Heartworm: You Should Probably Get Some Preventative This Weekend

A Good Samaritan acquired Aiyana through a Craigslist ad.  You can see photos of this poor dog's condition when the Good Samaritan took her home--emaciated and heartworm positive.  Aiyana's kind friend bought her plenty of healthy groceries and prepared her for her move to FBRN and continuing veterinary care for her overall condition and specifically the heartworm.

Aiyana has continued to gain weight in our care and is looking and feeling much better!  In a recent update, her foster mom said:

"Aiyana is doing great. She continues to put on weight and is up to 30lbs now. She loves her foster bro and gets along with him so well. They play all the time and do great on walks together. She will be going back to the vet in a week or so to see if she is healthy enough to start on her heartworm meds. There have been no potty accidents at all in the last few weeks so she is doing great with that. She continues to be the sweetest thing ever and loves to give kisses and hugs!!"

Heartworm treatment is difficult and a long haul.  At the moment, Aiyana, Alabaster (photo, right), Jelly, Elphie and Goji are all receiving heartworm treatment in foster care.  Many of you will remember some of our tough heartworm cases like Gris-Gris Benoit and Muffin and Thalia.  Smeagol also has heartworm but he isn't strong enough to undergo the treatment to get rid of them, so he is living with them.  Some of the hospice kids--like Pixie--have it or did have it.  Bart and Lisa, Harvey, Spangles, Mr. Big, Twila, Violet, Iris, Mouse, Beau, Miz Biz, Crockett, Jolie, and Chumley all came to us with heartworm.

Heartworm used to be something only people in the southern US really worried about.  Not anymore.  Even areas where heartworm was virtually unheard of, like the Pacific Northwest, are now reporting cases in significant numbers, thanks to the increase and ease of travel, among other things. 

Heartworm treatment has changed over the years, and we are very fortunate that even dogs with advanced cases of heartworm, like Muffin and Thalia, have successfully endured their treatment.  But treatment is still painful and can be dangerous, and requires an extended period of rest and special care.

Elphie offers a royal raspberry to the pernicious heartworm as she spends her weeks in crate rest while undergoing treatment.

It's important to provide your dogs and cats with heartworm preventative.  For some people, heartworm preventative is a year-round obligation, and for others it's more seasonal.  For much of the country, now is the time to start your spring/summer preventative treatments--if the robin and the Easter bunny come, can the mosquito be far behind?  Sadly, no.  And some of those little suckers are going to be toting microfilaria that could kill your unprotected Fido if the larva they deposit into your dog develop into heartworms.

You don't want that.

We'd hate to see it.

                                  Goji gets some cuddles from a friend following his initial dose of heartworm treatment.

Talk to your vet and see about getting a prescription for a heartworm preventative.  Somewhere in your area, it's very likely that there's a hungry skeeter looking for a meal.  Maybe in your neighborhood.  Maybe in your backyard.  Maybe buzzing in your Frenchie's ear right this very minute!

(We never hesitate to use fear as a motivator here in the Frog P's kingdom.  If it gets the job done, the ends justify the means, that's our feeling.)

Off to be sure the screens are in,

The Frog Princess

Oh, Do You Know the Muffin Frog?

Sadly, we've come to know all too many dogs like Muffin over the years. Fortunately, a wonderful shelter worker was willing to put her into our hands, and Muffin is doing better now, after only two days on medicine and a day at the vet's in an oxygen tent. Here's her foster mom's story:
"Shelterdog Muffin... made it home with me. It is shocking!!!!!!!!
She is tiny, so skinny, has a bad cold, nasty eyes, no front teeth, many C-section
scars, funny looking feet, etc. Not sure about her disposition yet, when meeting good ole Vinnie she seemed a little on guard? But he is 33 lbs and she must weigh in at a hefty 10 lbs or so?
Here are some pictures, I am going to give her a bath. The Shelter said she has not eaten all week but I made her some chicken and green beans and she ate it! More later. The strange thing is: her body looks so old but her eyes look young? I wonder how old she is, my guess is 8 or 9? She looks sick to me! ...I can tell that at one time she must have been a real looker, she is one of the tiniest Frenchies!"



