White Dog, Quinn and Nuka were lined up at the door to greet Puff when Steve returned with her from the vet this afternoon. As I held the quaking girl in my arms, each came over to gently sniff and breathe a blessing over their newest sister.
Puff began her treatment for heartworm today. Steve dropped her off early this morning. I was surprised to get a call from the Office a few hours later since the treatment was to take all day. It was Dr. Julia...my heart sank and I leaned against White Dog as we spoke.
During the preliminary work (x-rays, bloodwork) prior to beginning the treatment, Dr. Julia discovered the situation was much worse than she originally thought. Puff is considered Stage 3, where the heartworms have spread to other organs and the situation is serious and life threatening. SAWD has a slight enlargement of her heart and liver, as well as pneumonia like issues with her lungs. Dr. Julia feels Puff has been infected for a VERY long time.
My tears of panic fought with my rage at the breeder who left this precious girl out in dirt and wrote off her symptomatic cough as being "allergies."
Our vet, whom we trust completely, says Puff's prognosis is guarded but that she feels things are still positive. Puff seems to be in good health (is this possible?) other than this disease and obviously has a strong will to survive. Plus White Dog whispered into my other ear, "She IS an Eskie, don't ever count us out!"
So for now, Puff is home, under very restricted activity. She goes back to spend the day with the vet tomorrow for observation. And then we wait and watch for one month before the final two doses can be administered, hopefully making her heartworm free.
The danger is if the worms enter her vena cava; they will cause a stroke and possibly death...but we are strong, and we are directing all of our energy to keeping that from happening...And we are Eskies, who can never be counted out! Still, The White Dog Army asks for you to send healing thoughts and prayers to our Puff because the Power of the Paw is potent medicine beyond compare. Thank you.
13 comments:
You know. You know. You MUST know that we will be keeping Puff (and your entire family) in our prayers and we'll be sending a continuous flow of terrier love and zen your direction. She's made it this far. She is beginning to know love and safety. She MUST be able to feel the support that surrounds her, even from afar. She MUST win this battle, so she can come to REALLY know what Life and Love are all about.
With love and our fondest best wishes
Jake and Fergi, Sally and Nina
we are sending the power of the paw. We just know she has the will to get through this.
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/
You KNOW we are there too!
Paws khrossed with lots of Sibe Vibes headed to the SW!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Oh poor Puff! We of course are sending tons of purrs and prayers her way. My boyfriends mom took in a dog with very serious heart worm that was just on the edge of being Stage 3 - his name is Oscar and he made it, so we know that Puff will make it too. The fact that she is in good health otherwise (and Oscar was not in very good health) is a very good sign. And we know that you all will take wonderful care of her!!
Puff has a magic about her - we just know that she will heal. We are sending along our best sibe vibes and lots of power paws to help her along. A lot of the poor little thing's fear may have a lot to do with how she feels physically. We so hope she will be OK.
Hugs and Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara
We are sending love & keeping our paws crossed for Puff & everyone in your family( including the white dogs). She is surrounded by all your love & strength & in good health otherwise.
Paws crossed
Ernie,Sasha,Chica
We are so so sorry to hear that Puff's heartworm is worse than you thought.:( We are sending lots and lots of love and healing vibes to Puff and hugs for everyone in your home.:)
Love,
Teddy Bear
The power of Kodiak is with you! As we told you, Kodiak went through the treatments, though we were fortunate to have caught his heartworms in the very early stages (so early, his first heartworm test was negative - you can get false negatives for up to 6 months after infection). So we recognize the more serious nature, but Kodiak says that he came through it fine.
Lots of paws crossed here for a little one to become healthy physically - so that she can become healthy psychologically with you as well.
My sisters and I are sending mega-healing purrs to sweet Puff and our whole family has her in our prayers. She is a strong gal, after all, look what she has survived so far. You can do it Puff!
Harley and I are linking paws and sending our very best healing purrs for Puff!
You got all our healing sugars, that's for sure!
We just KNOW Puff is gonna be A-OK!
Sugars,
Mack
Puff is in our thoughts and prayers!
Oh no...I am SO sorry to hear this. I really hope that she will be okay and that you guys are able to treat them and get her back to new again. ::paws crossed all around::
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