Foster puppy updates: Annie, Smoochie, and another abandoned puppy

Since September I have been consumed with Noir's health, caring for her, worrying about her, taking her to the vets, and finally saying that painful goodbye.

As soon as we found out she was ill, we suspended fostering puppies so we could focus on her. We also didn't want to bring any illnesses into the home that she might be susceptible to.

I have written a blog about every foster we've had, but neglected to talk about Annie. We had her about 10 days, she stayed with us when she came out of the shelter and until her next foster home was ready to take her. Annie was a sweet little girl, a black and brown basset hound. She was hilarious, cute, playful, funny, and a joy to have around. Soon after she moved into fostering with my friend Alex, she was adopted to a great family and now Annie has a little girl all her own. Another happy ending. Aren't those ears something?!

The week before Christmas, 2 weeks after Noir went to the Rainbow Bridge, Jim and I decided it was time to start fostering puppies again. We had heard about 3 little stray puppies, Jack Russell mixes, that needed help. My friend Fara had them, and I offered to help with one of them. She kept the little boys, and I brought home the little girl. She was 4 pounds, skin and bones, full of worms.

Fortunately Fara had taken her to the vets for her first shot and worming, and had given her 2 baths. (Thanks, Fara!!) She seemed to be a JRT/Chihuahua mix... not real zippy like a JRT would be, longer legs like a chihuahua would have. She is as sweet as can be, full of puppy kisses, so we named her Smoochie.

We've had her 10 days, and yesterday took her to an adoption event at PetSmart in Blakeney. A wonderful woman met her, fell in love and applied to adopt her. Today I did the home visit, and tomorrow she'll go home to her new mom and all the love and attention she deserves. She's going to have a great life! As you can see below, she's Santa's favorite!




Saturday my friend Pat got a call from some people who were on holiday in the mountains and came upon an abandoned puppy. She told me about the pup, they texted some photos to me, and Jim and I decided to foster her. Smoochie will leave Monday evening, and the new puppy will move in on Tuesday.

My private Christmas tradition

Many years ago I started a little Christmas tradition. Sometime during the Christmas season, I would turn off the lights except for the Christmas tree and curl up beneath the tree with my dogs and take a nap. When I lived in New York, Spock and Floyd were with me. Since 2002, Noir and Casey were with me.

This December has been rough. Noir left us on December 8th. Much as I have tried, I couldn't find enough Christmas spirit to even think about decorating a tree or shopping for presents. On Wednesday I came home from work to find that Jim had set up a tree and put lights on it.

Later that afternoon Noir's ashes were brought to us and placed in the urn we had purchased. Obviously a very sad afternoon for me, to hold the urn and feel the weight of it, knowing this was how Noir would be with us for the rest of our lives.

Christmas day came and Jim and I spent it at his son's house with his grandson and his son's mom. It was enjoyable, and the nice part for me was Bailey, the son's golden retriever kept coming to me, licking my face and sitting with me. I think she knew I was upset, and was trying to comfort me. Bailey was Noir's first friend when we adopted her, so perhaps she knew her friend was gone. Sometimes I think dogs can sense everything. Maybe she was just thanking me for the toy I brought her. My only Christmas shopping was for her and Casey.

Late in the evening back at home, I remembered my Christmas tradition.

I turned off all the lights except for the tree and carefully took Noir's urn off the mantle and set it on the floor beneath the tree. I laid down on the floor and talked to Noir and wept for a long time. I told her I was ok, that I missed her terribly, but wanted her to run along to the Rainbow Bridge and play with the other dogs, especially Spock and Floyd, and that someday I would come for her and we would be together again. I think I even napped a little, comforted that I could feel her love and feel that she heard me.

Merry Christmas, Noir. You'll always be in my heart.

"I'm Still Here"

Friend, please don't mourn for me
I'm still here, though you don't see
I'm right by your side each night and day
and within your heart I long to stay.

My body is gone but I'm always near.
I'm everything you feel, see or hear.
My spirit is free, but I'll never depart
as long as you keep me alive in your heart.

-Unknown

This was in a greeting card from some neighborhood friends, Lou and Pati. Beautiful card, wonderful friends.

