Received:

I would appreciate  ideas and advice following this experience.

    Puppy X was the only male in a Golden Retriever litter of four .The delivery was uneventful ,all puppies were large and healthy. All achieved normal 'milestones' At 7+ weeks they were vet checked and microchipped before going to their carefully selected new homes. The family took him to their own vet 3 days later where he was pronounced fit and healthy. I received a couple of emails during his first week away confirming their delight in him. One week later I was telephoned by the family to say that the puppy was hospitalised suffering from complications of Hydrocephalus and was seriously ill. The puppy had a normal head size for the breed and the anterior fontanelle plates had fused. There had been no eveidence of neurological impairment before he left us. We spoke to the duty vet and agreed to take the puppy back since the prognosis was so poor.

  We collected the puppy the following day and were surprised and delighted to find him very well, happy to see us and took him home. He had been give diuretics and antibiotics but seemed no different from when he had left us the previous week.

Puppy settled well with his mum and friends and except for a slight looseness in his bowel movements ,occasionally slightly bloodstained, continued as a normal active puppy. I took him to my own vet who examined him and checked his eyes and finding no evidence of papilloedema or neurological impairent was baffled by the diagnosis and pronounced him fit and well.  Another family came forward and as they live close to me I agreed that they should have him. Puppy was now 9 weeks of age. The day they came to collect him, I noticed he had developed a slight limp on one leg ( front left). I hesitated before letting him go but the family promised to keep me informed ( they were experienced dog owners) and agreed to take him to their own vet that day for ( yet another) checkup. They phoned me from the vet's practice to say all was well and kept me updated over the next 3 days on his ( excellent ) progress. The low grade diarrhoea persisted with occasional blood staining but it was thought that this was just low grade colitis.

  On the fourth day I was phoned by the family to say that puppy had become extremely lethargic and listless and seemed to be bumping into things. He was returned to me  and by the end of the following day was pacing in circles, bumping into furniture, barking in an agitated way, and not responding to sound. His left front paw was buckling at the knee joint and he was refusing food and drink. He became anuric and no bowel movements were passed. I took him to my own vet and it was decided that no treatment was appropriate. He was becoming increasingly agitated ,was obviously blind and had developed a cry indicative of cerebral irritation. At no stage did he have a convulsion . He was euthanised and is now at peace.
   
This was a repeat mating  which produced 3 boys and 4 girls in 2007. All are alive and well. The dam had a litter by another stud dog 18 months ago which produced 2 girls and 2 boys. Of the 2 boys one was euthanized at the age of 16 months ,apparently due to aggression. He had been fine at up to that time , indeed I had emails and photos from the family assuring me of his good progress. I was very upset at the time that they had taken this step without informing  me there was a problem and indeed for not investigating an underlying health condition that could have caused this aggression. Both boys were assessed at 8 weeks by an experienced dog trainer. She was planning to do competitive obedience and gundog training did a few basic temperament tests. She decided there was nothing to choose between them and allowed the other family to make their choice, which they did on the basis of colour. The other boy is doing very well.

We are all distraught here ,made worse by the knowledge that two other families are also broken hearted. We are supporting each other .

Sorry this is so long and I have a few ideas but just wondered if anyone else could shed some light?

The vet said that an autopsy would not help

Jan

Just to say how sorry I am that this has happened.

Is there any history of epilepsy further back in the lines?

Hi

How awful for you.  I do know how you are feeling, in my last litter I had a very little boy who I took over feeding him at a week old as he was so behing the others.  I promised myself that if he made it I would keep him, he saw the vet at 12 days old and nothing odd was noted.  He had his first vaccination and again nothing was noted but about a week after this he stopped eating and became very lethargic.  I took him to the vet who suggested he was showing signs of hydrocephelus and that we would see how he would respond to anti-inflammatories and antibiotics but we said we could be looking at euthanasia.  This came as a huge shock to me as although obviously he was not as advanced as my other puppies he had been doing so well.  He responded well and had another set of injections a few days later but regretfully he then went rapidly downhill (within a few days) to the point where he could only drink water and on the last day he could not keep that down. We called the vet out to emergency surgery on the Sunday where he was very peacefully put to sleep.  He was 15 weeks old and incredibly special to us but having researched hydrocephelus he had certainly showed, although very slight, some of the symptoms at certain times of his short life.

There is no history of this in either line and the vet said there is no reason to expect it again as all the rest of the litter and previous have all been fine, just one of those things that can happen.

No history of Epilepsy in either line-I've contacted both breeders and know the lines well

Thank you for replying.  What you describe is very similar to the history of my boy. Did your boy exhibit any of the neurological signs and symtoms that I describe, restlessness and repetitive circling,leg buckling and bumping into furniture and barking/agitation?

Do you think maybe this is a vaccine related reaction. Very sorry to hear about the little man.

Hello Allison

The symptoms predated his first vac. which was done by the second family . The first owners just had a vet check and no abnormalities were discovered

Thank you Furriefriends. It has been an awful experience and we are so sad. The little guy's mum is also showing sadness. She keeps returning to the bed they shared and is sniffing around the garden, looking for him.

Hi

On reading up on hydrocephalus in dogs after they first mentioned it to me I would say that there were very slight signs of many of the symptoms early on, when he started to walk he circled but this passed, also as he got older you could just see some white around the eyes.  The vet asked whether I thought his head was more dome shaped than the others which I suppose it was slightly.  At 3 months he was running around the house after my other dogs and displaying normal puppy behaviour although in a quieter and better behaved manner than most and I really thought that he was just a real runt but as we were keeping him as a pet it really didn't matter.  He had bright eyes, a beautiful coat, came when he was called and always met us at the door and was the easiest one I have ever had to paper train.

