#my petses

[kiwoa]

she still hates the camera, but she also still loves walks - opal is sweet 16 today!

[kiwoa]

Goodnight, my beautiful Opal. You spent 16 years being the kindest, gentlest, most chill but also most stubborn dog I've ever met. You helped other dogs find their confidence; you groomed and mothered lost little creatures; you took every inconvenience life threw at you without breaking stride. You always thought you knew best, and you were usually right.

I love you more than I can put into words.

Say hi to Benny for me.

[kiwoa]

i don't post her here often, as she *hates* cameras, but i figured for today she deserves to be shown as the brilliant star she is. happy birthday, opal!

[kiwoa]

it's warm out!

[kiwoa]

[kiwoa]

She still hates photos - a walk is the only time I can catch her - and she's still a very happy old girl! Happy birthday, Opal! 💞

[kiwoa]

The only heartworm allowed in this house is a plush one - after nine months of treatment, Jackie is heartworm-free!

Her journey's been a bit different from the traditional path. For one, she's been on heartworm preventatives for a long time. The problem is that heartworm takes six months to show up on a test. She was taken in by a shelter at two months; we adopted her at seven months. Somewhere in her early puppyhood, an infected mosquito must've gotten her and the worms grew until they could finally be detected after she'd settled into her forever home with us. So takeaway #1 - always test for heartworms, even if they've been on preventatives, especially if there's a gap in their history!

For another thing, we opted to try the Moxi-Doxy protocol, a method less tested than the traditional treatment, but super promising in cases like hers, where the dog is healthy and the disease is young. The problem with Moxi-Doxy is that it takes longer than arsenical injections, so it's not a great pick if the worms are already doing damage or causing symptoms. The advantage, however, is that the restrictions and side effects are WAY fewer!

You start off with a month of Doxycycline, same as with traditional treatments. It kills a symbiotic bacteria in the worms and weakens them. This was actually the hardest part of the treatment for Jackie, as the dosage is high and is given all month, but she only had issues in the last week of it, so we were able to push through. The big difference in treatments comes after that - with Moxi-Doxy, the next (and potentially final) step is application of drops containing Moxidectin as directed for as long as it takes. For us, we put Advantage Multi on Jackie once a month.

Since the worms are being killed so much more slowly than with arsenical injections, the risk of embolism from multiple worms detaching/breaking down at once is considerably lower. We couldn't take her on any super long walks or to dog parks or other places that would raise her heart rate and keep it up for a prolonged period, but she was still allowed normal walks. She still got to play fetch. She could still wander around the house freely and thrash her toys and even have brief stints of zoomies. And there was no pain from injections or deleterious side effects - just some painless drops on her skin once a month.

There's still much to be said for the traditional method. It has a higher success rate (we were always aware that Jackie's treatment could fail and we'd end up having to start the traditional protocol after a year and a half of failed efforts) and it works much faster. I think there's a lot to be said for Moxi-Doxy as well, though, since it's a much more comfortable process. And it's always nice to have options. It's a much newer protocol and I had never heard of it until a vet suggested it could be an option for Jackie, so I figured I'd put this information out there for dog owners who might be similarly unaware. For us, at the very least, Moxi-Doxy worked without side effects and cured our Jackie in less than a year. I think that's worth telling people.

[kiwoa]

Benny’s taken a lot of medications over the years. At some point, he required something (I can’t even remember what) that had to be taken separately from his other pills, but also needed to be taken with a bit of food. To accomplish this, I set an alarm for 8pm every day to remind me to give him a treat and his pill; of course, Opal had to get a treat too, just to be fair. When he stopped that medication, it only seemed prudent to keep the treat practice going. You know, in case we needed it again. And because it was, well, fun! Thus for years now, at 8pm every day, my phone bubbles out “By the Seaside” and my dogs each get a cookie. Just because.

Benny passed away this morning at the (honestly, given his many issues, really impressive) age of 14. At 8pm tonight, please give your pets a treat in his honor. Maybe play them a jaunty little tune too. And if you like it? Make it a nightly tradition. I know it will be one in my household forever.