Day 12...Emergency Vet Visit

Today, Dos had a cough. A dry, strained, painful sounding cough. I kept thinking perhaps she was just trying to cough something up and I kept an eye on her...but as the day progressed, it got worse.


I e-mailed the APA Medical Team with my concerns. They are super busy throughout the day, so I contacted their foster co-ordinator for some direction. She got ahold of them and they contacted me immediately and asked about her condition.


With heartworms, a cough can be bad, bad news-so they told me to come in right away.

By the time I made it there, they were closed...but they took her inside and did an exam and the doctor asked a lot of questions and spent a long time sitting on the floor with her listening to her heart and lungs.

The vet reassessed her..looked at her teeth...gave her a twice-over...and said she probably wasn't five...and there is a bit of time before the heartworms entirely take over-and she should get the treatment before then...because...She is probably only three.

She prescribed her some kennel cough medicine, in case the bordatella was administered before she showed symptoms but was still infected, some cough tablets, and some special shampoo to clear her hair folicles(which was unrelated to the cough) she said it would help any irritation left and also take the smell away...because she still does smell very yeasty/bacterial, even with all the treatments and baths.




She was thorough, she was problem solving, she was productive. She is seriously one of the best vets I have ever met..and I wish I could remember her name..in everything that was going on, her name slipped my mind..but when I find out, I'm going to send her flowers.




Dos came home with a slew of new meds, and a little treat from their lobby..and a better prognosis than before.


Oh...and, she is passing tapeworms now, the the wormer is working...which...is both gross and awesome...one ailment cured at a time, right? :)

It's easier to hide the medicine when it's chicken flavored

On another note, she has become very attached to us, and wants to follow us around and sit next to us all the time..she's learning to love and be loved in return.

Day 11...

Today was Dos' APA appointment........and her skin scrape came back clear of the sarctopic mange! Already! After 11 days! I feel good about it, because her first skin scrape had a good amount of larvae and mites in it, just from a tiny area-and this one showed nothing!

At the vet, she was in good spirits..and she actually wanted to sniff things and greet everyone. It seemed she was excited to even get in the car to get there and back.

She weighed in at 59 pounds today-which is 4 pounds less than she weighed when I first took her to the vet, but I'm not sure if someone's scale was just off or she's somehow lost four pounds...she's definitely eating a LOT,  so I'm more inclined to think it was just a difference in scales.

They prescribed her 14 days of eye drops for her goopy eyes, started her on another 2-week round of antibiotics(1/2 the amount she was taking), she got a bordetella vaccination, and they gave her a dewormer and a topical treatment for her skin, in case she still had some demodex mange that needed clearing up. (different than the sarctopic-sarctopic is the really bad contagious stuff)
And, she got a microchip!  THANK YOU SO MUCH AUSTIN PETS ALIVE!

 This appointment is a big step because as soon as she's cleared of all infections and in better health, they can do the heartworm treatments-and she's already improved so much in the short time I've had her, that this should fly by!


She was one tired puppy when we got home. I fed her some plain yogurt (her favorite snack), mixed up some dry dog food with some brown rice and beef broth-and she ate and fell asleep in her little bed.

She's going to be all better, soon.

Day 11 of Dos' Recovery.  Her eyes are the most notable improvement so far!

Day 10 & Bath 4!

 Day 10 is another bath for Dos! I'm going to wait to see what the APA! medical team says before giving her another treatment, as it seems to have healed a great deal and I don't want to overdo it if she won't need them as frequently, if at all.

So, this time, just mild doggie shampoo and water-and a good scrubdown.
Michael really did a good job on her ears...he worked on them for a good twenty minutes altogether to get the dead skin off, and they look great! She's starting to grow even more fur on her ears:)

Day 10 bath-soaped up!

Michael really got her ears clear of the dead skin...it's been a hell of a process...

Here's the after-bath progress shot:)

Does anyone have any speculations as to what could have happened to her ear? It's missing a piece:/

Dos' eyes have cleared up tremendously!

She has decided that she really, really likes belly rubs after last night.

