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Post by breezygardener on Sept 27, 2022 11:36:02 GMT -5
It's taken ELEVEN MONTHS, but rescue/adopted "Eva" puppy is FINALLY Hookworm free.
If you recall, we adopted her from a rescue in Alabama back on Oct. 23, 2021, & unfortunately the rescue somehow "neglected" to test for & inform us that she was seriously infested with Hookworm. To a level our vets here in Virginia had never seen before.
So, after ELEVEN MONTHS of different treatments, & to the point where our vets got Texas A&M Veterinary College professors involved, her latest sample came back completely negative for any & all parasites. HUGE SIGH.
We missed puppy kindergarten & any other socialization opportunities because - poop pickup or not - we did not want to be the "Typhoid Marys" (or would that be "Hookworm Marys") of our neighborhood, spreading the wonders of Hookworm all over the place. So now I'll be looking for local training/socialization opportunities to get this hound from hell under control - lol!!
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Post by desertwoman on Sept 27, 2022 12:26:02 GMT -5
Hurray!!
I don't know anything about hookworm. Does it affect their energy level? or any other noticeable symptoms?
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Post by breezygardener on Sept 27, 2022 14:43:23 GMT -5
I don't know anything about hookworm. Does it affect their energy level? or any other noticeable symptoms? It's a horrible insidious parasite - equal to Heartworm in the devastation it can cause. It can cause either no symptoms or horrible symptoms - depression, loss of appetite, weight loss, black tarry stool, vomiting, diarrhea, as well as anemia to the point of the dog requiring blood transfusions. It also obviously can end up killing the dog. And reinfection is easy, as the larva will live in the soil wherever an infected dog dumps, & then any mammal that walks over that area can get reinfected when the larva burrow into their foot tissue. (Thus our not wanting to take her anywhere.) Even people can get Hookworm from walking over an area barefoot where there's been feces or by accidentally barehanded touching something that's touched feces. Gloves, lots of poop pickup, & lime has been the name of the game here. In severe cases it can take a very long time to eradicate because the immature worms eventually encyst themselves into the flesh of the dogs where they cannot be killed. They have to be in the intestinal system of the dog in order to be killed by medication. Left untreated, they can migrate all over the poor dog, including the brain. These last few months tests showed that while there weren't any mature worms or eggs in Eva's intestinal system, she still had encysted larvae in muscle tissue, so we had to wait for those to hatch out where they could be killed.
Believe me - I now know more about Hookworm than I ever wanted to, nor do I want to deal with it again. I am definitely NOT feeling at all "warm & fuzzy" about the rescue we got this poor dog from, although I AM glad that she ended up with us. Nearly a year's worth of testing & different treatments doesn't come cheap, & I can see a lot of people not wanting to deal with it. |
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Sept 28, 2022 8:29:28 GMT -5
breezygardener, poor Eva; she's fortunate she was adopted by someone dedicated to caring for her and addressing the parasite(s).
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