When he was given the ok by the vet I was absolutely estatic as he was already such a popular little person in our house but I do think his downturn started after that first vaccination and the second one really finished him off.  Maybe it is a coincidence, I will really never know all I can say is before he had them he was playing, eating, going out in the garden up and down steps but maybe it is just dependant on when the swelling in the head reaches a point that they can not recover from.  I was not prepared to put him through the referral process of mri scans and shunts as I had hoped that the anti infammatory injections could keep it at bay as I had decided that however short his life I would rather have him at home and let it be a happy life although I certainly did not imagine it would be quite so short.

In the days before he died there was no circling or bumping into things he just lay with me and took himself off to have a drink or go to the toilet although he did in the last day want to hide.  It was a heartbreaking experience and I certainly would be very aware of looking for any of the symptoms in future litters although in all the litters I have had from my girls this was the only one who has ever had this and hopefully the last.  I suppose this is why some puppies fade for no obvious reason when they are young as it's natures way when something is wrong, had I not tried so hard to keep him going and let him go in the first week I would have not known what was ever wrong with him.

Hi Gwenno,

There are certainly some similarities in these two cases. My little boy was definitely quieter than his 3 sisters. But often in a litter I've had a quieter one and the puppy has gone on to be an absolute hooligan in his/her new home. I used to joke that the quiet ones were biding their time !! As regards the head shape, he looked normal for a goldie. His dad has a nice 'show head' and visiting friends with retrievers actually remarked on puppy's beautiful head!

  On the other hand, vaccination was not an issue and he was extremely restless towards the end, particularly at night-constantly pacing round and round and stopping to bark ( at nothing)The issue with the paw buckling outwards and the way his system shut down-he stopped peeing and had no bowel movements for 2 days before his death must also be significant . He wasn't eating but was being syringe fed fluids.  I also remember two occasions when he was around 6 weeks old when he seemed to shiver/ tremble while I was holding him.  I was a bit worried at the time but as everything else seemed normal, I didn't give it another thought.

I've had good reports about his sisters today, I found myself telling one lady about the boy because she telephoned but I think I'll keep quiet to the others until I have more information about possible diagnosis. No one is planning to breed. Naturally, I've been worrying about possible genetic issues.

Hi Jan

I can only think that having researched it the symptoms often get worse at around 4 months, which in my case was certainly true, he just couldn't eat, as you were I was syringe and bottle feeding him the last week then two days before he died he ate some food but that was it then, nothing could stay down and the weight had just fallen off him but he did wee and pooh still, he was really very lethargic and the only time he became restless was the last day when he tried to hide.  The vet said to me as none of his siblings had this condition and his mother has had only perfectly healthy puppies in the past and 3 extremely healthy other puppies in this litter there is no reason that it should occur again due to anything genetic, they don't know why it would have happened but research is being done into it.  I also have a daughter of this bitch who again has only produced fit and healthy puppies as I said earlier if he had died when really he faded so badly we would never have known that this was what was wrong with him. 

I have regular reports on most of my puppies and I have told them about him as everyone asks how he is doing, he was obviously not like the others from the beginning and I would never let one go that was not absolutely to my knowledge fit and healthy.  It really does just seem to be a very very sad unfortunate 'one off'.  Your case does sound harder to diagnose than mine as your puppy sounded 'normal' from the beginning whereas mine was really always different from the others.  I suppose I have just been very lucky in my breeding years to have not had any problems until this one.

Hello Gwenno,

So good of you to give me time and reassurance. I feel this was just a tragic 'one off' event. I wasn't going to breed from Liffey again anyway, she will be over 7 next season but one but I would like to use my boy again , he ticks all the boxes on health and temperament and breed type.

Liffey is coming to France with me tomorrow, she could do with getting away after all this trauma. That means I'll be offline for a week but will apprecaite any more info when I get back

Has anyone considered liver shunt?  This can give symptoms of cerebral irritation, ie lethargy, irritation, bumping into furniture and constant circling, due to a build up of toxins in the brain.  Puppies can also show poor bladder and bowel control and diarrhoea, and aggression may also arise especially when touched around the head area.  Symptoms can come and go, but generally gradually worsen and are particularly noticeable after eating.  I think 16 weeks is roughly the time symptoms start though they can arise earlier or later in life.  It is thought to have a genetic link and some breeds are more susceptible, but I have experience of a puppy with liver shunt where there was no history of it in the bloodline.  Puppies can be screened for it, but there is no test yet to see if potential parents carry specific genes causing liver shunt.  It is difficult to diagnose, I think only the larger veterinary hospitals can give an absolute diagnosis and the prognosis without surgery (which itself is very risky) is very poor.

Forgot to add, pups with liver shunt generally have a history of low birth weight and failure to thrive, sometimes appearing as the "runt"of a litter.

Hello Fate

Thankyou

;iver Shunt crossed my mind as well. But puppy was a real big, bouncy 700 gms at birth and kept up with his sisters in this respect. His appetite was good and his 'milestones' achieved along with the others. He was quieter and had a couple of shivering episodes ,which may be significant. The suddeness of his decline may exclude cerebellar abiotrophy,which also crossed my mind as a differential diagnosis. The blood in his stools could just be a 'red herring'

Hi Jan,

Have sent you a pm.

Rachael