Day 10 was also Dos' day to finally leave the garage. (Not to worry, it's climate controlled and stays temperate!:) ) Her mange has cleared up a great deal and we are no longer concerned about spreading it to our other dogs. She still won't be in close contact with the other dogs, because we want to be extra cautious, so after her bath, I cleaned her kennel and bedding extra well and moved her stuff inside.

She at first looked confused as to why I was walking her off the porch, but once  inside, she acted like she'd lived there forever. She did a quick sniff at the air, and made her way to her bed, where she's curled up now.

Our dogs sniffed her a little through her crate-which is the most attention they've paid to her since she got here. Other than a quick glance, they haven't acknowledged her-which is odd, because they are very curious dogs. I assume it's because she's been sick, and they can tell she doesn't want to be bothered. I'm taking their sniffing as a good sign that she's starting to smell more like a regular dog.


And, as requested, a video of Dos being excited in the morning, waggly tail and all. This is the 2nd day in a row this has happened!

And...tomorrow..is THE DAY. Dos' APA appointment. I'm both excited and nervous as to what the prognosis will be on her heartworms...

Please keep her in your thoughts tonight...

Day 9-Belly Exfoliation Time

This morning-for the first time since she's been with me...Dos was up and ready to go! We keep her in a crate when we're sleeping/not at home so she's confined, but she spends a lot of time just sleeping in there even with the crate door open. It's her little den, after all..

When I woke up and went to her crate, she was  standing up, tail wagging, back end wagging, and ready to go potty. I see this as a very good sign! It usually takes her a good ten minutes or so to pull herself up and adjust to being awake.

She's almost done with her round of antibiotics..tomorrow is the last day! Then....vet on Tuesday and it's going to be a whole lot more getting better from there!

You can do it, Dos!

Today was belly exfoliation time. I started to rub her belly and she flipped all the way over, so I took the opportunity to slough off some of the dead skin I haven't been able to get to. I was afraid it would hurt her..but as you can see from the video she was loving it. It went on for probably forty minutes..leg kicking, stretching her arms up, making little grunty noises....that's a happy dog with a super special belly rub:)


(Sorry about the video...it's the wrong direction again, it was the only way I could hold it and brush her at the same time...)

EDIT: Is the video showing up at all? Hmmm:/

Day 8

Day 8 video (I'm not sure I did it right..it was requested I hold the camera the other way around...is this better?)

She's scratching and licking herself..a good sign because she's continuing to be more active, but it's time for the doggy socks again.

Day 8 for Dos hasn't showed any notable progress..or notable regress for that matter. She's been sleeping for most of the day, which of course, is expected due to the heartworms.

I did learn last night however, that Dos really does not like thunderstorms. She doesn't have the physical capacity to shake a great deal like most tthunderstorm-anxious dogs-she just heaves and breathes a bit sporadically, much like someone looks like when they are crying, so it was heartwrenching to watch. I wrapped her up in a towel just for a little security and petted her until she fell asleep, but when I got up she woke up and repeated the process. It was a long night, but today she seems no worse for the wear. I imagine she has been outside in thunderstorms a good deal, from the look of the ring around her neck.
(She was dropped off with two leashes tied together, which was muddy like it had been used as a tie out.) However, this is speculation on my part-her collar may have just been too tight for a long time. Either way, the callous-like redness on her neck and the fact that before I shaved her down, she had no hair where a rope would have been leads me to think I am correct on this.

Dos has now been here Saturday-Saturday....here is a day 1 vs day 8 comparative.  She's less red, and looks like she's in less pain. :)

She's loooooooves that bed:)

Day 7-another mange treatment..

Day Seven and time for another mange dip for Miss Dos.  I'm almost out of the dip itself, and will need to get more, but Dos will soon have an appointment with APA's medical team and we'll see how she's improved and if the treatments can be spaced further apart now.

I've seen a noticable improvement in her skin; it's still scaly and cracked in a lot of places, but the inflammation is definitely decreased by a good amount.

