Blind Mitch, who came to us recently from a rescue group in Indiana, is back at the ranch from the vet hospital, still not neutered and with doctor’s orders for very restricted activity. That’s because the routine testing we do on new arrivals found that he has a bad case of heartworms. Our internal medicine specialist in Helena, Dr. Britt Culver, then did an echocardiogram to assess heart function, and learned that Mitch has a mild enlargement of his right atrium. He is not in right-sided heart failure, but we definitely needed to treat him for the heartworms.
Our primary care vet, Dr. Brenda Culver, put a sample of Mitch’s blood on a slide and popped it under a microscope to show me what we were dealing with. There amongst the various cells was a tiny, thread-like, wriggling thing called a microfilariae, or baby heartworm. And it was indeed moving around, just like a worm. Ick. Brenda said, "Wherever Mitch has blood circulating in his body, he has those things, because they are swimming in his bloodstream."
We also found out that Mitch has a thyroid problem, so he will need to be on thyroid medication for the rest of his life.
But the first order of business was to start tackling the heartworm infestation, so Britt began the course of treatment at the clinic — two doses, 24 hours apart, of a drug called melarsomine (brand name: Immiticide). Because it’s possible to kill off too many adult heart worms all at once and have them clog up the pulmonary artery, where they live, dogs undergoing treatment need close monitoring immediately after the first couple of doses and then need to be on cage rest with very little activity for several weeks afterwards.
The heartworms put Mitch at risk for anesthesia, so his neutering will have to wait until he is heartworm-free.
(Speaking of which, we live in a heartworm-free area in our part of Montana.)
Needless to say, Mitch wasn’t too happy about being confined, but he was very happy when I let him out this afternoon so I could get some photos!
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In Other Medical News … The News Is Not Good
Our other vet at the clinic, Dr. Jennifer Rockwell, called Thursday night with alarming medical reports on our two old ladies who recently arrived, Duchess from California and Lady from Montana. Duchess had a complete blood panel last week before doing a dental, and the results were terrific. Still, I worried that given her age, something might be amiss, so earlier in the week I asked Jennifer to have Britt do a general abdominal ultrasound scan of Duchess, despite the blood work. (What happened to Dolly is haunting us.) Well, it turns out the ultrasound showed a mass on her spleen, which has a 50/50 chance of being malignant. But even if it were benign, it can still cause the spleen to rupture or bleed out, which would be fatal.
So Britt recommended we remove Duchess’s spleen right away, and her operation is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday the 14th. Britt and Jennifer think that given her otherwise good health and sparkling blood work that she should come through the surgery just fine.
The news on Lady was much worse. She has a serious heart problem called mitral valve regurgitation, and is now on two different heart medications. But her liver enzymes were elevated, and Britt’s ultrasound examination revealed nodules all over her liver, too — just like Dolly’s. Oh, no. Britt did a liver biopsy, and the results should be back early next week. But the prognosis is not good.
Please keep both of these girls in your thoughts.
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On A Happier Note …
Etsy for Animals, a Web site where talented artists and craftspeople donate their work so the proceeds can go to animal welfare nonprofits, has picked the sanctuary as their Charity of the Month. Please check out the beautiful works of art on the site!
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