October Multi-Tasking

This is an iPhone photo of a Street Dog in Peru.
You can tell he's got severe mange. I'm not sure why he's wearing the shirt.
I can't wait to hear the story from my friend when our Church group returns from Peru.

I have had a whirlwind of October activities that have kept me away from doing Off-Site adoptions, thus the paucity of posts. I feel a bit like I've got a dog like the one in the photo below chasing after me!

Goofy dog trailer hitch cover seen at the Texas Renaissance Festival.

I had to take off my "Dog Lady" cowboy hat and don my "Band Mom" hat. My 16-year-old daughter plays mellophone (a marching-style French Horn) in The Woodlands High School Marching Band, and October is the busiest Band month.

This is my "Band Mom" Hat. My "Dog Lady" Hat is a brown Stetson cowboy hat.

There are football games, practices, competitions, auditions and fundraisers. We spend a lot of time on yellow school buses. We stand in lines, sit on stadium seats and cheer our Band kids on. They are super kids--dedicated, funny, and unfailing polite. They just earned a first place in their UIL Area Division, competing against 30 Bands to earn the privilege to go to the Texas State UIL Marching competition to be held next week in San Antonio. I will load up my three dogs (Chopper, Cross and my sweet foster, Mrs. Puff) to head to my Mom's house in Spring Branch (close to New Braunsfels). We'll leave the dogs with my Dad to babysit the pack--a total of seven dogs, including four Chihuahuas--and go watch the Bands participate in two separate competitions.

Chopper in a quiet pose. Soon his Heartworms will be history!

We've had a lot of transitions and changes at the Shelter lately, but there's one great bit of news--the Shelter has begun offering the Heartworm treatment to the adopters and fosters on the six-page waiting list. The treatments were halted in early summer for a number of reasons (cost, vaccine availability, staffing issues, etc.) but are now being offered.

I had a part in this--my newly adopted dog, Chopper, was heartworm positive, so I have been asking, and asking again, when the treatments would begin again. I got the call this week to bring him in for a two-day, two-shot protocol. Now the issue will be keeping a bouncy, squirrel-chasing 18-pound Miniature Pinscher quiet for a month!

I'm still fostering the amazing Mrs. Puff, the elderly but very spunky owner-surrender Chihuahua. My daughter wants to keep her. I love her dearly and she's a very easy dog. My dogs love her, too. But a fellow Band Mom has met her and wants to adopt her after the hub-bub of our competitive season is done in about two weeks. My friend recently lost her own elderly dog and has taken quite a shine to Mrs. Puff. I told my daughter we can go visit Mrs. Puff and even take her a Christmas present later this year!

I'm looking forward to getting back into my Dog Lady volunteer work. I'm excited about some new volunteer opportunities that are on the horizon, and look forward to helping new foster dogs find homes. I received an email from the Shelter noting that we'll be participating in the Home for the Holidays program again this year--it's one of my favorite national tie-in programs.

No Kill vs Train-Wreck Dogs

 This dog is probably a great dog.

Photo and caption by Angela Palance,a tireless advocate for the dogs at the Montgomery County Texas Animal Shelter.

I'll be honest:  I'm not a total convert to Nathan Winograd's vision of a No-Kill Nation.  It's not that I don't want all Shelters to be "no-kill", but it's that I'm not convinced it is an achievable goal.  Or even the right goal.  But Winograd and his supporters brand folks like me as "part of the problem."  We're the "nay-sayers,"  blocking the path to a swoony no-kill paradise where puppies and kittens are loved forever and ever in homes that make PetsMart managers giddy with joy.

Just because I have some reservations, doubts or unanswered questions shouldn't make me the enemy.  I've put a lot of sweat and tears in animal rescue work.  I look at what flows through the doors of the Shelter and wonder what compels us to insist that dogs like the ones below are "adoptable."

Here is a sample of what you'll find in the Adoption Rooms this week:

• Pit Bull mixes with heavy heartworm.
• Untrained, barely socialized young Lab mixes who will yank your arms from the sockets.
• Elderly Labs who aren't housebroken.
• Anxiety-riddled Rat Terriers.
• Chihuahuas that look like genetic mish-mashes.