That night, Muffin met her foster dad like he was Santa Claus and spent the whole evening, after a much needed bath, scootched up next to him watching the tv. The next day, Muffin went to see the vet. It was very bad news for a dog already so sick. Very bad heartworm. Her breathing difficulties when Muffin lay down came from the heartworm. She stayed at the vet's overnight. Here's what her foster mom said when she picked her up:

"What a difference a day makes! My Vet had started Muffin on an aggressive heartworm-treatment that I was unaware of. I guess we misunderstood each other?
Anyway, I was shocked and scared. Let me tell you, the Muffin I picked up an hour ago is not the same dog! She is on Crate-rest for a month and is hooting and hollering to get out. She charged every dog in the waitingroom. She is feisty and breathing so much better, all in 1 day! Amazing! She has pills for her heart and pills for her lungs, other than that she does not go back for a month! She is not well by any means but not half dead anymore, either. She sure does not care for Vinnie at all! Poor Vinnie, he wants to play.
It will be a long road of recovery for Muffin (I call her Peanut) but now there is hope. She weighs more than she looks, she is 16 lbs with all her ribs showing! Her terrible teeth, her shots etc., will be addressed much later.
I have been a wreck over this little dog, it was so scary to watch her struggle for every breath.
Now she is wearing herself out crying and barking to get out of her kennel. This picture I took just now."

Muffin will need plenty of time to feel better, and a whole month in the life of a dog is a very long time! One of our volunteers is knitting her a sweater, while others are sending toys to keep her occupied while she endures the deprivations of The Crate.

We are so happy that this little stray, lost or stolen or dumped after who knows how many litters, is safe and undergoing treatment. We also have a lot of empathy for poor ol' Vinnie, who seems to have missed the boat this time when it comes to friendly foster dogs. We'll keep you posted as we learn more about Muffin, promises

The Frog Princess

Enzo: It Takes A Thief

Enzo is having a little vacation in the home of masterful tomato thief kingpin and FBRN grad, Benny the Frog.



As is typically the case in these scenarios, the older, charismatic Fagin-type will lead our innocent young Enzo, a currently available FBRN foster, down the primrose path of temptation, wrongdoing and crime.



Benny's mom reports that shortly after she witnessed this confab between the two suspects, she proceeded to shampoo the dogs, one after the other.





Meanwhile, Enzo was putting Benny's plan into action!





When Benny's long-suffering ma emerged from her work of bathing all her beasts, she found herself confronted with the sad evidence of Enzo's moral corruption: He was caught red-handed, toes sandpapered to flower-petal softness, trying to crack the combination on the family breadbox!






We need hardly express the depth of our disappointment in young Enzo. What a breach of the rules of host/guest relations and behavior! Oh! We have had such hopes for him; hopes that he might enjoy the life of a good boy.
We'd hoped he'd be adopted by a lovely family looking for a sweet, laid-back deaf guy with ongoing, but manageable health issues. Now, with this on his permanent record, what hope does he have of finding a loving family?
Look at that face! Completely oblivious to the seriousness of his transgression!

The boy simply doesn't know the difference between mine and thine, right and wrong, infer and imply.

Why, he wouldn't even stand and watch his hostess lecture him! He didn't even pretend to be sorry.


We worry about him. We really do.

If you think you might have a place for an inept and unrepentant would-be muffin-thief, check out Enzo's bio. Could be you could become another Ma Barker, with a whole crew of canine bad boys calling your place home.

Cracking her royal self up,
The Frog Princess

Gabriel

A couple of weeks ago, one of our volunteers received a call from the father of one of a couple who had a French Bulldog in bad shape. He was terribly concerned about the dog's health, and he was hoping we could help. When we said we could and would help his granddog, he was so happy that he shed a tear or two. We took Gabriel in last weekend. He was dehydrated and emaciated, because he's had increasing trouble keeping food down for the last couple of years.

Citing financial concerns, his family opted not to have the surgery for what a vet diagnosed as a cyst on his spinal column, so he has problems walking. (This top photo shows Gabriel at his intake to the vet's office. Though the photo is small, you can see the bones in his hips and ribs) On the veterinarian's scale for body condition (1 worst-9 best) Gabe rated a 2.

Following his surrender, and frightened by his troubled breathing and emaciation, one of our volunteers took him to a specialty and ER veterinary clinic and spent four hours Sunday evening holding him between tests the vets ran. At one point, our volunteer even had to explain the situation to a woman who was giving her the extra-pungent stinkeye that dog people reserve for dog-abusers! It might be funny if it weren't sad.

They kept Gabe overnight so he could see the specialists as soon as possible in the morning. We weren't sure he'd live.

The next day, our volunteer had a day off and she returned to keep Gabe company at the vet's for a few hours. Various tests showed he had no intestinal blockage, but food wasn't moving through. He has severe reflux. A cocktail of drugs to stimulate his intestines, to prevent vomiting, and to address the infection in his lungs, probably caused by aspirating some vomit, were administered, as well as subcutaneous fluids. (This photo shows Gabe after 5 days of good food and rest and care at the vet's office. His waist is not as pinched, the hip bones are clearly not as sharp and there is some roundness in the muscles of his back legs)The vets discussed doing an endoscopy to explore the throat and stomach. We worried that in his condition he couldn't survive any invasive procedures. After years of vomiting, his throat and palate are swollen and he makes lots of scary noise as he breathes.


