CAMDEN, SC.....Sweet ABEL was found by hunters chained up under a bridge in water. It is no telling how long he had been there based on the condition he is in. He is the most distraught looking animal we have seen in a long time. He is emaciated, dehydrated, swollen from advanced heartworms and parasites and unfortunately he also has BABESIA. When we were contacted, we immediately said no because we are just too full and need to have some adoptions of the dogs that have had their surgeries and are ready to go. ABEL was described to me but nothing prepared me for what I saw when I received his pictures. I immediately contacted the shelter and said that YES we would take him. I did not want this poor boy to die in the shelter and he was going to that day. There was no place for him to go, if we didn’t take him and he seemed to know that this was the end of the line for him. The sadness and loss of hope in his eyes was just too much to bear. Whatever he had done in his life, he did not deserve the fate he was facing now. We got him to our vet, got him comfortable and immediately started treating our handsome new member of the family. He may have given up but we were not going to give up on him. We immediately gave him a blood transfusion and sent blood work off to see if he tested positive for Babesia. We were shocked to see that he was positive for Babesia. We know the protocol because we had been treating Bennie for it. All we can do is treat him and hope he has not had it as long as Bennie had. This sweet boy does not have any teeth to speak of. Just a few nubs. He is on all soft food and seems to be loving having food, a warm bed to sleep on and people that genuinely care about him. Only time will tell us if we can give this sweet boy several more years of a good life that might help him forget the Hell he has lived with prior to this. Once he has regained his strength, then we will come up with a holistic protocol to fight off the damage that has been done by the heartworms and possibly kill some of the major ones he has. Abel appears to have been used as a bait dog. He is the sweetest Gentleman that just loves on everyone and doesn’t give the other dogs even a look. He will probably live out the rest of his life with us, unless we can find a special home for him. One thing is for sure, he will never be abandoned again and will always have food, a warm bed and lots of love.
Because of how contagious Babesia is, we are now doing blood work on each pitbull we get in that has been used as a bait dog. The disease is spread when the dogs fight. The injuries cause it to spread by blood from an infected animal or a deer tick. People can also get it if they are bit by a tick that has it. It is treatable, if caught early enough. Animals are more at risk than people.
Sweet ABEL is hanging in there. We have gotten most of his bloodwork back and he is positive for Babesia Gibsoni & Hemobartonella. He has right side heart disease due to the advanced stage of heartworms. Our sweet boy is also DEAF. He loves curling up on the comforters and sleeping. It is like he hasn’t slept in years. He is very happy doing exactly what he is doing because he doesn’t feel well right now. Still no tag wagging but seems to be very content letting us take care of him and love on him. He has already been given a transfusion of packed cell to build his blood back up. The Babesia parasite attacks the red blood cells so we want to stay on top of his anemia and watch for any signs of hemorrhaging. We are watching all of his levels daily to monitor his progress but are also trying to create a peaceful place for him to relax and rest which is exactly what he needs. He is eating like a champion which is great.
ABEL has begun his Babesia treatment. The treatment is killing off the Babesia and is a long process. It also makes him feel very tired and sick but it is the only way to give this boy a chance. Without it, he will end up bleeding to death. He has stopped coughing up blood and seems to be more comfortable since we began the treatment. It is going to be good day / bad day for him until we get him better. One thing never changes, he gets lots and lots of love and affection all during the day whenever he wants it. We want him to rest now and allow his body to heal. If he doesn’t want to eat, then he gets roasted chicken and that seems to do the trick. We need for him to eat more than that now to get as many nutrients as possible.
ABEL seems to be responding well to the Babesia treatment without any bad side-effects. He is eating well and sems to be a lot happier. He has a special dog that just loves him that he also loves. He allows Guinevere to come and nurse on him in his special area. He will not share his bed with her or his food but loves her company otherwise. Guinny really wants to share his bed and nuzzle up next to big Abel and look after him but he is not ready for that but loves it when she comes to visit. They both go outside at the same time and play together. We are calling her Nurse Guinny. This is a big deal for her because she could care less about any of the other dogs but just loves this sweet boy.
ABEL is feeling a little under the weather this week from his treatments. He is still eating lots of food and is able to keep his energy up. We are not going to be able to do a Heartworm treatment that will kill all of the older worms that are in his heart area. We are killing the small ones and over time some of the large ones will die. It is too risky to do more than we are doing for him as far as the heartworms go. He could go into heart failure and the risk is too high for that. he loves the area where he sleeps and loves going outside with Guinny but he has let her know that that is as far as it goes. He likes being a bachelor.
ABEL is doing great with his treatments. He will have to be at the vet for several more weeks after his Babesia treatment to make sure he is getting it out of his system. He has some skin issues we are dealing with now from being so malnourished and sick when we got him. He already looks like anew dog. Abel likes to be with other dogs outside but wants his special room all by himself.
ABEL.....is on his way to NC State Vet. Hospital to see if he is a candidate for surgically have his heartworms removed. Let's pray he is because his heart is so enlarged from them that this sweet boy will not be with us as long as we hope for if he isn't. I will post more once he has been evaluated. We already have funds for his surgery if he is a candidate and will not be doing a chip-in for him. The donate button above helps us cover his on-going misc. expenses.
Sweet ABEL went to NC State Vet. to have his work up done to see if he is a candidate to have the heartworms surgically removed. He is not a candidate but he is a candidate to have the imiticide treatment. We have to get his bloodwork up and then he will go back to NC State to have them do the treatment since is it still very risky for a dog in his condition.
ABEL is doing wonderful. We are doing everything we can to get his bloodwork where it is normal. He will start his HW treatments in to more weeks if his blood is normal and the rest of his bloodwork looks good. Can you believe this is the same droopy older Gentleman we rescued so many months ago. He is king of the mountain and loves all the attention. He doesn’t even look like the same dog. If you are interested in adopting ABEL after his treatments, please, get you application in and let us know to expect it. He is an incredible dog.
Our handsome boy is just flying through his heartworm treatment. It’s amazing what love, affection and lots of medical and holistic herbs will do. He is incredible. We are now taking applications for our gentle giant.
I am happy to finally say that sweet ABEL has been adopted into the most incredible Family that loves and adores him. Here he is with his new family.