Checkers  is falling apart in the Shelter. I can't foster him until my husband leaves for his next business trip because this poor little guy is so anxious he just can't stop barking.  It's Shelter stress.

Most of our dogs have at least one and often more health conditions, including (but not limited to) mange, flea dermatitis, giardia, worms, or bad teeth.  And almost all of our dogs come with unknown (and unknowable) health and behavioral histories.

Who in their right mind wants these dogs?  Who on earth can afford to treat and care for these dogs?

And don't think I'm just a heartless cynic.  I know what these dogs cost because I just adopted one, my Miniature Pinscher, Chopper, who joined our pack this summer.  Chopper was an ideal adoptable candidate from our Shelter.  He was already neutered when he arrived, and he received a rabies booster, a heartworm test, microchip, and the Parvo-Distemper shot, plus Strongid for worms.

Chopper, my own personal (and much-loved) train-wreck dog.

However, Chopper is heartworm positive--so I need $400 to $600 to treat that.  He's got one rotten tooth that needs to be pulled at some point (say, $300 or so if I get the tartar scraped while he's under), plus he was positive for giardia.  Once my adoption was final, I spent $300 getting Chopper Vet-checked, including a leptospirosis vaccine, fecal smear, urine culture and a blood work panel to make sure he can handle the heartworm treatment and the tooth-removal.  I bought two antibiotics, heartworm prevention tabs, flea meds and a round of de-wormer.  These were not out-of-the-ordinary expenses.

Nathan Winograd can talk all he wants about "no-kill" policies, but the one hitch in his giddy-up, the thing that he doesn't address in his best-seller "Redemption," is whether all those wonderful Americans who would love to add a pet to their household are actually willing to put in the financial and physical work it takes to bring a Shelter dog around.  At the rate people keep bringing dogs in for owner-surrender, I don't think the American public is near as dog-friendly as Winograd paints it to be.

Li'l Dude, an un-altered Chihuahua boy is my latest foster.  He weighs all of six pounds.  He is anxious and very needy.  While crated for four hours, he managed to bend the wires on this crate with his teeth, and he chewed up the bed into 2-inch pieces of foam, plus, he got the plastic tray scooted part-way out so he could "push" the crate across the room.  He got hold of a cord to a foot control to the sewing machine (after "pushing" the crate) and chewed that up ($89--and I can't tell my husband), then he somehow finagled the door open and left poop surprises upstairs.  He was a very naughty boy.
To top it all off, he's not yet housebroken.  And he's a pushy little guy 'cause he's hung like a Clydesdale and has enough testosterone to equip a baseball team.  Since Li'l Dude needs to gain weight before he can be neutered, it's going to be awhile before he loses his family jewels.  I'm in conversation with a rescue group who might be able to take him.

 Shelter dogs are no bargain.  In fact, they are a gamble. And the Shelter doesn't offer guarantees.

Consider the heartworm issue.  Our Shelter was offering the heartworm treatment vaccine for heartworm positive dogs, but that program has been tabled due to the expense to the County. Most likely, I'll be paying for the treatment at retail prices.  Meanwhile, at the Shelter, our current dog population is running about 40 percent heartworm positive.  So step right up and get yourself a dog, but be prepared to spend some serious money--and shoulder the risks that come with heartworm treatment. At least the dog will love you back.

And just so you don't think I'm totally against the good news as preached by Winograd, I'm signed up to go to the No-Kill Austin conference at the end of September. I'm willing to listen and be convinced.

Fun with My Dogs

This is my daughter (yes, she has dyed her hair blue-green for the summer) holding a reluctant "Teencie" as we are now calling our skittish little Chi foster girl.  Teencie wants so badly to be held, but she isn't quite yet brave enough to let us do so.  We can scratch behind her ears, and hold her (firmly) for a few moments.  She whines and howls in her crate at night, so now she's sleeping with my daughter.  That is, she is sharing the bed.  This has made Teencie more confident.  We've had a her a week and she has improved tremendously.

