Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.
On March 19th, Amy got a call from Dr. Wood with the blood results. Harley was diagnosed with heartworms and was at a Stage 2+ (out of 4). Other than the positive heartworm test, everything else seemed to be fine.
Monday morning (March 20th) Amy was informed that the previous owner had resurfaced after hearing that her dog was at the shelter through a friend. While attempting to get her dog back from Animal Control, she was told that he had been legally adopted and was in rescue. The owner had made no prior attempts to find her dog previously through contacting vets, shelters, etc and his stray hold was up at the shelter, so she in turn gave up her legal right to his return.
On Sunday, April 2nd Harley weighed in at 119.4 lbs and continues to improve daily now that he is on good food, medication, and receiving proper care. His personality is emerging more and more and he is just a complete love to be around. Harley is responding well to treatment and will be neutered once he is healthy enough to undergo surgery.
A court date has been set for May 10th and the previous owner will be charged with no tags, having a dog running at large, and animal cruelty. Harley will consequently be unavailable for adoption until then.
Monday April 10th
Harley weighed in at 123.4 pounds last night, which means he has gained another 4 pounds this past week. We will be making an appointment for him to see Dr. Wood tomorrow because he started having blood in his urine again. We believe it may be a stone, so please keep the good thoughts coming his way. He is now drinking regular water and is eating wonderfully. Cindy is taking him on regular walks to help build some muscles and Harley is walking much better now. He has a long way to go, but so far so good!
Wednesday, April 12th
Harley visited the vet today for
a follow-up visit. He recently started vomiting and having diarrhea, in addition
to the blood in his urine, so we were very concerned.
We had to do a urine culture and Dr. Meyer felt that he needed an x-ray as
well. The x-ray revealed that he has an enlarged kidney. They will have the
full interpretation of the x-ray on Monday and the urine analysis will be
done tomorrow. Dr. Meyer wants to wait and see what the results show before
we decide on when to start his heartworm treatment. We are anxious to get
him on the road to recovery!
Harley did lose some weight unfortunately, but, that's to be expected with
the vomiting and diarrhea. On a happy note, none of his recent medical challenges
have dampened his spirit! He is still quite the love and tries to sit and
shake for whomever he meets!
Monday, April 17th
Harley is doing really well and feeling much better. According to Cindy, he is a pure joy to foster! He wears out pretty quickly on a working walk, but he is gaining strength and building muscle. Harley is eating well and drinking plenty of water. His stool is loose, but not diarrhea like we had a few days back. He weighed in at 128.8 lbs yesterday, which is wonderful news. Harley will have his first heartworm injection tomorrow, so everyone please keep him in your thoughts.
Wednesday, April 19th
Harley had his first heartworm injection today. He is now resting comfortably. Dr. Wood gave him some pain medication before the injection to make sure he was comfortable the whole time. Cindy went to see him at lunch and took him for a short walk, which he enjoyed. Dr. Wood saw a spot on the chest x-ray that has him concerned but, not concerned enough to stop the treatment. Other than that, he is responding to the treatment very well so far and should be able to go home tomorrow.
Thursday, April 20th
Harley is doing wonderfully and
was released from Meyer Veterinary Hospital yesterday. He really perks up
when he sees Cindy and obviously loves her. He was so happy to finally get
to leave and return home with his foster mom.
Harley was sent home with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medication.
His next treatment should be scheduled for 30 days from today.
The cigarette burn is healing and the hair is growing back. He still doesn't
have the best muscle tone, but it is getting a lot better. In the pictures
he looks much lamer than he really is. He seems to stand more awkward than
he walks and runs. He had no problem loading up in the truck, so we appear
to be making progress in the strength department. A little good food, exercise,
and lots of love and support go a long way!
Wednesday, May 10th
Today was the court date for Harley's
previous owner. As part of her plea in court, she agreed to pay the $2500
cruelty fine and has stated that she does not want Harley back. This is very
exciting news!
There will be another court date for both parties to agree on this plea. The
fines for animal at large and no tags are very minor, so the cruelty charge
was the most important. The district attorney is going to also try to get
money for vet care.
The next court date has not been set, however, we expect it to be in the upcoming
week or two. Once the plea has been agreed upon, Harley can make his way to
Colorado and is one step closer to going to his forever home.
Harley has a vet appointment scheduled for Monday for a prostate exam and
blood tests to see how he is progressing after his heartworm treatment.
Friday, May 19th
Harley weighed in at 136.7 this week! He is continually walking better and he actually barked the other day. He also met Magoo and seemed to be happy to have a new friend. Dr. Wood would like to take an x-ray at this point, after all of Harley's problems with blood in his urine. He is pretty sure that his prostate isn't the problem and that he may possibly have a bladder stone but, he would like to do the x-ray to rule one or both of them out. The time has come for his second heartworm treatment, so we will be scheduling that soon. Still no word on the next court date, but we'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, May 23rd
Harley had his second heartworm treatment yesterday. Dr. Wood said Harley did great and is resting comfortably and doing quite well. He took an x-ray this morning of his prostate and there were no bladder stones and he could not see the prostate, which is very good news! We still don't know exactly what is causing the blood in his urine, but we do at least know that it is nothing life threatening and Dr. Wood is not overly concerned now that we have ruled out cancer and stones. He also said that he doesn't see any problem with taking him to his new home after he is released from the hospital, as long as the new family will keep him quiet. We will be talking to his forever home and hopefully lining up his placement this upcoming weekend if all goes well!
Thursday, June 1st
Harley went to his forever home with Cindy, Joe, and their two teenage children. He has five other dogs and three cats to play with and all but one were rescued, so he is in wonderful hands. His new mom is an animal control officer at the shelter where he was taken and it truly was love at first sight. After fostering him and helping him through his recovery, Harley had developed a very special bond that could not be broken. He has found his forever home where he will never suffer again and he will be loved and pampered, just like he deserves!
June 12, 2006
This is Harleys new bed he got today. He has a lot of trouble getting up off the dog bed pillows on the floor so his new mom has been looking for something that would get him off the floor. She really thought he would be hesitant to step up into this bed and mentally figured how she would show him and then physically place his feet, one at a time, up onto the bed. Not even a concern! As soon as she got it set up for him, and led him to the bed, without hesitation he stepped right into the bed and promptly plopped down in the middle of it. He has been using his bed for several hours now, and he's been in and out of it often. He can pretty much just 'roll' out of the bed; it's perfect for him. Here's him snoozin' in his new raised bed.
July 21, 2006
Today was the court date for Harley's former owner. She plead guilty to cruelty and was fined $2075. She paid $1075 today and has 5 months to pay off the rest. If she fails to do so, she will have to go back to court and could be sent to jail. The rescue should be receiving approximately $1800 of this fine as restitution once this money has been paid in full, which is wonderful news! We are very happy that the former owner has accepted responsibility for her actions and has to pay the consequences, even though it is hard to feel any better about the suffering Harley had to endure. At least we can focus on his happy ending!
August 1, 2006
Harley crossed over the rainbow bridge this morning. He was surrounded by Cindy, her husband and kids, and Amy. He went very peacefully and is no longer suffering. Over the past week or so, Harley had completely lost control of his hind and front legs. The doctor believes that his spondylosis finally took over and crippled him and 250mgs of Rimadyl couldn't even touch the pain. We are incredibly grateful to Cindy and her family for giving Harley a wonderful forever home where we know he felt very loved and was spoiled rotten for his final days!
This page last modified on August 1, 2006
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