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mlschultz

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Yesterday, Wendy was greeted when she pulled into the driveway by this dog that resembles a yellow lab that was in disparate need of some help. She looks like she has not had a meal in weeks, and also has delivered pups recently, although she is dry now.

We are taking her to the vet today, to see if she has a chip. She is going to get a check-up, and a some grooming while she is there. If nobody claims her, we are going to keep her.

She is by far, the most well behaved dog I have ever seen. Here is a link to some pictures:



http://picasaweb.google.com/papapeach/Buttercup/photo#s5131367264819084658




Buttercup%20009.jpg
 
Poor girl, lost and afraid, glad she found some good people to help. I wonder where the puppies are.
 
If she doesn't find home, she couldn't have found a nicer new home. ;)
 
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We have a black lab, they are very good dogs.
Happy to see you are taking care of her.
 
Thanks, Everyone. The veterinarian did not have good news though. Her blood tested positive for heartworms. There was no chip implant either. We are looking into options now, as the very risky treatment can take up to a month in the care of the veterinarian. The dog must be caged at all times, with very restricted mobility while treated.

We have not given up on her :) Just need to explore all the options, and get her the care she needs.
 
Update... We still have her, and named her Amazing Grace, aka: "Gracie". We took her to another Vet, and did some more blood work. She again tested positive for heartworms, but tested negative for microfilariae. All her other blood work tested normal.

Since she tested negative for microfilariae, the Vet decided to not do the normal aggressive heartworm treatment, but to give her the monthly preventative heartworm pill that all dogs should get, and monitor the situation with future blood testing.

Since there is no medical history for Gracie, the testing and symtoms indicate that she is not in the advanced stages of heartworm disease. The reason for this approach is to let the worms continue their life cycle - up to 2 years, and let them die off, while the monthly heartworm treatment prevents any further infection.

This decision was made mostly by the fact that there was no evidence of microfilariae - (6 to 7 months after infection the adult worms have mated and the females begin producing microfilariae).

She is doing well, and is eating like a 50 pound dog, yet she still appears undernourished. She had a episode - seizure like, and she could not move her hind legs and could not hold her head up for a few minutes a couple days ago. Then she completely recovered. The Vet could not explain why this happened, and the blood work did not indicate any problems that would cause this to happen.

From what I have read, this could be caused by migrating heartworm larvae that get lost and end up in the eye, brain, or an artery in the leg, which results in unusual symptoms such as blindness, seizures and lameness.

She is still the most well behaved dog I have ever seen, and now has a family and home here to care for her. :)
 
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