This is Tucker, my other foster, right before his June 10-11 heartworm treatment.  He received the 2-dose, back-to-back Immiticide shots.  He's doing fine--the biggest problem is keeping him quiet.  He loves to run after birds and squirrels.  One of my Vet Tech friends says her clinic is out of Immiticide, and it doesn't look like they will be able to get more for awhile.  Our Shelter clinic ran out of the drug earlier this year, and so when I took Tucker home, I put his name on a wait list.  When the Immiticide doses arrived, I got a call--I made sure to get him in so he wouldn't lose his place in the line.

This is my dog, Cross.  She isn't really taunting you,  She is about to lick.  She has a licking problem.  She is powerless over her desire to lick.  She needs a 12-step group.

Tucker Starts Heartworm Treatment

This little guy is Tucker, my current foster.  He had the first of two immiticide shots to combat heartworm infestation and he is currently curled under my desk, groaning pitifully.  I hate having to put a dog through heartworm treatment--the cure is painful and risky.  Tucker will have a second shot tomorrow followed by a month of crate rest (or at least very limited activity).  Barring complications, the adult heartworms will be killed by the powerful drug and he'll be on Heartguard to prevent further infection.

Here in Houston, preventive heartworm treatment is a year-round necessity.  Anyone who skips preventive treatment is putting their dog at stake.  I know that many dog blogs offer conflicting opinions about treatment and preventive protocols for heartworm, and I hate it when people say, "Oh, we give the heartworm preventive in the warm months but not in the winter."  I get mosquito bites all year round, and so do dogs.  And heartworms are transmitted only by mosquitoes.  Dog bloggers who advise people to use farm animal products or to skip using Heartgaurd or similar products because it is a "Big Pharma scam" should come walk our corridors at the Shelter. About 40 percent of our incoming animals come in with heartworm.  And many times, the heartworm is so advanced that the animals are already severely ill.  In our area, the main reasons people don't give preventive tablets are financial--or they assume that if their dog appears healthy, it doesn't have heartworms.

I'm not looking forward to the next two weeks of extremely limited exertion for Tucker.  But he'll be a healthier dog at the end it.

Swallow. The. Pill.

Courtesy of "Married to the Sea:  The Champagne of Comics," February 10, 2010.

We normally don't have this much trouble giving the monthly heartworm prevention tablet, but I have kept this pinned on the bulletin board for the duration of my dog's illness.

Taco is still taking meds 3 times daily--we give him 3 syringes worth of vitamins and antibiotics/pepcids twice a day, plus I have two other tablets that I try to sneak down with pill pockets.  I hold him in the Vet Tech Hug and my daughter (who has become quite skilled at this) handles the syringes.  The pill pockets are tricky.  He can work the tablet out with his tongue, and yet he gets snappy if I try to approach him while he's guarding the slobbery pill pocket.  If we lucky, he bolts down the pill and the pill pocket mess before I can intervene.

Heartworms at Home

My latest foster, Rusty, an oversize miniature pinscher boy, is heartworm positive. Today, after being in my house for a month (Rusty is my 8th foster dog for 2009), Rusty started treatment. The treatment used by the veterinarian hired as our Shelter’s new director (Dr. Ryan has been with us less than three weeks) is a two-injection, back-to-back approach. Rusty got his first injection this morning, and will get the second tomorrow morning. He’ll have a week of steroid tablets and a month of limited mobility—crate confinement.

Right now he’s sacked out in the big dog bed at my feet in my office. Since I have French doors that close, my cramped office can double as his confinement area. He’s had the run of my house with my dogs and has been sleeping in my son’s room. I hope he’ll get to sleep with my son after a week—but first I have to make sure that everyone in the house follows the recovery plan. My husband doesn’t think anything is really wrong—after all, Rusty looks fine, especially now that he’s over his Upper Respiratory Infection and has gained a little weight. My son needs to remember to shut his door so Rusty won’t be tempted to bound down the stairs. And Rusty needs to be leash-walked outside rather than let out in our large backyard to run around. So he’ll be crated until I am confident I have full family buy-in.