Dos is not a fan of the mange dip itself, because I'm sure it burns the open sores a bit, but during the bath she is the happiest dog in the world...lots and lots of attention and cool water to soothe her skin.

First things first: lunch time! I came home from work to an eagerly hungry Dos. She knows lunch time means meat..and today it meant beef which she was very excited about.:)

....and potty time...she walked directly to her 'potty spot' and back to the porch....she's starting to get into a good routine..



And then the bath. She knew was was coming as soon as I brought around the hose. She followed me to the fence where the leash was hanging. (I keep her on the leash during her bath, so she can't wander off and accidentally drip soap into her eyes!).

I've been using gentle oatmeal shampoo before the mange treatments...and she seems to really enjoy it. She even arched her back a little today as I gave her a light scrubbing with the soft side of a dog brush. A little exfoliation goes a long way in getting the mange out.

She likes the hosewater on her skin. I think it gives a slight massaging effect. She didn't want me to stop!



I applied the mange treatment. While I know she enjoys the attention she gets as I'm slathering the mixture on her, it's got to hurt her-and it's got to dry on her. Mange treatment is a necessary evil-but as bad as it must feel now, it's got to better than untreated mange...poor wittle Dos-y.


She will be a yellow color for a couple of days from the treatment...and hopefully the next one won't be for a while and we can space them apart a bit more and give the ol' girl a break.

Day 6

Dos is feeling a lot better today than yesterday, she spent more time standing up, and even took herself to go potty!

I noticed today that her fur seems to be growing back a bit is some places...she has the equivalent to a 'five-o-clock-shadow' on her back.  She also seems way less itchy-so the mange treatments are working! She gets another one on Saturday-which will be a WEEK since her initial rescue. Time has flown by and she's already made so much progress from where she was that I have a great feeling that she'll be healthy enough for the heartworm treatments soon! Here's hoping! I'll be making her an appointment with the medical team at Austin Pets Alive! tomorrow and we'll see where she stands...



Hendricks Boards has begun a wonderful campaign to help save Dos. I saw these below on the APA! Facebook page, and my heart just melted.

(By the way, I learned this week how hard APA! works. I'm seriously amazed by the kind souls with their organization.)
She really is a beautiful girl.

And, as requested...a day 6 video. I don't think she was terribly happy about the light from my phone, but she was happy about the beef for certain.

Thanks everyone for the outpouring of love for this girl. I'm going to write every single one of you back-and I know Dos has got to feel the love.

Day 5...starting out a little rocky..

Dos was shaky this morning. Not in a chilled kind of way, but in a head-bobbing, shallow breathing kind of way. I felt her skin and it was cold to the touch. She didn't want to eat much.  I'm scared something is happening-she was doing so well yesterday, and now she seems to have regressed.  I wrapped her in a blanket that came straight out of the dryer and tucked her in.

Michael will be with her all day, in the case that she needs rushed somewhere-but I can't help but worry.

I'll update as soon as I know something :/


UPDATE: Dos has come out of whatever weird state she was in, for the most part. I came home on my lunch break and fed her and she ate with no issue, but she didn't go to the bathroom until about 9:30 this evening.


After some (more) extensive research, I made a grocery run for some "Dos Food".  I'm still going to be feeding her regular puppy food, but she does need an extra boost, and I figure, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this to the fullest extent that I can.  I got her some packets of salmon, chicken, beef stew chunks, beef broth, brown rice, oatmeal, yogurt, and a carton of eggs. Not only are all of these things soft, they are all nutritious and will give her the extra boost of proteins and vitamins that she needs....that, and I think that she deserves it.


I made her a mixture of chicken & yogurt overtop of some regular food, and she ate with as much gusto as she could muster(and it was easier to hide her antibiotic in there...she's gotten pretty good at finding it and eating around it).

I'm hoping this food helps her quicker than regular dog food can...or at least, alongside of regular dog food, can give her a little push.

She's relaxing on the porch now...she's exhausted from eating..
I'm really hoping she becomes healthy enough to endure the heartworm treatments, and soon...I've fallen so in love with her I don't know what I would do if she didn't make it.