Agony

This photo was taken on November 6th at a Holiday Pet Photos fundraiser. The photo says it all: agony.

My friend Michelle from Phartblossoms was taking the photos and asked me to give Noir a kiss on the head. I did and I broke down, knowing my days with her were numbered. I didn't know then just how small a number we had left.

Today, 3 days after Noir went to the Rainbow Bridge, I am still in pain. My eyes and sinuses burn, my brain can't focus on anything else. I have so much work to do but can't bring myself to even think about it. Hopefully that will change soon.

Meanwhile I miss her in all the little daily things that we take for granted. The clink of her tags as she walked. Waking up in the middle of the night and reaching out to pat her on the head. Now my hand falls on her empty blanket and the ache rips through my heart.

Today Jim and I are talking about taking in a foster dog. Casey is lonesome for her buddy. She walks from room to room looking for her. We can't replace Noir, but we know she would want us to give our love to one who needs us.

The end came much too soon

My sweet Noir was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver three months ago. This week she hadn't eaten for a few days and wasn't drinking. In spite of all the efforts of the wonderful Dr. DeHaan, there was nothing more to do for her but give her a quiet day without shoving things down her throat.

This afternoon she ate and drank a little, then took a blissful nap curled up with me, a memory I will treasure forever. A little after 4PM, Dr Lisa Shaw from Indian Land Animal Hosp came and helped her cross over to the rainbow bridge. Later her body was removed by Marlow and Brown for cremation.

She is gone, never forgotten. She was a rescue, she became a rescuer herself, and I found my inspiration for rescuing and transporting in her.

Please say a little prayer for my sweet girl, that she have only healthy, sunny, fun days at the Rainbow Bridge while she waits for Jim and I to cross over with her. We know we made the right decision for her, but are inconsolable nonetheless.

She is not gone, she has just run ahead to a better place and waits for us there.

Bye-bye Hershmeister

This evening I took our foster "puppy" Hershey on that all-too-familiar ride to his new home. He was restless on the drive over, as though he knew something was up, because his crate was in the car for his new mom and dad to borrow.

Once we got there he was pure unadulterated Hershey. He immediately started to play with his new sister Sadie, and tried to play with his new older sister Jessie. Like the true older sister she sat quietly watching them, and occassionally voiced her disapproval at their rowdy play.

In the short time I was there, Hershey had found every rawhide in the toybox, pulled the stuffing out of one toy, and had a game of tug-of-war with Sadie. He also showed his -ahem- "affection" for her. (Get over yourself, Hershey, you're neutered!)

Ruth and Marc, his new mom and dad, took it all in stride, laughed at him, and corrected him. I'm comfortable that they're going to do just fine with this little ruffian.

In the time I've known and fostered Hershey, he's more than tripled in size. At nine months old, he's just a shade under 75 pounds. He'll probably push 90 or 100 by the time he's done growing.
When I left, I didn't look back to see if he was following me. I imagine tonight he'll be confused and wonder why I sent him away. I hope he will somehow know that Jim and I did the best we could for him, we helped him learn, we gave him a safe place and all the love in our hearts. And now we have turned his life over to Ruth and Marc, and they will give him more love and attention than we could.

Still tonight I will lie awake and sob, hoping that my heart will come to understand what my brain already knows... that this is the right thing, the best thing for him, and his life just became infinitely better because two people liked him enough to adopt him, and will love and care for him for the rest of his life.

Update on Noir... The news isn't good

Noir spent the day at Carolina Veterinary Specialists. She had an ultrasound, blood draw, etc, etc. The diagnosis is that she has end stage cirrhosis of the liver. She could last 3 months, or a year.

I'm devastated. Cannot believe this. Noir has always been happy, healthy, athletic, trim, sweet... I thought she would live to a ripe old age. She isn't quite 8 years old.

It's just too painful for me to think about. I can't face the thought of life without her.

A rough day... for my dog Noir

Sunday morning I noticed my dog Noir looked pregnant. SHe's always been in great shape, and of course is spayed, so this was a shocker. She's nearly 8 years old but still young acting and active.

