spot 2) allergies or 3) ringworm. He shaved it and said it was an abscess, and drained it and said come back tomorrow. Next day he drained it again and syringed peroxide into it and said he got fur out, which meant fur was growing inside it and it would keep getting infected so it needed to be removed, he put her on antibiotics, and we scheduled surgery for June 1. After shaving the spot, the dimple she has in her spine was very obvious, and he said he thought it was spina bifida.
Overnight I thought how close the abscess was to her spine, and if it was spina bifida, how did we know the nerves were arranged in the usual places, and unfortunately the abscess was on the side where she still had her leg (it couldn't have been on the side she was missing a leg), so it would be safer to get an MRI or something before trying any surgery. I called the vet and he offered to put some dye in the abscess and do an xray to see if the abscess communicated with the spinal cord, but by then I was too scared so we got a referral to the specialty hospital and the surgeon who did her hip surgery last year. He ended up doing surgery and it was a Grade 3 dermoid sinus, unusual because 99% of them are in Rhodesian Ridgebacks, only a few in other breeds such as lhasa apsos, but not in chihuahuas. Dermoid sinus is a congenital neural tube defect, the spinal cord did not fully form, and he thinks other nerves coming off the spine at the cauda equina may not be fully formed, which would account for the incontinence and partial paralysis. Grade 3 means the dermoid sinus communicates with the spinal cord itself. Infection in a Grade 3 dermoid sinus can cause infection of the spine and can be fatal. When I looked up information about it, the dermoid sinus is unrelated to the indentation in her back, I did not see any other dogs that had an indentation, and it can occur anywhere along the back or neck.
This changes Dolly's story, we do not know what happened to her. When she came to me from the Best Friends foster, it was assumed she was injured (maybe shut in a door) and dumped by the breeder. She was found on a sidewalk in California at 8 weeks old, paralyzed with her legs scraped up. She later lost one leg to infection. The BF vet told the foster the dimple was from an old injury, and the foster (Cathy) asked several times if I ever had it checked, but I never did, I guess we were focussing on her hip and otherwise she was doing great. (When she came here, she needed surgery for a broken hip, and she went to rehab and learned to use her leg to scratch her neck so fast her foot is a blur, and she can chase the cats around the house, and even run in the yard if she wants.)
This is the third major surgery she has had to have in her short life, but she has been absolutely the best dog possible through it all. Right now she still confined to her playpens (upstairs, downstairs, and porch) while she heals. Her pain level has finally come down some. I have seen her wag her tail. She eats, takes her meds in "meatballs" and rests. She had her recheck yesterday and they said she is doing
very well. After surgery last week I told the surgeon our regular vet had suggested it was spina bifida, and he said he didn't think it was quite, but he referred to rachischisis, which seems to be a broader term.
I'll just be glad when she can wear her diaper and chase the cats again. That may be a while, the diaper waist is so close to the incision, even when it heals it may bother her. Her foster, Cathy, suggested getting a disposable diaper and cutting a notch out at the back waist, it sounds good.
- Dolly's back showing the red spot she was licking, and next to it the indentation in her spine, which is deeper than it looks in the photo
- Dolly the second day after surgery, she was on torbugesic for pain, she is still on tramadol but the swelling is better