We just rushed our black lab, (Sadie) Sue Sue, to the vet. She seemed lethargic and short of breath, and she was shaking. She also favored her right leg and wouldn't put much weight on the left, though that was the least of my concerns.
Here's the clincher...when we adopted her, she had a heavy load of heartworms. The vet advised us against treatment and figured we'd just keep her with us and keep her happy until her time was up. We also didn't give her Heartgard because the old vet said it could make a heavy load even worse (I didn't get it, but I trusted his word...). He also wouldn't spay her because she was older.
The vet asked us if she had heartworms tonight and I told her that Sue indeed had a heavy load of them. She ran the antigen test and it was NEGATIVE. She said that sometimes, the population dwindles and they just go away.  I've never heard of this, but I don't claim to know everything there is about dogs, either.
Then, the woman also said she'd spay her if her kidney and liver function tests come back normal!  Holy crap, I AM ELATED...and crossing my fingers for normal test results.
Everything physically checked out fine tonight. She thinks she may have hurt her foot/leg and this was a pain response. I can't figure out how Sue could have hurt herself since she's my shadow. I do nothing without the dog at my side. You'd think I would have seen her get hurt. She gave her a sedative to help her sleep tonight and we're going back at 8 am for the follow up.
PLEASE keep your fingers crossed. We may get many more years out of old Sue yet!!! |