Roxies Recovery 4- 12 days post Heart Worm Treatment

Everything has been going well since the last update. I talked to the vet on the 27th when she was still coughing a good amount. She said she would like to do some X-rays of her chest to see if anything has changed or if there was a new problem. Luckily the next days and everyday sinc she has been doing really well. Today was her best day yet. She only really had one coughing set today and it was more like she was clearing her throat than coughing. So everything has been looking up. Last week I gave her 2 benedryle a day for a few days so she could rest and recover quicker and I think that was a good call considering she is doing so great now. But I am still on watch. Since her shots she has not been alone either John and I have been with her 24/7. And that will continue atleast for the next 4 to 6 weeks. Depending on how she reacts to her pills. Maybe a little longer it depends when I feel safe leaving her alone.

She has also been eating really well. I think she might have gained some weight. Now she wants to eat everything. She also eats 3 times a day now plus all the treats she can get her paws on and those she can only reach with her nose to knock off.

I am still praying everything is going to keep going smooth.

Roxies Recovery 3- 7 days post Heart Worm Treatment

I have been keeping everything pretty updated on her recovery from Heartworm Treatment. Probably just to kinda try to let out the stress I am feeling. And maybe to let someone else out there know what it is like to deal with a dog during heartworm treatment and the scariness of the situation.

We are one week Post treatment and I am still worried and can't keep many of my thoughts straight. I get that way when I am stressed beyond boundaries which doesn't happen very often. Last time I remember being this stressed like this is when my husband was deployed to Iraq for 18 months and when some of our other furbabies have had surgery or a severe medical issue. So maybe 4 times in the last 5 or 6 years. So my thoughts are not all together at this moment. And I am actually sitting here waiting for one of our vets to call right now about Roxie cough.

So lets recap.

