Wednesday, January 4, 2012

We’ve just had a good long weekend of hiking and relaxing. The fur on JoLee’s back is growing back - you can still see the rectangular outlines that were shaved, but the bare skin is now covered with a fine blanket of soft, new fur.

Jo’s energy level is increasing day by day, it seems. I wonder if he’d been slightly lethargic before his heartworm treatment without us even noticing!

It seems this story is nearing its end. Unless Jo is diagnosed positive for heartworms again next year, it looks like he’s in for a worm-free existence. I started him on Heartgard on January 1st, and intend to keep both dogs on heartworm preventative year-round, just to be sure.

JoLee’s story has a happy ending - and I hope if you ever end up having to go through this, your story ends well, too!


Helpful links:

American Heartworm Society - a great explanation of the life cycle of heartworms:
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/moxidectin/heartworm.html

Timing heartworm preventative:
http://www.tibetanmastiff.net/Heartworm.html

Saturday, December 17, 2011

He’s negative, he’s negative! Joy, oh joy!!

Dr. Grosch says that, taking his youth into consideration, and because JoLee had a “light load” of heartworms, she doesn’t think any further restrictions on activity need to be placed on him, and he’s good to do whatever he wants to do. I am to keep a close eye on him, and if he starts gagging, coughing up bloody froth or shows any signs of lethargy, I’m to get him to a doctor straight away, but she doesn’t think anything like that will happen.

After the Christmas holidays, we’re going hiking!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The time is passing quickly, now. This Saturday at 9:00 I have an appointment to have Jo re-checked for heartworms. If his test is negative, we have one month of on-leash walking only (and free rein of the back yard again, thank heavens), and after that month, he should be all clear and we should be able to start going for hikes again. If he tests positive for heartworms... well, I just can’t hardly think of that, honestly. Dr. Grosch seems to think there will be no problem and that he will test negative. I’m going to just cross my fingers and hope she’s right!

Monday, November 28, 2011

JoLee’s doing great. We had a good weekend - lots of car rides, and lots of trips out to the back yard on-leash. I think he likes my company when he goes out at night, and I have to admit, I’ve never seen so many stars.

He acts like nothing was ever wrong. Not that I wish he wasn’t feeling good, but it sure would be nice to know he’s actually recovering, and to what extent. Since Animal Haven’s x-ray machine is inoperable, I never even found out how many heartworms little Jo had, much less how many are left. I mean, he never acted like anything was wrong! From what Dr. Grosch told me, though, they can’t actually see the heartworms themselves on x-rays; but they could tell if the blood vessels were being stretched out of shape because they were full of heartworms. She mentioned something called a “shepherd’s crook” which, if seen on an x-ray, is the sign of a severe infestation of heartworms. I seem to learn something new every day.

JoLee is developing preferences for different toys. He loves his “Shuffle Bone” but isn’t as fond of the toy that has the flippers. The way he works the flippers is to give me a paw when I have my hand on the flipper, so I will actuate it and he can get the treats. There’s more than one way to play a game!



He will spend a good half-hour throwing his purple barbell full of cat food at the floor, attempting to get pieces to fall out of it. As they fall out, he vacuums them up, while Star looks on longingly. Star will not challenge JoLee’s possession of any of his toys; in fact, I have to encourage her to play with them while holding JoLee back.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

We brought JoLee home from the vet’s office a week ago today. Keeping a pup quiet is a true challenge - I’m going to look up a dog trick book I know I have around here somewhere, and choose a trick to teach him tonight.

At lunchtime, Harry said JoLee’s lips were up when he greeted Harry at the door. Harry was put off - he thought that meant Jo wanted to bite him, but then I told him some dogs “smile,” and that might be what JoLee was doing. That made Harry very happy.

Jo’s attitude is much improved over two days ago, when he was restless and crabby. He’s much more snuggly - very much like he was before the injections.

It’s so hard, especially with the upcoming long Thanksgiving weekend, to not schedule in a hike each day. I miss the walks more than the dogs do, I think. Star’s leg sometimes seems better, and sometimes worse, so I’m not sure what the problem is.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Colleen was able to upload her video of JoLee’s injection onto YouTube. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AE6mwstwWU

I took Jo and Star for their first car ride since the treatment, to go get gas in the car. They both seemed to enjoy it - Jo almost looked like he wasn’t feeling all that well - maybe a little carsick - so I turned the heat off in the car, and that seemed to set him right.

Monday, November 21, 2011

One week since Jo’s first injection. He’s very crabby and restless - the interactive toys I got for him are no longer a challenge for him, and he wants to play.