07/16/2025
An update on Elsie, the puppy with neurological issues:
When the shelter called us about her, they noticed that she had some wobbliness in her gait, and she could have bouts of hyperactivity (a little more than what might be expected in a “normal” puppy). The suspected cerebellar hyperplasia. We have had a few small adult dogs in the rescue with hyperplasia. They were wobbly and sometimes a little “slow” mentally, but led happy, healthy lives. So we agreed to take Elsie (a.k.a. Nami). The day we picked her up from the shelter, she was VERY lethargic. We had to pick her up and carry her from place to place – not at all what we anticipated her to be. We assumed that for some reason, the shelter may have sedated her, but there was no record of the sedation. We fed her a bowl of canned puppy food, which she ate with no problem, then she conked out for the night. The next morning, she was alert and active (maybe a little “bat s**t crazy”), which was more like the behavior we were expecting. Later in the day we fed her a meal. That is when everything took a VERY BAD TURN (as filmed in the video). Take away the food: back to “normal.” Give her food again: hell in a handbasket. Remember that the first night she ate with no issues.
We finally were able to contact the shelter to get more information. We sent them the video. They confirmed that there was NO SEDATION whatsoever of her when we picked her up. They also confirmed that the behavior during feeding did not occur while she was in the shelter, and if it had, they would not have offered her to rescue (meaning she would have been euthanized). We have no reason to believe otherwise. With this condition, she would have had a lot of injuries to her legs, and she would not have gained much weight – she only eats a few bites before the episodes happen, then she can’t eat anymore.
If there is a “smoking gun” in this story: a rabies vaccination. The shelter gave Elsie a rabies vaccine the day before we took her. Usually, a shelter will ask us if we want them to give the rabies shot. Generally, we are okay with it, but if we are pulling a dog already experiencing neurological issues, we hold off on all vaccines until we know more. Elsie’s lethargy when we got her, could easily be attributed to a reaction to the vaccine. I feel that this self-aggressive behavior at mealtimes is also contributable to the vaccine (a side effect). Our vet is skeptical about that theory, but says if it is a true side-effect, then it may wear off in 2-3 weeks, but I am wondering if this isn’t permanent damage. Her lab work came back weird/inconclusive. We were looking for liver or kidney damage. Some results said “maybe” while other results said “no.”
So where are we currently at with the situation? Our immediate concern was getting her to eat more. All this time, she was losing weight. In observing her eating out of a bowl of food, we noticed that it took 10-15 seconds before she would start harming herself. It was as if she was getting frustrated that she couldn’t eat all the food in one bite or gulp, triggering the behavior. So we started trying to feed her one gulp-size amount of food at a time. We tried making little meatballs out of her canned food. The problem was the consistency of the food – it would squish if she stepped on it or smashed it with her nose, frustrating her and triggering the behavior. So we found some refrigerated dog food (Fresh Pet) that come in large bites. That is working really well, for now. Part of her disability prevents her from easily finding the food on the ground. She knows it’s there, but it takes a while for her to zero in. We are also working with pharmaceuticals: Prozac and some sedating medications. Prozac takes a few weeks to be fully affective. However, we are finding that the typical sedative medications (Trazadone, Gabapentin, Clonidine, etc.) at the recommended dosage for her size, have no effect whatsoever, so we will be increasing the dosages until reaching the maximum. (Many of our supporters will want to suggest “herbal” solutions, but unfortunately this is too extreme of a condition to count on alternatives).
We will also probably try to connect with a neurologist (but they always want to do MRI’s or CT Scans, which we just can’t afford). I have a theory about what is happening, but not sure I will find veterinary support to explore it. I think Elsie’s brain is having trouble regulating her dopamine levels. While she is engaged with food, I think dopamine levels are naturally increased, but too much dopamine can result in aggression. How dopamine regulation might have been impacted by the rabies vaccine, I don’t know.
We would love to eventually find her a foster home, but I no longer have faith that there are people out there that want to help these special needs dogs. To put everything in perspective when dealing with an abnormal situation, I think of it like this: there are 24 hours (1,440 minutes) in a day. Elsie’s most challenging abnormality is just around feeding. We feed her once a day and the one-bite-at-a-time method probably takes 10-15 minutes. So that means she is “special needs” for 1% of her day. And that is still too much for the average dog lover to tolerate, I guess.
