Catching Up!!!

So, it has been forever since my last post... spring came and life got busy... and while it has slowed down in winter, things really didn't get dull til now!!

Ruby is doing great... we have learned a few things in the last 8 months. I discovered that the doxycycline treatment should be repeated about every 6 months. Ruby got very tired in June, and we couldn't figure it out. Back to the old internet to see what we had for options, and we discovered that it is possible that the wolbachia parasite repopulate in a 6 month period! Since it had been 6 months since we treated with that, we decided a repeat was in order. There was an improvement in her energy level within a week! In May we had retested for heartworm and she was still high positive. Not a surprise, but I had hoped for some improvement. That just meant that we had to keep doing what we were doing.

Ruby had a fun summer and fall. We couldn't train her of her fence jumping habit so we resorted to an e collar. She learned very quickly, and now will usually even ignore the rabbits in the yard next door.

In December we went in for her annual check up. Hard to believe a year went by that fast. But, the vet thought she looked beautiful... and the heartworm test came back with a low positive result this time!! Yeah!! I was very excited, and my vet said that was the first time they had seen that kind of reaction on a positive test result- but she was excited too!

We are getting ready to treat with doxy again... in the last couple of days Ruby has been looking tired, and since it has been 6 months since her last dose, we are going to give it a go. It sure seems to make a difference for her.

So we are going the right direction... she hasn't needed any extra food additives this winter, and is carrying the proper weight. Her coat is glossy, and she has good color. There was no murmer at her physical, and there have been no other signs of the heartworm infestation. We do have to keep her exercise a bit limited, as we have noticed if she overdoes it, it takes a few days to recover.