HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!
I am back with my final Life Changing Interview…
This is my final Real Rescue Dogs Are Talking Interview for this year long series…you are so gonna just luvluvluv reading about this special woofie who has been with us in Blogville for almost a WHOLE YEAR…
PURRlease give a warm Savannah’s Paw Tracks welcome to…
TUIREN!!
APAWS!!! APAWS!! APAWS!!!
Many of you may know about Tuiren from her blog, Alasandra, The Cats and The Dogs…if you have not visited, be sure to hop over and say HELLO!! Today is a special day on her blog because it is TUIREN TUESDAY!!! Pawsome, simply pawsome timing!!
Savannah: TUIREN!! What a pawtastic moment…you…me…doing this interview…finally!! And look how purrty you look!..(Savannah reaches a paw over to give Tuiren soft pats on her soft ears). Thanks lots for stopping by and having a few soft woofs with me.
Tuiren: You are most welcome Savannah, I am thrilled at the chance to meet more cats and dogs and bark about how important pet rescue is.
Savannah: Yep! You know I believe we adult cats and dogs have tons to offer humans if they will just give us the chance! So, let’s get started Tuiren. Purrlease give us some woofs about how you found your furrever home.
Tuiren: Well…(Tuiren settles down to woof with Savannah)…
…my former people let me run lose. Mom & Dad are actually my THIRD Family.
See for my first family, I belonged to this guy, he was gone a lot so I would escape from my fenced yard to go play with his brother’s kids (They lived on the same street). Unfortunately the brother had a German Shepherd that didn’t like me. It attacked me so bad one day I had to go to the vet to get my leg fixed. That is when they learned I had HEART WORMS.
Savannah: Oh Tuiren…you never got heart worm preventive medication??
Tuiren: That’s right Savannah. No one ever gave me the preventive treatment which sure would have saved my new huFamily lots of money…and mostly it would have saved them so much worry about me. Well, and I wouldn’t have had to go through so much pain to get treated….but I’ll woof about that later, ‘Kay?
Lemme see…where was I?….oh yeah…the guy didn’t want to pay for heart worm treatment so when he had to move away he was going to dump me at the high kill animal shelter (where I would have been immediately KILLED because I had Heart worms). If his brother and sister-in-law didn’t take me, I was gonna be a goner for sure. So they took me in but I had to stay outside because the German Shepherd didn’t like me.
They didn’t really want me because they already had two dogs—a Shih-Tzu, and the Shepherd. But the kids loved me and the woman was nice to me. She took me to the vet when I got bit by a snake but her husband wouldn’t OK the heart worm treatment even then. Anyway when the kids started school I started roaming further afield and that is how I met Mommy.
…this is what I looked like the very first time she saw me…
September 21st, 2013, when she got back from walking with Fenris & Tammy there was a HUGE GREAT DANE AND ME in the yard. The Great Dane left when Mommy drove up but I stuck around. Mommy fed me, petted me and took my picture because she was sure I belonged to someone but no one reported me lost. But after I finished eating I went home. So I did that every day—came to visit Mommy—until right before Thanksgiving; on that day something chased me as I was coming to visit Mommy and I was totally exhausted when I got there. After I ate I crawled up in Fenris’ crate in the garage (he never uses it anymore it is just in case they has to evacuate but it has a pillow bed in it) and went to sleep.
Mommy kept me in that crate and ran me up to the vet to see if maybe I had a microchip since I didn’t have a collar. No microchip so Mommy couldn’t contact my owner. Well the next morning after getting a good night’s rest I went back home when Mommy let me out to potty. She didn’t have a collar for me so she had no way to restrain me. But Mommy decided to buy a collar for me, so that maybe she could rescue me. Mommy was unsure about it because she didn’t really want two dogs and she didn’t know how Fenris would like it. But she noticed I didn’t bother the cats even though as a Beagle I am considered a HUNTING DOG.
Savannah: And you never bother Socks or Scylla! That’s really great…I would have been nervous but they already knew Fenris so maybe they just never thought to run from you.
Tuiren: Maybe, but I never bother them ever. The next time I visited, Mommy put the collar on me but she wasn’t dressed yet so she couldn’t restrain me. The lady I stayed with noticed I was wearing a collar and she was hoping that someone wanted me because the man was making “get rid of me” noises.
So December 10th I showed up twice at Mommy’s house—once that morning before Mommy got dressed and then that afternoon during a bad storm. Mommy snapped a leash on my collar and took me to the vets—where she found out I had HOOKWORMS AND HEART WORMS. Because of the Hookworms I couldn’t go in the backyard with Fenris. So I was chained on the side of the house for 3 weeks…that was boring I can tell you!
The vet told Mommy I was a year old which surprised her. She thought I was older because of how tired I always was. Now that I have my heart worm treatment I am much more active and act like the almost 2 year old I am. I love playing with Eldest Boy Bean’s Italian Greyhound Puppy Mr. Who. I am still kinda cautious around Fenris because he is so big, but I will even play with him sometimes. I mostly play chase with Fenris, but I play tug of war and wrestle with Mr. Who. I have lived here 7 months and I truly consider this my home now.
