"EMMY"

Emmy is a Teacup Schnauzer that was born on 4-28-05. She was adopted at about 7 weeks of age and weighed 1.9 pounds when first brought to South Hyland Pet Hospital. Her owners reported that Emmy did not drink much water. They encouraged her to drink by adding water to her food. Emmy was eventually diagnosed with a condition called hydrocephalus where there is too much fluid in her brain that alters normal brain function. Normally a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid bathes the brain and occupies several compartments in the brain called ventricles. In Emmy's case, there is too much cerebrospinal fluid in those ventricles. The excess fluid is interfering with the area in her brain (called the thirst center) that is responsible for telling Emmy when she needs to drink water. Because she does not have the normal desire to drink when she needs to, she is very susceptible to becoming dehydrated and developing life threatening abnormalities in her electrolyte levels. In particular, her sodium level can get very high if she does not drink enough water.

On two occasions prior to her diagnosis with this condition, Emmy became severely compromised requiring hospitalization and intravenous fluids. She fought hard and was able to bounce back. To try and avoid future episodes, Emmy's family must ensure that she consumes a certain amount of water each day. This means adding water to her food and syringe feeding her water to ensure that she meets her daily requirement. At her last recheck Emmy was doing great and weighed 6.6 pounds. Emmy is very lucky to be a part of such a loving and devoted family.

Emmy is a wonderful little dog and we are happy to work with her at South Hyland. She loves playing tug-of-war with the members of her household. In her spare time she can be seen chasing and playing with all the kids in the neighborhood.