I want her to have the chance to go swimming. I want her to have the chance to just curl up with the other dogs and sleep. I want her to be able to sniff around the yard and chase things and roll in things. I want her to experience a life she didn't know before, and not have to worry about whether or not she will have food and water. I want her to be out of pain. I want her to be a happy dog-and hopefully, someday, we will make it there.

Day 4 & Dos' APA funding!

Great news! Austin Pets Alive! has a non-profit donation link where people who have expressed interest in helping save Dos can send donations. IMPORTANT; you have to mention Dos when donating to make sure your donation goes to Dos. 

DONATE TO SAVE DOS!

Edit: direct link to the APA story on Dos! 

Day 4 is starting off well. Dos had a hearty breakfast and went potty first thing when she woke up-meaning her digestive system is beginning to regulate.

However, I spoke with my vet this morning and her heartworms are more advanced than he originally thought, and the fact that she is starting to cough while moving around means lung and heart damage. 

I'm still hopeful-as she seems to be improving with each day. A friend of mine came over this morning to meet her and she  let him pet her without grimacing before making her way to the porch to take a nap..

Will update later tonight..

Edit: 9pm here in Texas,  and it's finally starting to cool down. Dos has retired to her kennel this evening, tired from the events of today..but not eating her soft food,  so I'm a bit worried as we have had her on a   pretty regular schedule and she has picked it up pretty quickly.

Today was the second treatment for her sarcoptic mange. My good friend Nora is a dog groomer and has a lot of experience with animal rescue and dogs in a similar condition to Dos. She recommended shaving off the remaining fur to really get down to the skin underneath because her fur is so thick the medicine may not be getting all the way down. 

I am so glad I did, because underneath what was left of her fur was at least a quarter inch of just rotting dead skin flakes. It took me over an hour to remove it all but she was so so so good the whole time and just stood there not moving. I know it couldn't have been comfortable for the poor girl.  There are parts that Im afraid to touch as her skin is so wrinkly and I am by no means a groomer-so Nora has offered to come over later this week and finish her up, which I am glad for. Nora is known around town as The Fur Whisperer, and for good reason. 

She needed a break mid-shave...

I bathed her first with oatmeal bath to get rid of  the remaining flakes and oil-and then started in on the mange bath. I could tell it had to sting  the cuts she has from scratching-but she stayed mostly still . I want to think she knows I'm trying to help her.

The antibiotics and quality food and ample water have really worked wonders for this girl-but the downside to her becoming more active is that she now has the energy to scratch herself again.

She scratched herself to the poit of giant welts on a twenty minute time period where I went to the store.

The welts scared me. I thought she was having a reaction to the medicine,but after researching and finding out it was probably the bacteria under her nails mixed with the fact her skin is so sensitive already, I went in a search for doggy socks. Failing that, I taped two pairs of my socks around her whittle doggy 

ankles (snugly, but not touching the skin) and she has ceased to scratch herself any more cuts or welts!

She is so very patient. After putting the socks on her, she didn't try to pull them off or anything.  Although its got to feel strange and uncomfortable she is just going with it. Good girl, Dos.

She didn't care about the socks as long as she could be in my/her chair.

Day Three

There has been SO much support from SO many people for Dos and her recovery. I want to hug each and every one of you with all that I've got. To know that there are people out there that are good restores my faith in humanity. I want to personally thank the Reddit community, which overwhelmed my inbox and email with offers of help, donations to her veterinary care, toys, and food. I am seriously touched, and although she can't hear, I read every single comment to Dos. APA will be setting up a donation link today at some point and I will post it. 
Love to all of you. Keep on keepin on.:)

We've made it to day three-which is a good sign. I know that there's still a chance the HeartGuard could affect her negatively, but this morning, bright and early 6am, I opened her crate door, and although she wasn't able to pull herself entirely up, she was making an effort to get up and out of the crate on her own, and looking almost excited.