Savannah: I bet you really miss Mr Who…but you still have Fenris and the cats and Mommy. You had such a challenge just with being so sick from the hook worms and heart worms, but can you give us an idea of other stuff you had to overcome so’s you could trust Mommy more??? Was it hard to be dependent after you had been so independent?
Tuiren: (Tuiren shuffles around a bit anxiously)…Well, truth be known Savannah…because the German Shepherd attacked me I am a little nervous around Fenris but we get along great. Mommy thinks I was probably eating when I got attacked because I don’t like to eat unless she is nearby to defend me or I am in a room by myself.
But from Mommy’s viewpoint the greatest challenge has been keeping me inside a 5 foot fence!
See after the 3 weeks were up from the hook worm treatment, she put me in the backyard with Fenris and we were getting along great, so after spending a few hours with us outside Mommy went inside. I went inside with her but then I needed to poop so I asked to go out and Youngest Boy Bean let me out (he asked Mommy first) and Mommy saw me go poop and then come sit up on the patio with Fenris. She went to the bathroom and when she came out I was gone.
Savannah: Oh Mouses!! Tuiren I remember when you escaped!!! Your Mommy posted all about it on your bloggy AND on Face Book…we were all so worried about you…
Tuiren: (Tuiren hangs her head…gets pink ears) Ooops, sorry Savannah. I didn’t know about all the peeps and new furriends who were learning about me from Mommy.
Anyways, I was missing for an entire week. She put up flyers and the lady I lived with called and said “you found Gracie”. And she told Mommy all about me. But I wasn’t there; I had gone off, the lady promised to call Mommy if I came back to her…and she did! She met Mommy at the Community Center and I officially became Mommy’s dog. The lady also sent my old vet records to my new vet. So I guess you can say I was rescued twice because if the lady hadn’t kept me her brother-in-law would have dumped me in the high kill shelter and I never would have met Mommy.
I worked really hard to be good when I first lived with Mommy ‘cause I didn’t want her to dump me. Would you believe I NEVER barked the first 6 months I lived here? I just started barking recently and Mommy didn’t know what that awful noise was at first. I didn’t get in trouble for barking though, she just grumbled a little bit ‘cause I woke her up…heh…heh
Savannah: I can see that you knowing how to get out of a 5 foot fence would scare Mommy, but in the end…she could “officially” call you her very own! Were there other things that made your adjustment hard at first??
Tuiren: I guess it was my heart worm treatment. I really didn’t like all that restricted activity and I could have died. My last treatment was May 14th and I had restricted activity for a month after that. I will be tested for heart worms in December and those nasty things better be GONE.
You see Savvy, where we live heart worm prevention must be given monthly year around and it is important to give heart worm prevention to both dogs and cats. Our cats are on Revolution (which prevents heart worms and fleas) and Fenris is on Trifexis (which prevents heart worms and fleas).
Because I tested positive for heart worms I cannot take Trifexis. We are hoping I will test negative for heart worms in December when they do my recheck and then I can start taking Trifexis too. I has to take Heartgard which is just for heart worms and then Vectar for fleas. The price of all of these preventatives is based on weight so it varies for each of us but it is much cheaper than heart worm treatment! Year round administration of heart worm prevention is the ONLY way to prevent this disease in dogs and cats. Because mosquitoes can and do enter the home, even 100% indoor pets should be given the preventative.
Savannah: OMC! (Savannah paws some notes on her iPad…)…I live inside but I don’t take anything like that…I have to ask Mom and Dad…thanks for the information Tuiren…now go on…
Tuiren: …no problem Savvy…lots of cats and woofies probably should be getting preventive heart worm medication, but don’t. Not every human really understands how terrible this parasite can be.
Besides being costly the heart worm treatment hurts and your pet could die during the treatment from complications. I was REALLY lucky. The first treatment wasn’t so bad. I just had to stay at the vet all day while they observed me after they gave me my first dose of Heartgard and some other oral medications (Doxycycline (antibotic), Theophylline and Prednisone), I actually started my oral medications a few days early because I was having trouble breathing.
The second treatment was more complex and HURT. I got a complete physical examination, the administration of the first Immiticide Injection (It is a deep intramuscular injection into the lumbar muscles so IT HURTS). Then they did a complete blood count, laboratory panel and a thoracic radiograph was performed; I was observed throughout the day. I had to go back the next day, and the physical examination was repeated.
The most critical period is the first few weeks after the adulticidal treatments. During this time the heart worms are dying and there is a great risk of pulmonary emboli (blood clots) forming. The dead worms must be absorbed by the body. My activity was SEVERELY RESTRICTED DURING THIS 60 DAY PERIOD. It was very boring, I had to watch Fenris & Mr. Who playing and I couldn’t do anything. And I was really lucky the x-ray didn’t show many nasty worms or damage at all. Many doggies aren’t so lucky and they can’t even use this treatment for them they have to use a more expensive and more dangerous alternate treatment, like surgery.
