What are typical Health problems with Chihuahuas?

Question

I am watching my in laws Chihuahua Daisy for the summer... and she has fallen in love with me and ....i am so worried about her.... first of all they feed her table scrapes which i have tried telling them how bad it is for her and they wont listen she is so fat for a Chihuahua... anyhow she already has the bowing of the legs and they wont pay for the surgery bc it is like $1500.... but my main question is her eyes are always very watery...and the white part is a yellowish brown...is this bad... also i have her on a very strick diet feeding her portion size meals of the weight control eukanuba dog food... i am just so scared for her body when they get back august will she go into like shock.... because if so i am not giving her back.... also can i give her anything for the pain in her legs... half the time she doesn use her back left leg...it worries me... also she sleeps under blankets alot...are chi just cold in nature? i dont know who else to ask i hope youcan help answer my questions! thanks

see my problem is i have taken her to the vet already and she does have luxated patella but i am so scared to take her back because she has never been socialized she is scared too death of people she doesnt know it is more stress i thnk on her to take her...last time she freaked out and used the bathroom all over herself... my main thing i am worried about is finding out if there is something wrong with her eyes...

Answer 1

please take her to the vets. if the whites of the eyes have any sort of yellow coloration often this could be a sign of liver disease.
The watery eyes --- chis are known to be a cry-er and they often actually do cry. And most chis like to get undr things like blankets this is normal.
the legs will just get progressively worse and she will end up not being able to use them. the only cure is surgery.
Chis are a one person dog and they take to one person and the idea of moving her back and forth can make her turn nasty.
The other thing you need to watch with a chi is sugar drops and to help with this is put a teaspoon of Karo syrup in her drinking water.
Also for the diet don't give her the helping the bag says but reduce it some.
A[apparently she isn't loved by the original owners if they refuse surgery and on top make her gain that kind of weight that not only affects the legs but thee heart.
Good Luck and if you can afford th surgery please help her.

Answer 2

Of course your having trouble finding information, the reason is because they are a mixbreed. If you want a Chihuahua, then get a Chihuahua. If you want a Dachshund, then get a dang dachshund. How big do they typically get? There is no typical, their a mixbreed, so know one can really say how big they will get. I will guess, it will depend on whether a Standard Dachshund or Mini Dachshund is used. Are they a good family dog? (Good with kids?) Who knows, once again, it's a mix, so their is nothing typical. I would assume that they would not make a good family dog, since Chihahua's aren't particularly good with kids and neither are dachshunds. Are there any typical health problems that happen with this particular breed? (there are dog and cat breeds that have specific health problems because of their breed) It's not a breed, so there are no specific health problems. However, there are specific health problems to purebred Dachshunds and purebred Chihahua's. So since, having a purebred is not important to you,how about you go to your local shelter an adopt some small dog. If you want a purebred Chihauhau, there are tons in local shelters and they have their own rescue organizatins. Same with Dachshunds, they are frequenty in shelters. Is there any special care you suggest? (special vitamins, foods, etc.) Well, you better have some money sacked away, since only an irresponsible breeder would purposely breed these to very different breeds, they would only be in the breeding to make money, they could care less about the health of the dogs. But as P.T. Barnum said..."There's a sucker born every minute".

Answer 3

Browning of the whites of the eyes is sometimes caused by the start of liver failure. Chihuahuas have very think skin, and no fur, so they do get cold more easily than most other dogs. The watering of the eyes is typical for a Chihuahua, they have no fur to protect them, so they water more to try to compensate for it. She won't go into shock, but it sounds like you are taking much better care of her than her owners were, as for going back to the vet, call and ask them to prescribe a light sedative, or if they can reccomend a natural sedative that you could use before you bring her in to help reduce her stress. If you can get them to sell the dog to you, that looks like the best case scenario, as long as you're willing to continue the course of action you've started.

Answer 4

Chihuahuas normally sleep inside the blankets. They hollow it out and go inside. As far as table scraps. I once got a chihuahua when I was just a boy. We fed it everything. And people always told us not to do this because is will shorten the life of it.
My Chihuahua never got sick and lasted about 16-17 years. You want a healthy chihuahua? Give it undying love everyday. It is the best medicine.
Take her for walks the exercise wont hurt her or you for that matter.

Most of the chihuahuas that I have had always used only 3 legs to run, holding one of its hind legs up. and I have seen this with other chihuahuas. this is just a phenomenon to me. I used to run full charge in my back yard with my chihuahuas right behind me using only 3 legs. They kept up with me all of the time and never expressed any pain.

Answer 5

I inherited a chihuahua a couple months ago and had to deal with a couple of the issues you are dealing with. I suggest taking Daisy to a vet and having her examined to see if there is anything they can do for the pain and also check her eyes. I've also found the following websites helpful when it comes to chihuahuas and their health issues. There are many more too if you can't find what you are looking for. As for her crawling under the blankets alot, that's normal. Mine loves to cuddle next to me at night when we go to bed. She "digs" her way under all the blankets and then sleeps near my feet or flush against the legs. Good luck!

Answer 6

Sounds like she has a luxated patella on that rear leg. It is quite common in the breed. You can gently manually pop the knee back in to make her feel better.
Having her overweight is killing her or making her hurt worse. You are doing well by putting her on a diet.
I don't know of any eye issues other than PRA in chihuahuas which doesn't have sysmptoms (other than being blind).
Good luck.

Answer 7

poor baby! why don`t you take you to a vet? wait until the dog is going to die? you must take care of the pet you say you love!!!

Answer 8

legs.neck.tail.heads