Hydrocephalus - Encephalocele - Vision Impairment - Brain Malformation - OH MY! Please help Pawsitive Restorations Animal Rescue to help this tiny little angel who was born with so many obstacles to overcome...

💜Baby Wish (Christmas Wish) was born in an Oklahoma animal shelter on Christmas Eve, 2022. Her mom, Evie, delivered 7 precious babies. Two were found dead by shelter staff when they arrived on Christmas Day. This little family was at risk for euthanasia when mom's stray hold was up, so we had them pulled from the shelter on 12/26/22. We knew right away that something was very wrong with this tiny little girl. We were highly suspicious that the lump protruding through her open fontanelles was an encephalocele. (brain matter protrusion)

Wish and her family were scheduled to fly to Pawsitive Restorations Animal Rescue in Colorado - but her brother, Chestnut, had other plans. He developed bilateral aspiration pneumonia and required ICU hospitalization in OK to treat his tiny little lungs.

Finally, on 1/15/23, this little family made their way to PRAR! During check-in evaluations we could see that there was a lot more going on with several of these little dogs, including our tiny little Wish. In addition to the concerns surrounding her lump, Wish also has an umbilical hernia, bilateral inguinal hernias, and we were very suspicious that this little one was either blind or had substantially impaired vision. 😔 

Straight away, we scheduled Wish for a neurology consult on 1/23/23 at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital's neurology department.  Here is that *pupdate*

 Our little Christmas Wish was evaluated at CSU's Neurology department in hopes of getting some definitive answers. We went into this knowing that she is still very young at only 4w 2d, and there are many tests that she's simply too little for. The docs were able to ultrasound her head through the open fontanelle and do physical assessments, though, which gleaned some useful information.

WHAT WE LEARNED:
1. The ultrasound shows brain malformation in the forebrain for sure and likely in the cerebellum as well (Cerebellar Ataxia), causing generalized hind end weakness, clumsiness, and Plantigrade. (Flat footed)

2. Our sweet baby has hydrocephalus, more so on the left side of her cranium. He said that it appears to be minimal on the right side.

3. The wide bump on the top of her head: Meningocele/encephalocele (meninges and possibly brain matter coming through the fontanelles in her skull). It's one of the two, or possibly both. The meninges are the layers of membranes that protect the brain. It appears that when she was born, they were protruding through her open fontanelles (soft spot). What they don't know is if brain matter was also protruding. It appears to be getting smaller, and she does not appear to be in immediate danger from it. Not that they could do anything about it anyway at her size/age.

4. Blindness: Blindness is possible/probable, along with some of her other issues because of a double Merle genetic defect on the Dachshund side (they're assuming), but she does have a pupilary response to light. Her behavior is more indicative of her visual ability. At this time, her behavior would indicate that she is blind or severely impaired.

The resident who evaluated Wish said that there are no medications that she can take at this time to help with any of her challenges. After doing a LOT of research into hydrocephalus, we have discovered that there ARE medications that CAN help in about 50% of these cases when they are caught early! We caught this at 4 weeks of age. We are working now to schedule a second opinion with a Board Certified Neurologist to see if any of these readily available medications might help our little girl. 

PROGNOSIS: Wish will likely have some mental and possibly some physical deficits for the rest of her life. Although the Resident at CSU did say that sometimes there CAN be improvement. They can't do an MRI until she is skeletally mature - around 8-12 months. If the MRI is done at that time, they may be able to get more clarity on their diagnoses.

Now... I'm just going to put it here in the body of this post before someone comes on here making a comment that, I promise, will not end well for them...

We are absolutely NOT considering euthanasia at this time, so please don't even make the suggestion. Dogs do not come to us to be given up on. "If they're fighting, we're fighting with them!" We fight like hell for EVERY animal in our program, and we will absolutely afford Baby Wish that same luxury. At this time. Wish is not in pain. She is not suffering. She is eating, growing, and even playing with her siblings. We will help her and guide her on her journey, wherever that may lead. We will LOVE her with our WHOLE hearts, and we will snuggle her cute wittle self until she screams and runs away! 😂We will utilize every resource we have to ensure that we are doing all that can be done to help Baby Wish navigate her challenges and disabilities, and we welcome the knowledge and experience that others may be able to share with us. #ItTakesAVillage

We are starting Wish's Fundraiser with an initial goal of $4,800, but we fully anticipate that her costs for specialized medical care will surpass this number quickly. As estimates for care come in, we will update the goal accordingly.

*NOTE - Her brother, Nick, also has an inguinal hernia. These hernias will all require surgical repairs. We do have concerns about two of the other pups in this litter and will be having them evaluated as soon as we are able. Please send out pawsitive thoughts and prayers, folks! This little family needs them! 💜

5/24/23 PUPDATE - Much to our surprise, Dr. Song has scheduled Wish's MRI a month early! She goes in TOMORROW to finally get the answers we have been waiting for since Christmas! The initial estimate for the MRI ONLY is $4621.18 - $4741.54. And we have 24 HOURS TO RAISE THE NEEDED FUNDS! We thought we would have a month to raise this... 😲 PLEASE HELP SHARE THIS FUNDRAISER!!

We will absolutely keep everyone updated on Wish's journey on our website and on our Facebook Page using the hashtag #SavingWish Seriously... we're probably going to flood the page with even more precious photos and videos than there already are, so be sure to follow Pawsitive Restorations Animal Rescue on Facebook!