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 Jessie - A Dog in Need
 
Jessie is a 3 year old dobegirl who came into DAR&E as a stray in the middle of January 2010. She was quite thin as many of the dogs are and unfortunately, Jessie tested positive for heartworms. After the treatment, she went into a foster home to recover. Things were going great and her personality started to blossom.
 
Jessie is as cute as a button with the sweetest, endearing mannerisms. She will sit and prance in place with her front feet when she is excited and will give you a very very high five when she wants petted! How she gets her paw way above her head is something to see. And kissys! My, oh my!
 
One evening, her foster mom noticed something was wrong. Jessie was retching but nothing was coming out. She would stand in the middle of the room holding her head almost to the floor; would stand over the water bowl with her nose touching the water, but not drink. Her nose was so dry. Upon closer observation, her throat appeared swollen and she yelped when it was touched. She also
had a bloodshot and swollen eye. The eyeball itself was slightly swelling out of the socket. An emergency vet visit was clearly in her future.
 
After an initial exam, several possibilities were discussed. The vet mentioned if it were summertime, he would suspect a bee sting. With the lack of bees, we looked elsewhere for an answer. It was clear Jessie was in distress. They tried giving her a little bit to
eat. She took it eagerly, but whined and cried the whole time she tried to either swallow it or spit it out. The first thing to do was x-rays to determine if it were an obstruction. They were inconclusive. There was something around the larynx but the vet could not determine if it was an obstruction or inflammation. The next step was a CBC to see if it was inflammation. It was inconclusive. There was some sign of inflammation, but not enough to produce the symptoms she was having. The only thing left was to sedate her and take a look down her throat because something had to be done for her. There was nothing there, only slight inflammation of the tissues. There was some gooey white thing in her stomach, but the vet couldn't tell what it was and couldn't get a
sample because it was so mushy.  It may or may not have caused an obstruction.  Jessie was then given a fast-acting steroidal injection. Within 10 minutes, she was drinking like a camel and happy as a clam. The swelling was disappearing and she came back to he
r foster home. In discussions with other volunteers, one had a very similar experience with what was thought to be a spider bite. Whatever the cause, Jessie was back to her cutesy self.
 
UPDATE: March 2010  Jessie's recovery is coming along nicely.  She will be retested in a couple of weeks and once cleared, she will be available for adoption.
 
UPDATE:  April 2010  Jessie is now heartworm free and looking for her furever home!
 
UPDATE:  August 2010  Jessie has found her perfect furever home!