August 4

Last night Annabelle went to go get her first set of shots. She did
remarkably well. The vet clinic was really busy, so we waited outside.
It was hot, but she found a cool spot in the shade. Once she had
settled in, she refused to get up. To get her into the vet, I had to
actually pick her up and carry her to the vet table, When it came time
for her to go home, there was a nice young man there who offered to
help me get her in the car.

I believe that he was one of the other volunteers teenage son. I am
pretty sure, that he didn't understand what all lifting a nursing dog
entailed. Poor kid had about a half a cup of milk all over his arms
and chest. The kid was scared he had "broken" Annabelle. I felt bad
for the young man, but I couldn't stop laughing. The joys of fostering
a nursing dog!

On a slightly sadder note from the evening at the vet, Annabelle
tested positive for heart worms. Based on the home she came from, the
fact she was covered in fleas, who knows if her nails had ever been
trimmed, and the general lack of care she had receives, I wasn't
surprised, but I always hope that the dog is healthy. When the
heartworm test was done it can show a "low positive" indicator or a
"high positive" indicator. Annabelle is a high positive so when the
puppies are closer to being weaned, she will start on a month long
treatment of antibiotics to help kill off the parasites that live in
the heart worms. After that she will go in to get 2 deep injections to
kill the actual heart worms. No fun, but given that the only other
option is to let her die from Heartworms, this treatment is better
than the other options.

Even though she has a high heartworm count, Annabelle has several
things going for her. She is a young dog. Now that she has been with
me for a couple of weeks, she has been eating healthy food for the
last 2 weeks. A healthy diet will only help her in battling the heart
worms.