| Baby
traveled all the way from AZ! After her initial trip to the vet we
discovered several things about Babe. She has been ill several months
prior to her coming to me which is one of the reasons I had to wait so very
long for her to come! Even though she had previously had a heartworm
test we did another one just to be save. While she tested negative to
the heartworms we did discover she had a tick born disease called Canine
Ehrlichiosis. Almost every malady and symptom Babe had previously been
treated for could be directly attributed to this invidious disease.
The test for it is relatively new, has only been available for a few months
and is don't at the same time the heartworm test is done. If we had
not retested her we would have never found it and continued to treat the
symptoms and not the disease!
The medication for this is
tetracycline given 3 times a day and only time will tell how acute/chronic
this condition is in her case. In addition to this disease we also found she
was missing one of her pelvic bones...x-rays showed the perfect formation of
the rest of the pelvis with no tears, cracks or breaks...that section simply
did not exist.
We now feel that Babe is in the
chronic stages of this illness. On tetracycline 3 times a day, she is
stable and healthy. Another complication has been her eyes. She
has "ulcers" on both. One large one in the right eye and 3
smaller ones in the left...she is doing medicated eye drops and eye washes
daily and there may be a need for surgery at a later date. These items
are closely monitored by me as well as my vet.
Well, Babette is doing very well
now. Her medication is keeping her healthy and happy. She is
putting on a bit of weight and her coat is filling out. The eye drops
did a fantastic job and as you can see she is a clear eyed princess.
She has settled in nicely and has adjusted to other foster coming and
goings...however she is constantly in need of affirmation that yes, she is
here and yes she is loved. And this is home.
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