Hira is *infested* w/ tapeworms. The worst that Dh or I have ever seen, and this is not, as they say, our first rodeo. Over the past several decades, we have had gotten many dogs with tapeworms, but not like this.
I generally worm the cats once every 6 months, except for Henry who doesn't go out - him once a year, and the dogs once a year, just before they go back on their preventative at the end of May, beginning of June. (We only have mosquitoes here from June to October.)
Which means that I had Krypto's wormer onhand already, in anticipation of his upcoming worming. Not that he has worms. Well, he didn't anyway...
So, Dh dug up a platter sized area in the front penned area where she'd done her business, and disposed of it in a hole that he dug, then put cat litter in after it. Then, we immediately gave her the wormer, (it has 3 medications in it, covering 4 common types of worms.).
I would have liked to have wormed Krypto at the same time since she drank out of his dish and so forth, but that was all that I had. So, I made a call, and should be getting his tomorrow, or at the latest, Tuesday morning.
No fooling around about this. If you think that I don't like ticks, well, I loathe worms. They are disgusting.
Now I know why she is irritable and hungry. At least her person said that she will overeat - no kidding. She did eat her breakfast well.
She is also too thin when you touch her, and her fur is course and unthrifty. You can really tell when you touch it. Especially side by side with Krypto who has plush fur that feels great.
But, while she had all of those ticks from her day loose on Friday, she has no fleas at all.
She's has been so much more active since yesterday, though it looks like the wormer made her a bit blah, and she's lying quietly again. She sniffed at Henry, looked at Krypto's ball, and waited for Dh to go and get the food at one of Krypto's waiting spots, looking out the big plate glass windows on the south, in the kitchen. Usually, Krypto reserves that for when someone's walking by there, which isn't too often. He prefers, because he's so tall, to stand up and look through the top half of the kitchen door, which has glass on top in a diamond pattern.
And, speaking of size...
We had to estimate Hira's weight to worm her, and we came up with 40 lbs. soaking wet, probably more like 35-40. She's too thin, and will probably gain to 50 once she no longer has worms and continues to eat 2ce a day. This compared to Krypto's 90 + weight, and as you saw in his snow photos, he's not overweight, according to the vet.
She's about 1/3 smaller than he is overall. I'd say that she's 1/2 his size, but she's probably a little larger than that. But, definitely smaller. She's a petite shepherd, and he's a large one.
I hate to be firm with a new dog who's had such a rough time, but we are having to be about the door. She wants to dash out of it, and if she chooses the wrong door to do that at, it could be dangerous to her, should she get out and run off.
Well, hummingbird food needs to be made. We have 2ce the number of birds that we did only 2 days ago, and it looks like there are 3 to 4 species now. They've apparently told all of their friends where the all-night diner is.
Maybe a nap after that. We've been having late nights and early mornings.
Responses
Love All Life, Thank You For Posting! :)