The Recovery Continues

11 days ago Mausi came home and she has been recovering well. Yesterday the ZDF team came by and filmed a short update on Mausi's recovery.

The changes in her behavior become more apparent every day. What can I say?...She is more and more "here". Since the OP she is able to look up (before she never did) and often she will put her forelegs up and stand on her hind legs. Mausi plays much more and actually follow Liane around the room. Before, in order for Mausi to get enough food, Liane would have to hand feed her with a syringe...now she eats on her own (mainly dry food, though. She doesn't seem to like can food much).

Slowly Mausi is getting her fur back and losing the orange tinge carried over from the operation.

Daily it is necessary for one of us to manually engage the pump unit implanted under Mausi's skin in order to prevent the tubing from becoming clogged or blocked.

All and all we are very pleased with the recovery so far.....and Mausi seems to be as well!

Mausi Comes Home

Friday morning we get a call that Mausi has recovered enough to be brought back home! Liane and I were overjoyed.

ZDF was there to record the return of Mausi to her family and the doctor took some time to explain to us (ok, the cameras most likely) just what was done and what the way forward looks like.

Both Liane and I knew Mausi would look bad after the OP. Just the same, the first look was a bit of a shock. Her entire head and left side was shaved and she had four major incisions stitched up. Due to the stress and uncertainly of the week she spent out of her known surroundings, she was afraid and very jumpy. The pump unit and tubing could be clearly seen running under her skin.

Once we got Mausi home, she went wild! It was clear she recognized that she was home. At first she remained shy around people, but slowly began to warm up. One thing was new, however, Mausi would not let anyone pick her up...she would even bite if pressed to hard.

Before the OP, if Mausi would not eat or drink, Liane would feed her using a syringe. Since Mausi would not allow herself to be picked up, this was not an option. So we decided to ensure she had plenty of fresh food and water available and Liane would offer her pureed food from a syringe without forcing her. This made for a long weekend where we worried that Mausi was not eating and drinking enough and that she would suffer setbacks in her recovery.

Though she seemed OK (no signs of dehydration, etc) we worried. FIrst thing Monday, it was back to the clinic to discuss this with her doctors.

Turns out that everything is OK. We were informed that Mausi would eat when she was hungry.

So that is where we are at now.

The entire procedure wound up costing just short of 2000 Euros, but Liane and I feel that it was money well spent.

OP & The Week After.....

So we decided to go with the operation. We thought it was better this way and that a proactive approach would keep any further brain damage from occurring and give Mausi the best shot at a relatively normal life.

Monday morning we showed up at the clinic and were surprised to find that the national television station, ZDF, was there to greet us. It turns out that they wanted to air Mausi's story.

While Liane and I had no objections to this, we postponed some of the interviewing they wanted to do right off until we got the paperwork and such sorted out for Mausi. We let them film it, though it was fairly boring stuff (fill out about a rain forest's worth of paper).

The doctors went over the planned procedure, we discussed the risks, etc and were informed that Mausi was scheduled to be operated on the next morning. With heavy hearts and some trepidation, we left our Mausi in the care of the Uni Clinic, Giessen.

Neither Liane or I slept very well and we were on the edge most of Tuesday while we waited for word on how the OP went. Finally, late Tuesday afternoon the surgeon called and reported that Mausi came through the OP OK. What a relief.

However, they would not let us visit her due to the fear that seeing us before we could return her home would cause undue stress. Estimates were vague on when Mausi could come home.

New Hope

So things with Mausi have been going quite well. After extensive consultation with our two house veterinarians, Mausi was being treated with Cortisone, Vitamin B1, B2, and B12, and Acetazolamid. She continued to be happy and even began to become more "normal" seeming. However, we remained worried about the potential long term effects of the medication.

Of course we continued to consult with various doctors and research Mausi's condition. One of those consultations was with doctors at the University Clinic in Giessen. A few years back the Uni clinic did an extensive study of this kind of condition and agreed to have a look at our Mausi.

Two weeks ago we took Mausi in to the Uni Clinc Giessen and had a MRI scan and evaluation by the experts.

The news was good. Mausi showed only minimal damage from her condition so far and was a good candidate for shunt surgery....

Liane and I had a very difficult decision to make....

Mausi's Story

From early on Mausi was different. Just how different began to become apparent when at the age of 8 weeks we visited the Wald Clinic in Frankfurt.

The news was crushing; Mausi had Hydrocephalus.

Here is her background:

Mausi was born to a litter of six pups and was one of the smallest. Both Mausi and one of her sisters was very weak and required us to intervene by hand feeding. Of course we worked closely with our veterinarian in our efforts to save these two. Unfortunately Mausi's sister did not make it...which made us all the more determined to save Mausi. With much blood, sweat and tears, we managed to pull her through and everything was looking good. It was clear to us that Mausi was developing much slower than her siblings, but she proved herself to be a playful, happy pup. We wound up keeping her separate from the rest of the litter, as her siblings would force her away from the food dish, and she was often picked on in the "rough & tumble" games. She continued having problems feeding herself....we kept hand feeding and consulting with out Vet about why she wouldn't eat. All the time she continued to be playful and very active. Sometimes she seemed to lose her orientation and would bump into objects. Still, she responded to calls and seemed to learn her name and it was clear she was not blind. During this time she caught a ear infection that was treated successfully. After this treatment, Mausi began to shake her head..like she had something in her ear. Day after day, Mausi continued to develop, began to eat a little and drink alone and was, as always, playful and happy. Still, the head shaking and occasional disorientation kept us concerned. To make a long story sort, after X rays and various blood tests failed to reveal a cause, we wound up going to the Wald clinic in Frankfurt. There we had a CAT scan done and received the bad news.

Now, I do not think for a minute that Mausi is in pain or is suffering in anyway....and I will not give up on her just because she has a medical problem. The folks at the clinic made a big point about the high costs and generally short lifespan, but we were not worried about the cost and are convinced we can give Mausi a happy, quality life...for as long as her condition allows.