“Maizie” was brought into the shelter with heartworms and puppies. They found foster homes for the puppies, but everyone left “mom” behind. Fortunately, two volunteers could see this is a special girl. They took her under their wing, giving her as many comforts as they could in an attempt to keep her spirits up until they could find her a home.
They arranged for her to be showcased on radio shows, had her spayed in an attempt to make her more appealing. Spaying a dog with heartworms is risky; they already have a compromised immune system. One of her shelter guardians, Barbara, knew the shelter was very overworked with animals, so she took Maize to another vet to be spayed, just so she could be sure someone would have the time to give her the extra monitoring and care she needed to pull through. For a volunteer to take the time and effort to do such a thing, with so many dogs out there in need, she MUST be a special dog, indeed.
But as time progressed, Maizie began to get a little depressed. Most dogs with sweet and sensitive personalities don’t do well in the shelter. Combine that with her heartworms and recovery from surgery, not to mention the neglect of her prior home, and it was time to find a way out for her and fast. As luck would have it, BCRT had a plan! Through tag team efforts, Maize would stay at one foster home (Foster Mom Pat and Foster Dad Jim) for a couple of weeks to make sure she did not have any illnesses from the shelter, then she’d move to my home for the remainder of her heartworm treatment and recovery.
Death from Distemper or heartworms is not quick, the suffering is immense. There is no cure for Distemper, and any treatment available is only meant to ease suffering or help the dog stay strong enough to attempt to fight the virus on it’s own. Distemper slowly destroys, the lymphoid organs, respiratory organs, gastrointestinal organs, and urogenital organs, one-by-one. Most dogs that die from distemper, die from neurological complications, many of which are horrific to witness: swelling of the brain, seizures, deterioration of mental and muscle function, paralysis, disabling muscle spasms, depression and an increased sensitivity to stimuli like pain or touch. Heartworms is as equally devastating. Read Livy’s story to understand why waiting to see if a dog gets heartworms to take action is not only expensive but very, very dangerous for the dog.
Ruby was very, very lucky to have survived and found a wonderful home to live out a healthy and happy life. Her illnesses were easily avoidable with simple and relatively inexpensive preventive measures. Sadly, heartworm prevention costs only about $7-$10 a month, and the DHLP-P vaccination, which protects against more than just Distemper, costs only about $8-$12 a year. The cost in your time to carry out this prevention is even less. We hope that Ruby’s story (below) and the suffering she had to endure will educate so that other dogs don't have to suffer or die from these preventable diseases.
Ruby was very, very lucky to have survived and found a wonderful home to live out a healthy and happy life. Her illnesses were easily avoidable with simple and relatively inexpensive preventive measures. Sadly, heartworm prevention costs only about $7-$10 a month, and the DHLP-P vaccination, which protects against more than just Distemper, costs only about $8-$12 a year. The cost in your time to carry out this prevention is even less. We hope that Ruby’s story (below) and the suffering she had to endure will educate so that other dogs don't have to suffer or die from these preventable diseases.
May 25: My German Shepherd
May 17: Olivia, Henrietta, Sunshine and Ruby
April 10: First Trip to the Beach
