Frasier the blind dog
This
blind elderly gent came to us from a small rural shelter in
southern Illinois. He had been turned out to fend for himself
along with another dog. When the shelter went to pick them
up, the other dog ran off but Frasier was delighted to hear
human voices and came bounding over.
Old and blind, he didn't stand much of a chance at adoption. A volunteer at this shelter e-mailed us about him. We agreed to take him. Then, before we finished working out transportation arrangements, a local family contacted the shelter and expressed interest in adopting Frasier.
They went to the shelter to adopt him. Then, during his medical check-out before release, he tested positive for heartworms. The family decided they didn't want to deal with that and drove off, leaving Frasier behind.
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The shelter contacted us again and asked if we would still take him. After consulting with our vets, we said ‘yes,' but Frasier would need a thorough medical exam to determine if he was healthy enough to make the trip.
A vet did the exam and said this old boy could travel. We picked him up at the airport and drove him immediately to a veterinary specialist in Missoula. There, further tests revealed that Frasier had a ‘worst-case” infestation of heartworms. His condition was so bad that he was in right-sided heart failure.
He also had a problem called ‘allergic airway disease' and a pulmonary condition called ascites, where fluid had built up in Frasier's abdomen because of reduced cardiac function.
Oh, and there was one more thing wrong. Frasier came with a yeast infection that made his skin and coat oily and stinky. Yikes.
In other words, this blind fellow was a medical disaster. That's the kind we specialize in!
Even though the heartworm treatment can be risky, especially given the severity of his infestation and his other medical problems, our specialist said we had no choice but to do the heartworm treatment. He said that many old dogs die with heartworms, not from them. In Frasier's case, however, he would die from the heartworms if we didn't treat him.
But first we had to treat Frasier's right-sided heart failure. So for two months we gave Frasier a four-drug cocktail of various heart and pulmonary medications. Then a new series of ultrasound and other tests showed we had successfully restored cardiac function. His ascites had also cleared up. Now he was ready for heartworm treatment.
As we write this in March 2005, Frasier has completed two rounds of heartworm treatment and come through just fine. He will be tested again in early summer, but at the moment we no longer have to worry about heartworms killing him. Our next step is to start on his yeast treatment, which had to wait until we got through his heartworm treatment. (Too many powerful drugs at one time would overwhelm his system.)
In the meantime, Frasier is enjoying his new life at the ranch. He is oblivious to all of his medical problems or how close he came to not getting another chance. He is a happy old guy who's always wagging his tail and ready for a big slobbery greeting! Just as he did when the Illinois shelter first went to pick him up as a blind stray, Frasier comes bounding over as soon as he hears human voices.
He may be blind and old and riddled with medical problems, but as far as he's concerned, every day is a good day!