The third treatment I went two days in a row for Immiticide Injections, and had to be on restricted activity for another 60 days. It is very time consuming. I had my first heart worm treatment January 14, my second April 15th and my last two injections was May 13 & 15 and I was on restricted activity for 60 days after that so it was July 15th before I could do anything fun and then I had to start gradually increasing my activity.
The cost for the entire treatment plus getting me up to date on shots and stuff so I could have treatment was around $600.00, we were so blessed that our blog furriends helped us out with the expense, and that I didn’t have any complications.
Mommy was also very happy that when the restricted activity was up and she let me off the chain I stayed inside the fence like a good girl.
Savannah: Oh Tuiren, you have been so very brave…(Savannah puts her paw softly on top of one of Tuiren’s paws)…I am purrleased you went into detail about the heart worm treatment, even though I can see it disturbed you to think back on it…but it is impawtant for our guardians to understand how impawtant this preventive medication is for all of us as their companions and furrAmily.
Let me ask if there were any special ways your Mommy worked with you to help you get over any of your fears, or other things that made you reluctant to show her your REAL SELF.
Tuiren: For the most part I am a very calm dog with a sweet personality..(blushing). Everyone says I am so sweet when they meet me. But Mommy has really seen a change in my personality since I started considering this my home, I am more confident and my tail is always wagging. I just love, love, love spending time with Mommy.
When I started getting to go on walks with Mommy and Fenris one big PROBLEM was discovered. I am dog aggressive toward bigger dogs. I don’t have a problem with small dogs or puppies but anything the same size as me or bigger and I attack. Mommy is working with me to stop this undesirable behavior. This has been slow going, Mommy is sure I am reacting out of fear, so she just tries to keep me away from bigger dogs and reassure me that I am safe. But I really luvluvluv hanging out with Fenris in our yard.
I feel better and I am getting healthy. I don’t get to roam anymore but Mommy does take me and Fenris walking at the beach and Gulf Island National Seashore. And now I has a Flamingo Pink Collar with my name and phone # on it. I also has a pink bed, blanket, bone and tank. I am Mommy’s princess…(more blushes)
Savannah: I just luvluvluv your pink accessories! Now, last question, can you offer any advice to our readers to help them support their adult rescue woofie, or one they may be thinkin’ about bringing into their home, through any fears or behaviors that prevent the woofie from showing its REAL SELF?
Tuiren: Just give us a chance we all want to be loved. And give us time, it may take months for your dog or cat’s true personality to show. I am very loving now, I wasn’t when I first came up. I liked being petted well enough and I let Mommy do whatever she wanted like stick pills down my throat, clip my nails, bathe me, but I never seemed to get excited about anything and I never asked for attention. Now I shower Mommy with puppy licks, run to her whenever I see her and just generally act excited about life. Mommy says it is wonderful seeing me blossom into the dog I was meant to be.
Savannah: Oh Tuiren, you have been so great! I really appreciate all you have been willing to share with my readers. Any last thought or words of wisdom you want to share?
Tuiren: I just want to thank the pawsome Blogville community that helped me get my vet treatment by making donations to the Tuiren Heart Worm Fund and participating in the Circus my furriends organized to help raise money for me and some other fur buddies. And I wants to thank everyone who purred for and crossed paws for me when I was missing and when I got treatment. It really helped knowing all of you cared so much about me. I will never feel alone again.
Thank you Tuiren!! I hope you all enjoyed learning about Tuiren and her brave battle with heart worm infection.
And I especially hope you have all enjoyed my year long series Real Rescue Cats and Dogs Are Talking: Life Changing Interviews with Savannah…I know I have so enjoyed meeting so many brave adult cats, dogs and yes…my one adult horse rescue too. I hope you will all think about which interviews you might have learned the most from and consider sharing that one or two interviews on your bloggy, Face Book page or even Tweeting about it with a link back to that interview on my blog.
I wanted this series to give us all new techniques to help adult rescue cats and dogs learn to trust their new furramily so much that they show more and more of their REAL SELF as time goes on…and I know Mom and Dad have been using lots of the tips to help me feel safe enough to be my REAL SELF…even with former Foster Brofur Leo in my castle…heh…heh
And like so many others, I intend to self publish all Real Rescue Cats and Dogs and Horses Are Talking: Life Changing Interviews With Savannah…my hope is that I can partner with the ASPCA/HSUS and other animal rescue organizations across the globe to offer this publication, free, as a tool to prospective adopters of adult companion animals. There will be NO proceeds from this self publication…I, Savannah, simply hope it will help peeps to think about us adults and take us to our furrever homes….
Appreciate having you all stop by to read my interviews…
Paw Pats, Savannah
Savannah's Paw Tracks 