Meet Itsy! She has quite a story… This little girl is 3 lbs and has a very delicate frame. She is a chocolate, smooth coat Chihuahua with a sad history and severe medical issues. We were told she is approximately 7 years old, but she appears several years older, which might just be due to her poor health condition and dental care. Itsy came to CRT from a good Samaritan who found her in a garage sale. Her owner was selling her for $15 with all her other junk! The woman who brought her to CRT paid the owner just to get Itsy out of that situation, but she couldn’t keep her because she already had several of her own Chis.
Not surprisingly, she wasn’t spayed or vaccinated, but that was the least of her problems. She had severe dental disease and several, if not all, of her teeth needed to be pulled out completely. Her breath was awful! Her ears were filthy. She has patellar luxation so she walks like a little bull dog. The vet said they can’t be repaired at this point, which is okay because she gets around just fine.
None of this was as critical as her biggest issue, which was “bilateral perineal hernias with bladder entrapment”. What this basically means is that she couldn’t poop properly or regularly, and the fecal matter would gather in the hernias. Her rear end bulged out bigger and bigger until she was finally able to defecate, and it would go down a little but not completely. Imagine a golf ball size bulge on either side of her tail! When she first came to us, she couldn’t poop for 5 days in a row! She had to have an emergency procedure to manually remove the fecal matter while under anesthesia.
She was placed on a laxative medication 4 times a day is eating prescription food. Her dry food is placed in a bowl of water like a soup so that she intakes extra water as she eats. Watching her struggle and strain trying to go was so sad to see… It had to be uncomfortable and probably painful as well. When she did finally go, it is way too large and firm for her size.
She was sent to a specialist and had several tests to determine to correct plan of action. Her surgery estimate was over $3,000!! The Board decided that this little girl deserved a chance for a happy, normal life. She was scheduled for surgery to repair the hernia and get spayed at a specialty hospital. During the surgery, her heart almost stopped due to the anesthesia, but thankfully, the vet was able to save her. After she recovered for some weeks, she was scheduled to get her dental, which also had to be performed by a specialist because of her previous problems with anesthesia and the severe nature of her dental decay. Due to her small size and bone loss, there was a significant chance her jaw could have been broken during the surgery.
She is now healing from her surgeries and looks almost normal! She has had a little trouble, but she is now pooping normally and not struggling constantly with constipation. She is a sweet girl and loves when she’s babied and given attention. She is slowly getting used to being picked up and loves to come up and lay down on or near her foster family. She was most likely abused because she cowers away when approached. She also flattens herself on the floor when someone attempts to pick her up and cries in fear. She has a hysterical move where she does an “army crawl” – her body totally flattened out on the bed or couch, and she crawls forward and backward repeatedly! She also throws her head back like a wolf and howls! Her foster mom has never had a dog that did this, but now all of her dogs start howling when Itsy does. She has an entire pack of miniature wolves.
Her total vet bill equaled close to $6,000, and CRT is seeking Best Friends for Itsy to help pay for her medical care. Her cute, little personality is blossoming, and she is recovering well from all of her surgeries. We hope that she will have many more years of health and happiness to compensate for her previous neglect and abuse.