• Last Monday Morning Rox had her first shot. Did well throughout the night.
• Tuesday she had her 2nd shot. She also did well this night and the next day.
• Wed she stayed till 3pm and then we picked her up. She was happy to come home and almost at like her normal self. If you didn't know she had the treatment you would have just thought she was a little tired.
• Thursday she was tired. She laid on the couch all day and just spent time with us. She didn't run around all though she got kinda excited twice but we were able to calm her down w/o any coughing. That night I didn't sleep because I wanted to stay up and watch her all night. I stayed up till 6:30am and my husband was supposed to get up at 7:30 so I fell to sleep. Also I had finally realized that they didn't send any Pred home with her and although she wasn't showing any symptoms I was wanting that as a precaution to stop lung inflammation before it happened.
• Friday I called to ask why they didn't put her on Pred at home and asked if they could. They said "no" they don't generally do that with stage one heart warm disease. I told them she had coughed a little on Friday and even though I though she needed it they didn't so they dismissed my thoughts. errr. I hate it when people do that. She coughed 4 times that day. A dry hack once every so often like when she would drink or eat. Stayed up with her most this night too.
• Saturday she was coughing a little more. I was worried but I was trying to believe what they had told me and not worry about the light cough she did her. It was a dry hack still until later that evening and it was more like a productive sounding cough but nothing was being hacked up. She laid around more lethargic this day and by evening she was shivering on and off. She really didn't do much then sleep even though I would let her out of her kennel. She would just kinda plop down and sleep.
• Sunday morning. Johns first day back to work I am woke up by the neighbors dog making my dogs freakout because he got lose. She was shivering pretty good and I realised that sometimes you shiver from having a fever. So I take my poor spongebob thermometer and insert it were it needed to be inserted. And he temp was at 104.3F at 9:30am. I knew normally temp was 100-102F so I called out our E-vet and they told me I should bring her in. I decided to wait and see if it would go down. about an hour later it was at 103.9F than an hour after that it was at 104.9F. So I decided to run her into the E-vet. she still has a cough. I was afraid to take her in because she gets excited in the car. I didn't want to stir up any HW's to go to her lungs and cause an embolism. But I had no choice but to take her. We got to the vet her temp was back at 104.0F. She said it was probably do to lung inflammation or pain. Which I had already pretty much known. So she gave her a Dexamethasone (Pred) shot and a Torbugesic shot. She also sent her home with an Antibitoc called Doxycycline which I had also read about online. It is supposed to treat the bacteria that live with the Heartworms. It is in the newer protocol for HW treatment. Plus Prednisone for the next month. She also told me to give her some Pepcid AD for her tummy every twelve hours to see if we could get her to eat some. She also told me at stage one she was not having such a great reaction and should be watched closely. The inflammation isn't a good sign at all. If she can't breath because she has an embili the prognosis isn't good at all and most dogs will not make it. We would only have a few minutes to get her to the Vet.So now I am really worried. That thought keeps playing over and over again in my brain. I kinda figured that but she really made it clear. She gave her enough Tor to let her get some rest that evening. There was no coughing and when she woke up at 7pm she no longer had a fever. It was at 101.3. Her gums were nice and pink she had a great cap response and she just over all felt better and you could tell. But she still slept good for the rest of the night.
• Monday She did a little coughing. You could tell she felt so much better. Her temp was still in the normal range at 101.8F. She wanted to play with the other dogs and with us but I had to keep putting her back into her kennel to keep her calm. She was feeling really good and even ate about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of food. But you can tell she is coughing a little more.
• Tuesday the coughing kinda changes a little each day becoming more and more. Used to it would only be when she was excited. Now its almost every time she drinks and eats. She is feeling good today though and is protesting her kennel stay. She ate about 3/4 cup of food before her Pred pill this morning which is good. She will no longer listen when I say "In" and point at her kennel. I actually have to push her into it. She pircks up at any sound and really just wants to be a dog. But her coughing today is getting more frequent. Today make day 7. So we have three weeks worth of recovery to do from just the shots. This cough is nerve racking and I really want to speak with out vet. I really wish I would have pushed the 3 shot method more. So it would have been a slow kill for the HW. But everyone tells me she should be fine. Should be isn't necessarily is and every dog isn't alike. I just really want her recovery to go smooth past this point. She has been kenneled more for the last two days than the first few since she is feeling more active. But she sits there and cries, claws, whines, and digs at her bed trying to destroy it. She makes me feel awful. But I know it is for her own good. I am thinking about asking the vet for something to keep her calmer. Wish the vet would call me back.

Please everyone Heartworm prevention is the key here. Mosquito's are every where and it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to give your dog HW's. A heart worm test is relatively inexpensive ( our was $26.50) and HW preventative (6 months around $40 or 12 months for $65.00 prices very depending on size of dog)are too. The south has a huge population of HW infected dogs and mosquito's. Normal count for HW load here is 8 to 10 per dog the southern states have a range of 50 to 80Worms per dog. Please even if a shelter said the dog has been tested have your dog retested in a couple months to make sure there really is no HWs. It can save your dogs life. Please have your dogs tested and put on prevention. HW treatment can be costly. Right now we are at (Test cost) 26.50+(x-rays and blod work)$250.00+ ( treatment cost included 2 Viles of Immiticide, exam, hospital stay, Pred Inj and Benadryl inj) $480.00+ (E-vet visit included emergency fee, exam, Pred inj, Tor inj, Doxy pills, Pred pills) $177.oo. So in total right now her treatment cost is at $933.50. I would give our babies the world. Finding money is an issue but I would do almost anything to keep them safe, happy, and healthy. Our financial situation isn't great. It isn't even good right now but the money is the least of my worries when my baby is sick. This could cost alot more than just money it could cost a dog her life. So please take that into consideration when you have a dog or cat. This is a very serious issue.