This morning we took her to our vet, Dr Lisa Shaw at Indian Land Animal Hospital. She did X-rays which were inconclusive, and a blood test which showed elevated liver enzymes. Tomorrow I'll take her to a specialist for an ultrasound.

She's such a sweet, loving, funny, intelligent dog, and of course she's my best friend. Fortunately she still acts like she feels ok. I can't bear the thought of her suffering, or the thought of losing her.

Please say a prayer for her... I hope I'll have good news to share tomorrow.

Hershey graduates!

We're so proud of foster puppy Hershey! He graduated from Beginner class at PetSmart training. Here he is showing trainer Ashley what he learned!

Hershey in his graduation cap:

You’ve got a HW+ dog? Don’t despair.

The following information was compiled by my friend Pat Shannon, dedicated animal rescuer

We’ve begun treating HW+ dogs with the “slow kill” method instead of the “fast kill” method. The fast kill method is the painful, and expensive, injections of Immiticide. The slow kill method is done with Heartgard and the antibiotic Doxycycline.



In deciding which method to use you’ll take into account the age of the dog, his activity level and the extent of the HW infestation. So long as the dog isn’t showing symptoms of the HW or the symptoms are very minimal the slow method of treatment is great way to go.

The info below is taken from this site:
http://www.dogaware.com/wdjheartwormtreatment.html
It is important to understand that heartworm infections are not detectable until about six months after a dog has been bitten by a heartworm-infected mosquito. (This is why it's not possible to have a heartworm test performed monthly and give the preventative only if an infection is found.) Blood tests generally will not detect heartworms in a dog until the larvae have matured into adult worms, which takes about six months following initial infection. Symptoms, such as coughing, lethargy and difficulty breathing, will not show up until the infection is advanced.

The info below is taken from this site:
http://www.dogaware.com:80/heartworm.html
Recent research has led to the discovery of a parasite called Wolbachia that lives symbiotically inside heartworms. Studies indicate that this parasite contributes to the adverse effects of both heartworm infection and heartworm treatment, including inflammation, embolism and allergic reaction. Treatment with Doxycycline to kill the Wolbachia parasite weakens the heartworms and makes them unable to reproduce, lessens their adverse effects on the body and greatly reduces the chance of adverse reaction during heartworm treatment.

Now, new studies published in late 2008 clearly indicate that treatment with a combination of weekly Ivermectin and daily Doxycycline given intermittently will sterilize the heartworms, prevent the dog from being infective to other dogs, speed up the death of the worms prior to (or in place of) Immiticide treatment, limit inflammation and damage caused by the worms presence, and reduce the chance of serious adverse reaction from Immiticide treatment. All of these effects are greater when the two drugs are used together than when either is given alone.



Three studies used a protocol of Ivermectin (Heartgard) given weekly at the normal monthly heartworm preventative dose (6 mcg/kg), combined with Doxycycline at the rate of 10 mg/kg/day for weeks 1-6, 10-11, 16-17, 22-25, and 28-33 (the end of the studies).

Here’s what we’ve been doing: Start the dog on Doxycycline at 10mg/kg/day for 30 days. Then give the same dose for one week at the beginning of every month until the dog tests negative.

We’ve been giving the Heartgard twice a month, say on the 1st and 15th.

We get the Doxycycline at Walmart. Ask your vet to either write a prescription or call one in for you. It’s costs about $8 for a month’s supply.

The beauty of the slow method, aside from how inexpensive it is, is that you don’t have to keep the dog kenneled. Their activity doesn’t have to be cut back unless you start seeing symptoms. For example, if the dog starts coughing after running, cut back on his running. Regardless of which method of treatment you’re using, if you start seeing a lot of coughing or labored breathing get to the vet.

The slow kill method of treatment is much easier on the dog than the injections. The injections are extremely painful at the injection site and require a pain shot. If you’re going to use the injection method, hopefully your vet will give a pain shot a half hour before injecting the Immiticide.

On the slow kill method have the dog retested in about 6 months. After that, retest about every 3 months. You can adopt out a dog that’s on the slow kill method. Once it’s explained to the potential owner it’s very easy for them to follow this method. We’ve done it.