 AUGUST 21 , 2024 Meet Baxter! 💙Baxter was found by a Good Samaritan running stray on the streets in southern Mississippi. The poor baby was hot, filthy, matted, stained, tick and flea infested, with his tear gland prolapsed out, and with no microchip or ID. He had to be shaved due to the thick matting, and when no one came forward to claim him, he was transferred into our care so that he could get the care that he desperately needs. On Monday, Baxter underwent his full intake vetting. We obviously have no records on him but believe he is about 5 years old. He is typical in size and weighs 17 pounds. He has bacterial skin infections due to the parasites, filth, and matting that he is being treated for with both oral and topical medication. We are also treating him for ear infections. His tear gland has prolapsed, as you can see. This gland is responsible for the majority of his tear production and so he now has secondary “dry eye”. He will soon be meeting with an ophthalmologist where the tear gland will be surgically repositioned back in place and tacked down, and the secondary dry eye condition will be treated with eye drop medications. His knees, hips, and heart are congenitally sound and thankfully his tick borne illness test, fecal test, urinalysis, and bloodwork was surprisingly all normal and negative. HOWEVER, He did sadly test positive for heartworms 😞 and will be undergoing heartworm treatment. Lastly, he will need a neuter and much needed dental cleaning. His titer tests were negative and at this point we are thinking this poor dog has likely never received any kind of vet care 💔Baxter certainly landed where he needed to to finally get the help and care that he has obviously been denied. We will begin to chip away at tackling his long list of needs and be sure to take you along with us on his journey 💜 Baxter is being fostered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana 🏡 where he is settling right on in. You may even spot the Goose 🪿 in some of his photos as he is his foster brother!

 AUGUST 27, 2024 Yesterday, cute little Baxter visited with our ophthalmologist in Mandeville, Louisiana regarding his prolapsed gland and secondary “dry eye”. Baxter has started on a tear stimulant drop to help stimulate increased tear production and is scheduled to undergo surgery on 9/10 to reposition and secure his prolapsed gland back in place ✔️ Tomorrow he undergoes his neuter and much needed dental ✔️ Poor Baxter’s got a bit of a long road ahead 🚘 , as he will undergo heartworm treatment after his surgeries, but we will get him there, and it will all be totally worth it 💜 Baxter is being fostered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana 🏡

SEPTMBER 10, 2024; Baxter has had a big day! He underwent an eye procedure with our ophthalmologist to reposition his prolapsed tear gland and anchor it back down into place. His procedure went very well and he was a perfect patient, of course! 🩵 He will return for a recheck in 2 weeks to ensure he’s all healed up before he starts his heartworm treatment. 
Brave Baxter is back in his foster home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana resting 💕 and recovering ❤️‍🩹 and also hunkering down ⛈️

OCTOBER 8, 2024: Yesterday, handsome Baxter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana returned to the ophthalmologist as it’s been 2 weeks since his tear gland repositioning procedure. He still has some swelling at the suture site where the gland was anchored down in place, but the gland is still in place and all is healing well ✔️
Next week is a big week for Baxter as he will receive his first (of 3) heartworm treatment injections 💉 to kill the heartworms that are attacking his heart and will eventually kill him if not treated 💔 Treatment is no fun and we are sad that Baxter has to go through this, but we know his foster family is going to give him lots of extra TLC 💕 We will be sure to let you know how he’s doing next week after his treatment 🙏🏻

When Baxter’s on rest, everyone’s on rest 💤💕 Heartworm treatment is a team effort 🫶🏼 #TeamBaxter

NOVEMBER 9, 2024: Rest up, Baxter! Yesterday, Baxter (tri) had his third and last heartworm treatment injection 💉 These are painful injections that go into his back muscles to kill the heartworms that are infesting and damaging his poor little heart 💔 Without treatment, the heartworms would kill him. Thankfully, he made his way to us in time 🙏🏻Now, Baxter rests for 30 days while the heartworms continue to die and then he will go in for a microfilaria test which checks to be sure there are no immature/baby heartworms still present, while the adult heartworms take longer to die off. Baxter, being fostered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana has been a real trooper through treatment and we SO look forward to this all being behind him 💜

DECEMBER 10, 2024: Handsome Baxter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana recently completed heartworm treatment and yesterday he went in for his microfilaria test. Microfilaria are immature heartworms 🪱 and we are hoping for a negative test results to show that we have successfully eradicated them at this life stage. Unfortunately it takes quite some time before the adult heartworms are fully broken down and no longer detectable and so he will not undergo an antigen test for adult heartworms for awhile.
As you can see, heartworm treatment is very lengthy and certainly no fun for poor pups like Baxter who were denied affordable, effective, and safe prevention. We are looking forward to hopefully a negative microfilaria test and eventually a negative antigen test so we can finally close the book on heartworms 🙏🏻