Roxies Recovery 2- A trip to the E-Vet

Well we had a little snag over the week end. Saturday evening Rox started shivering and feeling lethargic. Sunday morning I wake up to the neighbors dog was running through our back yard barking at our chickens and stirring up all the dog including Rox who isn't supposed to be stirred up and excited. So that pissed me off bright and early. So I went and caught the dog and returned it to its tie out next door. Came back and and made sure Rox wasn't coughing any more. She was laying in her kennel shivering and very nor herself. So I finally decided to take her temperature. It was 104.3F. Normal range for a dog was 100 to 102. I called the E-vet to see what they said. She told me to bring her in. But I decided to watch her and see if her temp came down. Every 30 minutes all morning I checked it. It came down to 103.9 than went way up to 104.9. So I finally decided when the bulk of the storms we were having left I would take her.



The E-vet was really nice. I have never met her before but she was really knowledgeable and actually set Rox up with everything that I originally wanted her to have as a precautionary measure. She agreed with me that the fever was probably inflammation in her lungs. So she gave her a Pred shot for the inflammation and a Tor shot just in case she was in pain. She also gave us a prescription for Pred and Doxy antibiotics. And told me to give her Pepcid AD for her belly to see if we could get her to eat some. It all went very well. Till we left.

This is Rox at the E-Vet

We leave and about 10 minutes down the road she starts drooling. and its not a regular drooling it is a slimy there is no end soaking the seat tipe of drooling. So I called and ask and they said with one of the meds that is normal. So I keep coming home and she keep getting worse and worse. Her gums are pink but getting a little white and I keep stopping the car to check on her. I was totally freaked out thinking she might be passing away. The vet said if she would have an embolism that I really wouldn't have enough time to make it back to the vet. So I wasn't sure what to do. I decided maybe it was just the meds and the heat so I decided to rush home to take her out of the heat and let her rest. By the time I got home she was falling over and kinda whining and falling asleep. I come inside and she walks right into her kennel and goes to sleep. As soon as she laid down and went to sleep her breeding was normal again. She wasn't breathing in the short panting motions. Her gums got pink and her Cap reflex was back to normal. So I finally calm down a little sit down and look up the Pain Med (Tor) which I figures could probably make her sleepy. I found that it can be a sedative for a dog. So I called the E-Vet just to make sure and she said she had given her a little extra to knock her out for the evening. So she would have time to rest. So after all my freaking out I guess I did make the right decision to bring her home. She rested till around 7pm when John got home and she wanted to see him so we let her out for a few minutes to visit. Her Temp was back to normal at 101.3 and only went up to 101.8 right before we went to bed. But she slept well all night. She was very comfortable all evening and night and that was nice.



Today she is doing good. She has been sleeping and being good most of the day. Not because she wants to like yesterday when she had a fever. But because she is locked in her kennel or sleeping beside me on the couch because she isn't aloud to do anything else. She still isn't eating and her only peed once today. That worries me a little. But hopefully after her tummy meds kick in her belly will feel much better. I am really glad I took her yesterday. She is doing better today. The vet said her lungs and chest sounded good and she doesn't have a fever today so I am sure she is doing alot better.



So now it is just wait and see now. Its still going to be a very long three weeks till the next vet appointment for her HW prevention pills to start. They will keep her the whole day while the Mircro HW's are killed. Then another month of worry. But I am praying that everything will go smooth now. Ii will write another update later.



Please Prey for our Roxie.