I hate heartworms. I hate mosquitoes (I’m highly allergic to all bug bites). I hate it that people don’t give the preventive meds. I hate it that there’s so much misinformation on the Interwebs. I hate it when people say, “It’s just a Big Pharm scam.” When our clients hear that, they think they don't need to do prevention. I hate it when people claim you can use a calendar system to chart when the nights go below 40 degrees and just give Heartguard “some of the time.” Yeah, and you can use the rhythm method and just get pregnant some of the time, too.

I hate it that Heartgaurd and Interceptor are so expensive. I hate it that Ivermectin requires such precision to administer. I hate that you have to remember to give a monthly tablet. I hate it that the 6-month heartworm injection has been removed from the market. I hate the fact you have to poison the dog to kill the heartworms that are clogging up his heart. I hate that the Shelter can’t do a chest Xray to determine if Rusty has heart or lung damage. I hate that the treatment is so expensive and dangerous. And I hate the fact heartworm infections are invisible unless you test—because when you have visible symptoms, then you’ve got an even bigger problem. What I hate the most is that so many of the dogs that enter our Shelter are heartworm positive.

There. I feel better getting all that out of me.

As for Rusty, he’s a super sweet guy. He weighs 13.6 pounds and is about 2 or 3 years old. He’s neutered, UTD on his shots and microchipped. He’s spunky and happy and has really blossomed since he’s been at my house. He’s not as clingy or snappy as some min pins, and he doesn’t have to be glued to you on the couch. What he likes best is to lie at your feet in a dog bed or on a rug. He also likes to stretch out with his hind legs behind him, cooling his lean belly on the tile or carpet. Rusty loves walks, and has learned how to sit and how to take food gently (but still very eagerly) from your fingers. He’d make a great single or second dog and would probably do okay around older kids. He crates and travels well and is 98% housebroken, which is pretty darn good for a min pin. If you’re in the Houston area and are interested in a good dog like Rusty, leave me a comment. His adoption fee is $100.

Heartbreaking News

According to those in charge--and it depends on who I ask--we don’t provide preventive heartworm treatment at the Shelter because: 1)Heartguard and other preventive tablets are too expensive. 2) The dogs aren’t in the Shelter long enough to warrant the expense. 3) If a Shelter animal tests positive for heartworm, the Shelter will provide treatment.

One of the dogs on my advocacy list, Sweetheart, a beagle-hound mix, is heartworm positive. Sweetheart has been the subject of two previous posts (see March 15th and April 20th). Sweetheart had been in foster-care during early April, but is back at the Shelter. I continue to take her to off-sites, but people don’t even pause to look at her if we have puppies. She is a happy, kid- and dog-friendly girl who just happens to be an ordinary, medium-sized black dog.

Currently, we’re working on placing her in rescue. To further that goal, I had the vet tech run the snap blood test on her on Thursday, April 30th. The results came back positive. Depending on who is reading the test, Sweetheart is low- to medium-positive for heartworms.

If she was my dog, the next step would be to take a radiograph of the chest and heart to determine how “heavy” her heartworm “load” is. This information would dictate the treatment medications, and could make a difference in how severe the side-effects of the treatment might be.

But Sweetheart is a Shelter dog who has been at the facility since January 15, 2009. Her kennel record shows that a heartworm test was administered and that the results were within the normal range. Although the January blood test alone could not guarantee that Sweetheart was completely heartworm free, she has now gone more than 3 months without a preventative heartworm tablet.

Here in the Houston area, where mosquitoes are a year-round issue, that’s too long. Sweetheart will not get a radiograph—we don’t have the equipment at the Shelter or the money to spend.

So now, this medium-sized black dog has yet another strike against her—she’s heartworm positive. Right now, she doesn’t show any apparent signs of the disease. We’re looking for a foster who can provide a quiet home and a large crate for the forced-rest period she needs so as not to stress her system. The Shelter generally administers the two-shot treatment (one shot, followed by another shot a month later). Sweetheart can have this treatment this Thursday morning, between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., when the vet who does the treatments is on duty.

It made my heart crack when that second turquoise dot appeared on the test bed. I know that three months of Heartguard tablets as preventative would have made it far less likely to put Sweetheart through the rigors of treatment. So much heartbreak, and it shouldn’t happen.