By Tuesday morning, Gabriel was keeping food down and had plumped up like a little rum-soaked raisin! The hydration alone made a big difference in his appearance--eyes no longer sunken but sparkling, skin less wrinkly--and he was making a total love muffin of himself! All the staff were making excuses to go back and snuggle him or let him out to "see if he had to pee." By Thursday, the staff and our volunteer could see that the bones that had jutted out so horribly were beginning to recede a bit. And when he was released from the hospital on Thursday night, his temporary foster mom who'd seen him before he went to the vet said he looked much, much better, though still way, way too skinny, of course.

The transport to his long-term foster home took place on Saturday; he was looking great and breaking hearts.
Our volunteers could scarcely believe the change in his demeanor and appearance, and tears were shed as he moved from his temporary foster mom to his transporter (and ER visiting volunteer) to his long-term foster mom.

We know that Frenchies are charming, adorable, easy-to-love little dogs, but even in a breed known for charm and heart capturing ability, this dog is something else.
Really, he's something else! There will be internecine fighting among our volunteers when the time comes for this boy to be adopted, and you can bet that heaven is being positively pounded with prayers for his continued improvement. (Remember that scene from It's a Wonderful Life where we see the galaxy of stars and many voices overlapping saying prayers for George? That's what it's like in heaven today.)(Do you see how Lillie and Gabe's heads are the same size? Now look at the photo of these two above. They should be the same size around the middle, too.)

He needs those good thoughts and prayers, too. He has sores on his feet, as a result of the foot dragging that the cyst on his spine causes. He may yet need palate surgery and he is still very underweight and weak. Once he's full of vitamins and nutrients and he's put some meat on his bones, we'll look to the next step for Gabriel. Right now, though, he's just concentrating on getting stronger, eating good, fresh, home-made food and taking his medicine, and sleeping long sleeps with his foster sisters Rosebud and Lillie, and his foster brother Murpheee. Murpheee and Lillie have their hands full taking care of Rosebud and Gabriel, so keep a good thought for them and Gabriel's foster mom, too. (Here is Gabe with some of his new friends, all swaddled in a beautiful red blanket made by one of our volunteers in North Dakota!)

The frogs are raining from the sky in California and the East coast. If you've ever considered becoming a volunteer for us, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch with Sally at SJCuratola at a o l dot com.

Now is the time for all good friends to come to the aid of our Frenchies! pleads

The Frog Princess

Pancake's Return or Out of the Frying Pan

Coincidentally, a month ago today we blogged about Pancake's adoption into a lovely family. Sadly, the placement did not work out. The Boston Terrier in the home took exception with prejudice (a LOT of prejudice!) to the idea of another snortling pooch on the premises and in no uncertain terms demanded that Pancake serve himself up elsewhere.
Whaddaya gonna do? Though his adoptive family was very disappointed and sad, they
recognized that Pancake's life could be easier and sweeter elsewhere. So Pancake is in foster care again and, as our eagle-eyed web browsers will have already noticed, back on the available page! If you missed your chance to apply for this love-muffin the first time around, check him out. He's one of the NC-10, survivors of a puppy mill operation, and he's available on a special foster-to-adopt program.

Meanwhile, as he was waiting for his new foster mom to pick him up, he got to spend some time with the (in)famous Benny da Frog and Louie! Pancake was able to lure Louie from his spot in front of Animal Planet and entice him to play, which is a testament, says Louie's mom, to Pancake's considerable charms! Benny da Frog, on the left in these photos, is an ingeniously naughty Frenchie, and FBRN volunteers who read the information and chat lists for the group are occasionally treated to an update on his adventures in his own words. His hilarious little messages alone are reason enough to volunteer!

Pancake and Benny and Louie engaged in several minutes of play in the positively enervating heat and humidity of the Maryland summer before succumbing to exhaustion and a form of canine accedie, or world-weariness. Look at their faces, don't they seem just on the edge of a doldrum-inspired nappage? Don't they look about a half a quart low and desperately in need of cookies and maybe a nice B-12 shot? It's a dog's life, it really is.

Pancake is now ensconced in his foster home and he'll remain there until he's adopted by a new family. If you would like to offer your hand and home to this perfect Pancake, fill out an adoption form and see what happens. We wish you well in your quest to win him. Butter up Pancake's foster mom, is the advice of
The Frog Princess