Roxie's Recovery 1

Well Roxie has been home from the vet since Wed. It has been a long few days of worrying. But I am glad she is home and from what I can tell she is doing pretty good. She has coughed a few times on Friday and a few more times on Saturday which was scary but she quickly recovered and didn't act like it was anything that she really had to recover from. She would act like everything was fine afterwards and go about her business. We have not been keeping her totally confined. But she has been taking it easy and sleeping alot on the couch and in the recliner. Some vets told me to keep her totally confined the one that I seen before she came home Wed told me to have her be a normal lazy dog. No excitement but she could be out to walk around and be a comfortable lazy dog. Even though I originally wanted to keep her totally crated. I feel she might be a little safer if we did. But she gets worked up and I don't want her to be depressed during her recovery so she is on her lazy dog schedule. Which in some ways works out well. We let her sleep with us at night. But I don't always sleep at night. I normally start sleeping after John heads to work or a few hours later. So she stays in bed till I get up with no excitement because all the dogs stay in bed till I get up. So Rox stays in bed all night and half the next day. When I do get up I make them food and put her in her kennel to eat and calm down from the burst of energy she has in the morning. Once I see she has totally calmed down I let her out. If I see any kind of excitement we say "in" and she heads into her kennel to lay down. For the time being she is using puppy pads in the house because she gets extremely excited when she knows she is going outside. We have also locked the back porch doggy door because when they hear something outside they normally go running to see what it is. With it closed Roxie doesn't even attempt to run back there. I also hung a sign on the from door that says "Please do not knock on door or talk loudly in front of house. Please call to get ahold of me" It has our numbers and my mothers info find her. So I think most of the issues we have worked out. The only issue left is when john comes home from work and she normally goes crazy. He was off from work all week for me this week and now her is going back tomorrow. Something new thrown at us but I knew it was coming. I really hope recovery goes well. Rox Pibs is such a wonderful dog and I cant wait till she can play and be her pibble self once again.

At the vet

Treament area

First day home from the vet

Car ride home

Picture to pot soon its on my cell.

Heart worm Positive

Two words you never want to hear together. Unfortunately Friday I was given the news that our Roxie has Heart worm disease.

When we had her transported up here she was given a clean bill of health. She was suppose to be tested for heart worms and my paperwork said she was negative. I thought about having her rechecked but everyone thought it would be redundant so I didn't.

Fast forward 8 months... I got a weird feeling last week that all the dogs needed tested. It bugged me till I had it done Friday. I was dreading the results but really thought everyone would come out clean. I knew when I seen our vet come from her office that it was bad news. She took me to a patient room and asked a couple question. She knew she had come from South Carolina and that it had been at the end of last year. She asked if I was sure they had done a test because the worms had already started producing babies. Which means she has had them for at least 7 to 9 months. The chance of her getting heartworm here would be really low considering the stage they are at. She came her in the winter so that lowers the chances even more.

She told me blood work and chest x-rays needed done before her treatment would start. She told me that the "medication" used for the treatment was in short supply and to call the Vet Hospital immedietly to see if they had the meds to treat her. They did. So I asked our vet to do the blood work and x-rays even though the other vet wasn't going to do them. I feel safer knowing how her blood work looks for kidney and liver function and X-rays for heart enlargment. The blood work came back pretty good. Her glucose was really low, her liver and kidneys are looking good right now. They will take the brunt of the meds because they cycle the meds out of the system. The white blood cell count is really high at 16.6. There were no Bands indicating that she has had heartworms for a while. If it was a new infection should would still have bands in her counts. Her Neutrophils and Eosinophils are also high. But as an over all look she said it looked pretty good. Her chest X-ray showed a small enlargement to the right side of her heart and one of the arteries was enlarged. Both from the extra work to get around the heart worms.

This is extremely hard for our family to deal with and I am sure she can feel our sadness right now.

But our family vet keeps assuring me that this has been caught early and she is a great candidate for the treatment. She has good liver and kidney function, she is only 2 years old, she shows minimal damage to her heart, she has no outwards signs or symptoms, and she said that she wouldn't at this point even consider her even a stage one. Which all sounds good on paper and even spoken but to think about the method used to kill the heart worms and what can happen after the heart worms die is really truly terrifying.

My heart is broken and the only thing that will make it whole again is our Roxie coming home safe and sound to recover and become a healthy strong dog once again. She will be going through something that is painful, scary, and something that could have been prevented. She is an awesome dog and I can't stand the thought of her going through this. But this is the only thing that can save her life. So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.