I’m writing to you today to tell you about Shellers, a cute, mixed-breed puppy, who was brought to us with her 5 littermates. All of them were brown and white, with big paws and big heads. But we knew right away that Shellers was different, and that she’d be staying with us longer than her brothers and sisters (who would no doubt be scooped up immediately).

Shellers’ head was a little too big. And as adorable as a big-headed puppy is, our medical team knew it was likely indicative of hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus can be a birth defect (congenital), or it could be a symptom of something even more nefarious going on, potentially caused by a mass or a tumour. Our hope was that it was the former and would be manageable with medication. But even congenital hydrocephalus could be severe and require surgery or have a poor prognosis altogether.