A Boxer in need.. long and sad :(

[craZ4HERKIE]

Hercules is HW positive. He underwent a laporotomy, and several other procedures....was very sick for a long time, and his HW preventitive was forgotten in the mix. So of course he became HW positive! He does have a low load...meaning there are no heartworm babies...just a couple of adults, that aren't mating. I have opted to treat him with a monthly HW medication instead of the regular treatment, Herkie being kept quiet is not possible! He's been on the monthly preventitive for 3 months now, and will be tested again in 3 months. Maybe your vet will let you finance the HW treatment for this sad little baby...or if he has a low load...maybe you can do the monthly treatment. I'll pray for you, and hope you can keep this baby, and hope everything turns out ok.

 

[Sidda1018]

Thank you for opening your heart and helping out little Buddy. Good luck with whichever treatment option you decide on.

 

[Adelle]

The type of treatment you opt for will be determined by how bad the load of HW is, and they have to take xrays to determine that. If he has lots of them option one is probably your only option but keeping him quiet is very important. Our rescue recently took in a pair of boxer that were HW + and sadly one of them did die while undergoing treatment the other is doing great. Contacting a local rescue is a good idea, they may take him and take care of the treatment and may have a foster home more suitable to keep him quiet during the treatment.

Thank you for saving this boy

 

[harleyboxer]

Is it a fawn? I also live in Dayton and saw a fawn boxer probably a few days before the snow storm crossing 741. By the time I found someplace to turn around it was already gone.

 

[heartsong12]

as a teenage we had a small dog that had heartworms, we opted to do the arsenic. My puppy was okay, but it is hard on them. He was very sick. But we kept him quiet and he did fine after treatment. But we only had one dog so it was easy to keep him quiet

 

[2BoxersnOhio]

Wow Leah.. how sad.. and great at the same time! My heart sinks to think that someone would just dump such a wonderful creature. But it is awesome that he found you guys!

So does this mean when we come for another Boxer playdate that my boys will have 3 to play with?? :D

Btw, did you guys get my card? Hope Mason and Aspen (and you guys too of course) had a great Christmas. Quinsi loves his toys that he got

 

[TracyandSam]

This is heart wrenching...poor Buddy. Bless you and your husband for your kindness. There are far too many people that would of just shut the door when they found this poor baby on their doorstep. He is your own special Christmas miracle. Good luck with everything...you'll be in my prayers tonight.

 

[Poohsmom]

Your story is so familiar to me that it hurts. That is how we came to know our "Buddy". He showed up in our driveway after a very cold and bitter snow in February almost 5 years ago. He was on senior boy,vet figured about between 8-10 years. we tried evrything to find his owners but in my heart of hearts, I knew someone just dumped him off somewhere and he made it to our house. He was so cold and hungry. We brought him in,warmed him up,fed him,vetted him and found he was in pretty good health, considering. He and Pooh became fast freinds. We were priviledged to have his love for two years.One day after my dh came home, they played like always,I was at work,dh went to the store,wasn't gone but an hour and came home to find he had passed in his sleep.
Bless your heart for taking this poor boy in and loving him. I hope he gets better with your love and support and I'll ask my Buddy to watch over yours.

Sue and the kids,Pooh,Bownser,Dozer & Cissy
My guys Buddy & Dusty waiting at the bridge.

 

[Maxine97]

Good on you...you've made my day!

Good on you for taking him in.....I'm sure he will be fine with all that love you have if its any consellation my dog was diagnosed with Inflamed Bowel Disease and allergic to protein at 4 months and wasn't given much hope by the vet she is now 4, small but gorgeous... you have made my day!

 

[adeinert]

So glad you found him.

In rescue in Florida a huge portion of our boxers come to us heartworm positive so it's really common here. That's our first question to the vet, is this one positive... since so many come in that way, it's a regular occurance.

It's very treatable but as the vet stated, it is very important to keep him quiet during the treatment and for a month afterwards. As you can imagine, everyone that fosters for boxer rescue has at least one boxer, usually many more have chosen that family as parents and we often have to crate the boxer during treatment except for cuddle time, etc.

If it's a high positive, just giving the monthly preventative and retesting will not work. You would have to go with the harsher treatment. There is another option also, holisitic heartworm treatment. A few rescue dogs in Florida are going through that right now. I believe it takes a little longer but would be less harsh for the boxer.
Here's one link related to the holistic treatment: http://www.nbwi.org/holisticheartworm.html

Happy New Year Buddy!

Ashlie
and the rescued boxertrio