Hydrocephalus can’t stop birthday girl, Lucy.

Today is Lucy’s 1st birthday. She was first diagnosed when she was five weeks old. The ER vet told us she wouldn’t live much longer. Lucy’s condition is called hydrocephalus or “water on the brain”. It is an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within her skull which puts pressure on her brain. It causes depression, excessive sleeping, impaired hearing or vision, circling, seizures, and paralysis.Their eyes are down set and their heads are dome shaped. It is more prominent in smaller breeds.

The life span for a dog with hydrocephalus is about two years. Lucy has a pretty severe case so we are just hoping that the time she has with us is good. Lucy was diagnosed at 5 weeks old. I had had her for two days and knew something was wrong. She had most of the sypmtoms so I took her to the ER. The vet advised me to put her to sleep but also said there were medications we could try so I decided if there was a chance the medicine would work I would try it. After two doses of the meds I saw a significant improvement. We have had our ups and downs, some days are better than others, we just take it a day at a time. She is the sweetest puppy and if she is having a good day you can barely tell there is a problem. The fact that she has made it to a year old is a huge accomplishment and we are so proud. The reason I created the FB page, LOVING LUCY, was to raise awareness of her story and the condition.

Posted by: Kitty Smith