After helping her to get up and out of the crate, she did manage to hobble over to the porch again, where she had claimed her new bed the night before. (pics below:) )

I brought her food to her on the porch. She wasn't terribly interested in eating, and I'm hoping  it's because she has some nutrients in her now, and maybe she's realizing the food will keep coming and she won't have to worry about getting fed.

She didn't pee yet this morning, but we'll try again (and update again!) in a bit.

Dos claimed one of our dog's beds as her own. Make yourself at home, Dos.

It's late in the evening, and I just got home from working 12 hours. I worked much of the day, meaning my boyfriend (Michael-the loving soul that he is, he has a magic touch with even the most fearful of animals.....he saved a newborn squirrel earlier this year, but that's another story.) was with Dos for most of the day.

Dos is frightened of men. She doesn't have the strength to react and run right now, but it's obvious the interactions she's had in her past, so I was worried that leaving her alone with him at this pivotal time in her life might be traumatic.

When I got home, Dos was stretched out on the porch, laying on her side, looking more comfortable than she has been since she's been with us.

I asked Michael how she did.

He said all she wanted to do was stretch out on the porch. He took her to the grass to go to the bathroom, and she pulled(slightly, but its a step!) to get onto the porch. The fact that she was pulling at all was a sign of regaining physical strength (AWESOME!).  After going to the bathroom, Michael let her go to the porch. She climbed the two stairs to the porch, sniffed around for a moment, and found herself a place to stretch out-and Michael said she stayed there all day, stretched out, between the sun and shade of the afternoon sun, just relaxing, just being a dog. Just. Being. A. Dog.


Michael mixed up her food for her, a mix of dry puppy food, roast beef, and chicken breast, and delivered it to her on the porch. He placed it right between her paws. She looked up at him for a moment, in suprise, as if to say thank you.

She wouldn't eat until he walked away, but it was an exersize in trust.

We let her be after she ate-she fell into yet another deep sleep with breathing intermittent between shallow breath and hard, labored breathing. I watched her for a while, until she began breathing steadily.


I then went inside for a drink.

I was inside less than a minute, and when I walked back out, she had left her cozy porch spot.  Where had she gone?! I panicked for a moment, and then realized, wherever she was going, it wasn't fast.

I found her, taking herself to the bathroom.  I watched her from afar.  Again, fellow dog people will know how important this is..pooping AND peeing! And she WALKED HERSELF TO THE GRASS!!! We were astounded!! We showered her with praise when she finished and hobbled over to the driveway where she proceeded to lay down. I started to rub her side, and then her belly, when lo and behold, she turned over on her back for a full on bellyrub.  I was in utter disbelief.  Not only did that belly rub HAPPEN, she decided to use the driveway to scratch her back...for almost four straight minutes until she made her way slowly back to her spot on the porch....and then.....she climbed into my chair...and made herself comfortable..


SHE CLIMBED INTO MY CHAIR! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!? She could barely WALK two days ago!,

We have progress. One step closer to trust, one step closer to feeling loved, one step closer to just being a dog.

Dos-Day Two

EDIT: Dos has pooped! I can't believe Im so excited about poop but I 'm elated. Yaayyyyy poop!
Right afterwords, she decided not only was she ravenously hungry, but wasnt as eager to get back to her bed. She ate..and then sniffed the air around her..and waddled over to my chair and just stood there. Then made her way to the porch and claimed one of the other dog's beds which we had airing out on the porch. Being as we don't want to spread the mange, it's her bed now. We were just happy she was up and walking!

Amazing what a good poop can do.

(End edit.)

Dos has made it through the first night.

I'm relieved, as she was so pumped full of medicines yesterday I was worried it would be too much for her- but I have great vets, so I shouldn't fret so much.

I woke up around 6am to give Dos her antibiotic and early morning feeding.

We're feeding her soft puppy food so she can get some extra proteins in her system. Her mouth is also too swollen to eat much crunchy food, so we've been watering it down.

She wasn't able to pull herself up to the bowl. I put it between her paws and she looked me dead in the eye for a good ten seconds before she started eating. It was like she couldn't believe it was for her.

