Dilemma..A Value Conflict, If You Will

[Tool Pants]

Cats like high places since they feel safe. If that place is warm then so much the better.

You are not going to run out of a house and spray a cat with water. Unless the cat is dead or really slow or you can suprise it.

When I bought the box in 1999 I had 2 cats. At least one of them liked my top as a resting place.

It has been said that cats don't like stepping on strange things, like tin foil and tape. I could see the paw prints on the front trunk lid. I waxed the heck out of the trunk lid and the cat still got on the top.

I was not going to cover the front of my car in tin foil.

I put masking tape upside down all over the lid one evening. I expected to find a cat rolled up in tape in the morning.

Next morning I found paw prints on the exposed tape. The cat still got up there.

As for the BB gun....

[RandallNeighbour]

Grizzly, my wife and I are up late tonight and we just laughed our butts off reading this thread.

It reminded me of a book I read at a buddy's house that I think you need to buy:

http://www.amazon.com/101-Uses-Dead-Simon-Bond/dp/0517545160

Be sure to check out the sample pages from the "look inside" feature on amazon.com

[Frodo]

Quote:

"She's is being treated for heartworm and ear mites."

Posted by Grizzly.

Not surprising she's got heartworms with her background (abused, no medical care, probably never on heartworm preventative) and especially being from Texas. (I worked at a shelter for 5 years in Kansas City and diagnosed probably 150-175 cases during that time period. And Texas is much worse!)

If she's already been treated it's pretty important she be kept fairly stress free for awhile. (It takes quite awhile for the worms to die, break down and be eliminated by the immune system. Not like gastrointestinal worms that die and just get pooped out the next day!) This is even more true with an older dog. Occasionally dogs will go downhill and die following treatment. (It's fairly rare in my experience---I treated most of the ones I mentioned seeing in KC; I lost 2 or 3. Has she been showing symptoms (cough, exercise intolerance, etc.)? If so, it might be better to see if someone out there could foster her for a few weeks, until the critical post-treatment period is over.

I post this rather than via a PM as kind of a public service announcement: If you have a dog, keep him/her on heartworm preventative!

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Quote:
If she's already been treated it's pretty important she be kept fairly stress free for awhile. (It takes quite awhile for the worms to die, break down and be eliminated by the immune system. Not like gastrointestinal worms that die and just get pooped out the next day!) This is even more true with an older dog. Occasionally dogs will go downhill and die following treatment. (It's fairly rare in my experience---I treated most of the ones I mentioned seeing in KC; I lost 2 or 3. Has she been showing symptoms (cough, exercise intolerance, etc.)? If so, it might be better to see if someone out there could foster her for a few weeks, until the critical post-treatment period is over.

Frodo,

She is in foster care now. She's been placed with a woman in Houston. When she was seized, her heartworm tests came back medium. They say that she is so happy to be out of the cage, she is "busy" checking out her new world. As such they the vet was afraid to treat her for heartworm, because he has lost a few active dogs in the past. Instead, he decided to treat her with Heartgard. Her last test came back light. The vet says that if she is continued on the Heartgard, she should be clear in 6-7 months without the risk of killing her. Sound right to you?

Also, what is the risk, if any, of my other dogs contracting heartworm from her. I know it's transmitted by mosquitos. Any other way? Of course, my dogs are on the preventive.

[pierre shags]

I had a green Jag once; muddy cat prints looked great on it.

[Brucelee]

Leave the cat alone, shoot the neighbor.

[Frodo]

Quote:

"...the vet was afraid to treat her for heartworm, because he has lost a few active dogs in the past. Instead, he decided to treat her with Heartgard. Her last test came back light. The vet says that if she is continued on the Heartgard, she should be clear in 6-7 months without the risk of killing her. Sound right to you?"

Posted by Grizzly.

Probably not a bad approach in this case. Though I've not seen the results of any studies on this, it has become a somewhat common approach to treating 'high risk' cases. Ivermectin, the active ingredient in HeartGard, doesn't kill the adult heartworms outright, but that is actually a good thing in older and/or symptomatic dogs. (It's the sudden worm death caused by adulticide therapy that, while usually safe, can potentially cause problems in such cases.) Don't know about the 6-7 month figure (like I said, haven't seen any studies on the matter), but it hardly matters. Just keep her on the preventative and you'll (1) prevent her from acquiring a new generation of heartworms, and (presumably) (2) slowly kill off the ones she's now got. Though some people stop heartworm preventative during the winter months, this is a dog I'd probably keep on it year-round.

Quote:

"Also, what is the risk, if any, of my other dogs contracting heartworm from her. I know it's transmitted by mosquitos. Any other way? Of course, my dogs are on the preventive."

Posted by Grizzly.

No other (known) means of transmission other than through the mosquito. In fact, I've been told by a parasitologist that you could draw blood from a HW positive dog (containing the microfilaria, the HW 'babies' if you will), inject it into another dog (even one not on HW preventative) and it still will not develop HW disease. The larve undergo some transition within the mosquito without which they don't develop into adults. Isn't parasitology fascinating??

The chances of your dogs getting HW from this dog, with them on HW preventative?: essentially zero.

You're a good man, doin' this Grizz. Rescued dogs, while sometimes requiring some patience while they get socialized and warm up to their new surroundings and new family, almost always make GREAT pets.