We recently adopted Leia, born on April 18th 2022. The first few weeks of having her she was an extremely energetic, happy, and a seemingly healthy puppy. We fell in love with her very quickly and couldn't wait for her to grow up as a happy dog in Lake Tahoe.
Then on one night I noticed she was making a lot of noises and shifting back and forth like she was uncomfortable. The very next morning I noticed she kept falling down, couldn't walk, and kept vomiting. Extremely worried I rushed her to the vet. When I took her the first time they told me she most likely sprained her leg and it was causing her to be nauseous, they said it was nothing to worry about and just let her rest.
The next day she was getting worse. She now was trying to crawl everywhere and saliva was dripping from her mouth. Even more worried than the first time I took her to the vet again. This time, they were now extremely concerned. No one in the office claimed to ever see this before, except the vet himself. They had me leave her for the day so they could examine further and figure out what exactly was happening. I got a call later in the day telling me that her esophagus is dilated so she can't eat or drink unless she's sitting up and that they're not sure if she will walk again. I called other vets around town and explained to them what was happening and none of them could take her in, refusing to take that as a final answer I took her to UC Davis.
At UC Davis they told me that she has congenital Myasthenia Gravis (MG) and megaesophagus (ME). MG is a rare autoimmune disease that causes the nerves to not properly work and can come on as fast as 1 week to just a couple days. In some animals, this can cause mild muscle weakness but in others it is much more severe, and they can rapidly become immobile. MG also causes ME. ME is another rare condition where the esophagus forms a pouch so food and water get delayed or sit in their throat, causing them to regurgitate it.
Leia is only a few months old and so many people are telling me the only option is to let her go to sleep. I really want to give her a happy life and let her experience things for as long as she can. The only way for us to guarantee this for her is by:
1. Only allowing her to eat and drink sitting in a Bailey chair (high chair for dogs with ME) for the rest of her life.
2. Giving her a special medication to help her nerves. (Dogs with MG have excess acetylcholinesterase and this medicine breaks it down) Although this would help her walk it cost $700 a month.
3. Monthly vet check ups
4. Make sure her head is always elevated when laying down
5. Paying for a babysitter when we are at work and teaching them the proper ways to care for her
We have already spent thousands of dollars trying to save her. Unfortunately this condition is not curable. We're extremely heart broken and at a loss for words. I haven't been able to wrap my head around how this could happen to such a sweet and innocent little thing. We have tried to find a good home for her but it's hard to find someone who can/will take on this responsibility. I've never made a donation account before but I don't know what else to do. She's still so happy and playful and she's not ready to end her very short life but if we can't pay for her proper care then we have no other choice..
