The Story of Lady

Sweet Lady Has A Long Road Ahead of Her

Lady began her life chained up outside. She had very little contact with humans and was not getting the care she needed. Starving, lonely, and unloved, she knew nothing of the life that all dogs deserve, one in a warm house with a loving family. Despite all of this, Lady is a very sweet and loving girl!

By the time Lady was rescued, she was already nursing her second litter of puppies who were just days old. Lady was taken in by an animal welfare group whose mission is to provide community outreach. For a very long time, they had tried to convince Lady’s owners to surrender Lady to them, even though this rescue couldn’t possibly provide Lady the care she needed, they couldn’t leave her knowing the neglect and abuse she had endured. They had to try to save her.

Fortunately for Lady and her pups, we at Cascades Humane Society have worked hard to connect with local area rescue groups. We often provide services and aid to local rescues so that we can help even more animals in need and better serve our community.

We knew right away that Lady needed emergency help. Lady would receive a second chance at having a happy life – one she deserved – but it wouldn’t be without obstacles.

We welcomed Lady with open arms and immediately she was given a physical exam by our Medical Director, Dr. Patrias.

She was extremely emaciated, and we could see all of her ribs and her spine. She needed a lot of nutrition to sustain not only herself but her puppies as well. She was put on a special diet and fed many times a day to encourage weight gain and nutritional support for the puppies. 

Unsurprisingly, as a dog left out on a chain who had never received basic care, Lady tested positive for heartworm disease. Heartworm, while expensive, is a disease we can treat, but the drugs used would be harmful to the puppies she was nursing. We decided a quiet foster home, where the puppies could grow and Lady could be kept calm, was the best thing for her and her puppies. 

As Lady and her puppies settled into an amazing foster home, Lady began to show some signs of illness. She had diarrhea, vaginal bleeding and discharge, and she developed a cough. The diarrhea was from internal parasites, which we quickly treated, and we believed the vaginal bleeding and discharge were due to recently giving birth.

At Lady’s puppies’ 5-week check-up, our Medical Director, Dr. Patrias, also examined Lady. It was determined that the cough she had developed was from her progressing heartworm disease. We decided that the puppies, who were now eating some food on their own, could be weaned early in order to save Lady’s life. If we waited any longer, Lady’s prognosis would decrease drastically. The puppies went back home with their foster family who would give each of them the love and care they needed while Lady stayed with us at CHS to receive lifesaving treatments. 

At the time of the check-up, Dr. Patrias also noted how large and distended Lady’s abdomen was, and that she had lost weight despite the nutritional support she was given. Such weight loss combined with a swollen abdomen could mean that there was fluid built up inside her. When a dog has heartworm disease, their heart is not able to pump as well as it should. The blood vessels must undergo extreme amounts of pressure. That blood needs to go somewhere, and this can cause it to build in the abdomen.

Lady was very sick and we needed to conduct some tests to get a better look at what was going on. Bloodwork showed that Lady was anemic and her white blood cell count was high. This meant that the vaginal bleeding Lady was experiencing could either have been caused by anemia or it was causing the anemia. Either way, spaying her immediately and giving her medications for the anemia would help solve this problem. 

During Lady’s spay surgery, Dr. Patrias drained nearly 1 liter of fluid from Lady’s abdomen! The fluid buildup confirmed what she had suspected. Lady had congestive heart failure and needed emergency medical care. While draining the fluid, Dr. Patrias found heartworms swimming in the fluid. This was cause for alarm. It meant that there was such a high number of heartworms in Lady’s small fragile body that they were able to escape her heart. Lady had a much more advanced case of heartworm disease than her happy-go-lucky and loving attitude symptoms suggested.

Later that same evening, staff noticed that Lady wasn’t feeling well or acting like herself. Our medical team, even though it was after-hours and they had long since gone home, came back in to tend to Lady. She was given fluids, medications, and supportive care to manage any pain or discomfort she was in. Amazingly enough, even though humans had failed her in the past, Lady was always sweet and loving.

Lady was immediately put on strict cage rest as we began heartworm treatment. While treating heartworm disease, it is important to keep the dog as calm and quiet as possible. If the heart pumps too hard due to excitement or exercise as the heartworms begin to die, they can dislodge from the heart. This can cause worms to dislodge from the heart and move to the lungs which could be deadly.

Our team at CHS treats dozens of dogs for heartworm disease each year. Lady’s case was one of the worst cases we have ever seen. Her case was so severe that we needed to not only treat the disease, but also help manage her pain and discomfort, as well as give her meds for her congestive heart failure. As long as her heart condition improved, we could continue the traditional heartworm treatment. 

Lady still has a long road ahead of her, however we remain optimistic that the medications for her heart will allow it to heal enough to continue the heartworm treatment. In the meantime, we will keep going with her strict regimen of food and medicines, and of course, giving her much love and adoration. Lady remains sweet as ever and quite the fighter. We are pulling for her to make it through this!

Lady is just one of the many examples of how the staff at CHS go the extra mile for the pets in our care. Please consider donating any amount you can to help us continue this great work! Thank you!