The same thing for her water.


She ate and fell back asleep immediately.

After about an hour, she woke up and noticed I had moved her water bowl. She  was able to pull herself up and went to her bowl. PROGRESS!

I then, slowly slowly slowly, walked her to the yard to go to the bathroom. It took more than twenty minutes to get fifteen feet, but she made it.

But she didn't go.


Hours pass, and we try again.


She didn't go.


Six hours later, she finally pees. I've never been so excited about dog pee in my LIFE.

She's back in her bed now, snoring away.
The second day of 'recovery' and already a little progress. I have hope.

She sat up! Just in time for Michael to very very gently wipe the pus from her eyes

Dos: The beginning

The first day and vet visit #2.

Dos was brought to me by accident.


I work at a dog kennel located near a vet clinic. One morning, a family drove up with a dog in the back of their brand-new looking pick-up truck. Thinking it was a boarding drop-off or a groom, I greeted them outside.

I then noticed the dog looked kind of sickly.

"We want her put to sleep," they said.

I explained to them we weren't a vet clinic and didn't perform that kind of service.  My assumption, at first, was that the dog had been sick for a long time and perhaps just couldn't be saved and they wanted her humanely put down.

I was wrong.

"What's wrong with her?"  I ask.

They explained that she was 'too old' (I find out later that she, at the oldest, is five years old and has probably been forced to have multiple litters of puppies)

After some quick questioning, it was made very clear that if we didn't take her right then and there she was going to be dumped somewhere or shot and that they wanted to make no attempt to save this dog, nor did they actually care about her or want her in the first place.


So I offered them twenty dollars for the dog.

They said to "just take her," then proceeded to THROW this dog from the truck and speed off.

I didn't even have time to get their license plate number.



And, as much as this family had OBVIOUSLY abused and neglected this dog, she watched the truck drive away, confused as to where 'her people' were going and leaving her there.

It was a heartbreaking scene.

So there I was, with the dog. Covered in callouses, smelling like a bad yeast infection and a severe case of mange and barely walking, I put her in the backseat of my car and called Capital Vet which is right across the street.  They were closing, but being the wonderful people they are they they said they'd stay open until we got there.

It took me fifteen minutes to get her out of my car and into the office.

They ran a skin test on her and discovered she had a severe case of Serctopic mange and a whole-body yeast infection, as I'd expected. They gave me a treatment for her and some antibiotics and VERY detailed instructions. They stayed more than an hour after they closed taking care of her.

I have a vet of my own that I wanted to take her to for annuals, just because I was SURE she wasn't current (if she had ever had any at all), so I called over to South Branch Pet & Bird clinic to see if we could make an appointment-it's right by my house, too, so I wanted to set up a doctor-dog relationship so I could rush over there if I needed to.

I explained to them the situation, and even though they were booked to the gills, they managed to fit us in.
 

On the way home from the vet to start the mange treatments. (she's got so much skin, I couldnt figure out of she's a Basset Mix or a Walrus mix!)

(for the record, I Love Love LOVE my Vet!)

They gave her the annual shots and ran a heartworm test and he gave her a once (and then twice!) over.

He confirmed what Dr. Scroggs at Capital Vet had said, Serctopic Mange and a Yeast infection...but there was even more


HEARTWORMS. Very very very severe heartworms.
Because of her dehydration they could only get a small amount of blood, but in that TINY sample of blood was a MESS of heartworms.

He told me there were few options.

He couldn't treat her immediately because she was already so sick; the treatment might kill her-and I couldn't pay for it (even though he was going to do it for half the price it normally would be.)

He  said the best option was to give her HeartGuard, that it would help to kill some of the baby worms so that maybe she could actually live long enough to get the treatment.

He also said the HeartGuard, because she was already infected, might kill her.


But I had to take the chance.


When she lived through the first night (last night!) I was relieved.
And when she put her head on my knee and weakly wagged her tail (twice!) I knew we had a fighting chance.

This is Dos' story. Named "Dos", for the Spanish number two. A second chance at life.