Now it's whipworms...poor Agnes

    • Gold Top Dog

    Now it's whipworms...poor Agnes

    So we had good poop, but the fecal tested positive for whipworms.  I guess we'll start treating those and then go from that point forward.  Poor little doggy...she's so sweet, she doesn't deserve this.  Stoopid previous owners.  Angry

    • Gold Top Dog

    At least it's something easy to treat!

    Congrats on the good poop, btw!

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    • Gold Top Dog

    well, she's tough enough to have made it this far, and lucky enough to have made it to you.  Getting rid of the whipworms should be no big deal, right?  Aside from the heartworms, is there anything else complicating her condition?  Poor Aggie...

    • Gold Top Dog

    Good grief, I hope she doesn't have anything else going on!

    I was under the impression that the whipworms are the ones that live in the dirt in the yard and are next to impossible to get rid of, even when it freezes?  So she's had a few accidents in the house; how paranoid should I be?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Not in your house but in your yard -- you will now need to be vigilant forever.  *sigh* they never leave.  We even had all our sod replaced two years ago and STILL they live on. 

    Whips aren' easy -- keep her quiet (I know -- she's not running races) -- but they too can clog the kidneys and liver when you treat.  It all depends on how severe they've caused her to bleed.

    Whips are literally parasite razor blades.  They are long and thin and the side of them literally is designed to slice and draw blood which the parasite consumes.  They are NASTY NASTY things.  Treating them SLOW is better -- same as we've discussed previously ... BUT this is undoubtedly what's making her so weak.  Whips are nasty nasty things.

     What's her PCV?  has this made her anemic? 

    In your quest to get weight on her -- use some high iron stuff -- like beef heart, liver (I know -- it's nasty to cook) -- even stuff like hummus (chick peas are unbelievably high in iron).  Dates, figs -- those are high in iron (she's had diarreha right?  No prunes then, altho they are high in iron).

    Spinach is high in iron BUT she's too old -- she probably has some arthritis and spinach will aggravate that.  Call a few local grocery stores and see if you can get them to order in beef heart.  It's tasty (not just for dogs) and it's a low fat CLEAN meat.  Liver is good but it's a filtering organ so it's considered a "dirty" organ.  it's good but you can't feed "lots" of it.  Beef haert just plain rocks.  If you can get the butcher to cut it in wedge slices -- you can then cube it easily -- and just saute in a bit of olive oil.    You don't have to cook it much - just enough to kill bacteria. 

    But that will help build her up while you treat this.  Dang -- that IS why she's so darned debilitated.  You're lucky you found it -- whips kill -- pretty danged fast in an old dog.

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    • Gold Top Dog

     Poor Agnes - no advice but goodness she can only get stronger and better with all the love and treatment Big Smile

    • Gold Top Dog

      Tina; you rock for taking care of her. She looks like a real sweetie too. Sending healing vibes her way; give her some smooches for me.