Friday April 23, Bones had a great day. He had visitors who wished to see him off, as he was supposed to be going with his forever family and some of the people who already loved him wanted to play with him and say goodbye. He played ball, ran through the yard, and rolled in the grass for quite some time. That night, after everyone left, he ate his dinner and went to bed.
The next morning, Saturday, he seemed a little sluggish. I thought he was just played out from the night before, so I let him do his business outside and put him back into his kennel so he could get a little more rest, away from my other crazy dogs. I ran a couple errands and came back to the house about 2 hours later. When I returned, Bones had taken a serious turn. He was extremely lethargic, dehydrated, and disconnected. When he would drink, he would just sit and drool afterwards which he had never done before. He also just sat and shook. I was extremely concerned, and within about an hour, I decided to take him to the emergency vet.
Before I could take him, he started vomiting and had diarrhea. He was throwing up undigested food, which alarmed me because he had not eaten since the night before. He also felt cool to me. His gums were pasty and seemed pale. At that moment, I honestly believed there was a chance I was going to lose him that day. I was in shock because just 18 hours earlier- he was completely fine and just 2 hours earlier- he was just a little more sleepy that usual.
When we got to the emergency clinic, the vet got his history from me. I told her when his shots were given, when a stool sample was last done, and that he had a heartworm test done in January that showed he was negative. The vet advised his intestines felt thick to her and she felt enlargement in what she thought to be his spleen. She said they would do full bloodwork, xrays, get him on an IV and once they started seeing results they would update me. We also discussed his weight, and I told her that while he has gained weight since I have had him (approx 10-12 lbs), it seems as though he has trouble keeping it on…his weight always yo-yo’s (but hey, so does mine!).
A few hours later, one of the workers with my rescue called me to tell me they had their first result. The vet tested for heartworms on a hunch, and sure enough- he tested positive. I absolutely lost it. My heart started breaking right then and there. For the months that I have had him, I’ve exercised him, given him heartworm preventative, taken him for walks… basically everything you should NOT due to a dog with heartworms. I immediately felt as though I spent the last 3 & 1/2 months slowly killing Mr. Bones. All I wanted was to tell him how sorry I am that I’ve made it this hard on him, and ask him why he didn’t ever let me know. Now, I know why.
Bones loves life. He loves his ball. He loves my husband and I. He loves EVERYONE he meets. He figures he has got it made, and I think no matter how bad he might feel- he doesn’t show it unless it’s absolutely taking him over. His spirit shines through any situation he is in. That’s why, although he spent 2 years isolated on the end of a chain… the people who rescued him saw so much more. His spirit is unbreakable.
His bloodwork showed slight abnormalities, but nothing too bad. His xrays are another story. The vet found what she thinks to be a softball sized mass in his abdomen. It may be an enlarged spleen, or it may be something entirely different. It may be caused by the additional stress being put on his system by the heartworms, or it may be something completely unrelated that we just coincidentally found.
