Roxy 18-101
At a Glance #18-101
| Golden Retriever | Born: May 2017 |
| Female | 60 lbs |
Status: Adopted
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Thursday, February 7, 2019
After almost eight months in our home while overcoming some serious medical issues, Roxy was finally ready to find her forever home. This sweet girl stole our hearts, but we knew there was a family out there that needed her as much as she needed them. She found the most perfect family and is living the dream with a doting mom and dad and three canine siblings.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Roxy has been doing just fantastic and is ready to start the next exciting chapter of her life—finding her forever home. She was spayed this week and is doing so well leaving her incision alone. We have been able to only use the cone when we are not at home, but otherwise, she sports a fashionable t-shirt that covers the site and she just leaves it all alone.
Roxy has been successfully weaned off of prednisone and her blood levels look great. We started weaning her off the mycophenolate 2 weeks ago and her first blood check looked good. She will have another check at the beginning of December and if everything still looks good, we will reduce one more time before another blood check and then she will finally be off all medications.
Even though this slow weaning may take a while, we can begin looking for a family for her. I am very optimistic that she will continue to do well.
As I stated in the previous update, Roxy is a changed dog now that she is feeling better. She is happy, playful and very energetic. She loves playing and going for walks, and will need the opportunities for all of these in her forever home. Since we work from home, she has not been left for longer than 4 hours at a time.
I would like to find a family that does not work out of the home for a full work day. Or, at least someone that can slowly transition her to being left for longer periods of time.
Finally, since she has been in our home for almost 6 months now, I would like to find her a home close to ours so that she can have a more gradual transition to her new home. This would also be helpful for her to continue with her blood checks at her current vet as she finally gets off the medications.
For now, while Roxy does not require a fence, if there is not a fence she will need to be outside with her people on a long lead. We have been working on her recall and it is getting much better, but if a squirrel or bunny is seen, all bets are off and she is very focused on them and pays no attention to us.
Roxy is such a wonderful, beautiful girl and we are excited to begin looking for a perfect family. She deserves the absolute best.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Roxy has been in our home for almost 5 months now, and the changes in her health and personality are huge. Because she was so ill when she came to us, she could not walk for long distances and seemed to prefer napping to playing. She was as sweet as could be, but did not act like a typical young Golden.
Now, that has all changed! She is a very energetic, typical young Golden who lives for her walks - the longer the better. She loves to play with other dogs, and finds immense joy in emptying her toy box and playing with each and every treasure. Stuffies are still her absolute favorite and if they squeak, that is even better.
Roxy is now completely off prednisone. We have a recheck at the end of this week to make sure her blood counts are holding steady and if everything looks good, we will begin the slow process of weaning her off the mycophenolate. Her vet wants to make sure the first reduction goes well and if it does, she will finally be ready to be spayed and be available for adoption.
There will still be about a month after her spay of weaning her off the drug, but we can begin looking for her forever home. The best holiday gift she could receive is a home of her own.
Roxy would like a home that is very active and with people who will take her out on lots of adventures. Multiple long daily walks are a must. While she does not require a dog in her home, she does love playing with other dogs and it would be great if she can be around other dogs.
Dog parks may not be the best for her, as she is a bit particular about what dogs she likes and she prefers to be the instigator of play. Like almost every dog, she should still have controlled introductions to other dogs.
Once they meet and greet and get to know each other, it is game on and she will play non-stop. Oh, and Roxy would like me tell you that she would really appreciate a very full toy box, a comfy bed, and an endless supply of squeaky stuffies.
I will update again once we have a time set for her spay, but I am really hoping she will be available to accept applications within the month.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Roxy had another checkup last week and we received some good news. Her blood cell count levels remained stable and we are now decreasing her prednisone once again. She is on track to be completely off of it in about a month.
She will have another re-check in a few weeks to make sure she is doing fine with the decrease is dosage, but I am very optimistic. Once she is off the prednisone, she can begin to be weaned off the mycophenolate, the second drug she has been on since May. When she is finally off all of the medications, she can finally be spayed and ready for adoption.
It has been very obvious that Roxy is feeling so much better, now that she is coming off the steroids. She is really becoming a typical 18-month-old Golden and loves to run and play. As she is getting more energetic, we switched her over to a harness for her walks, and that is so much more comfortable for her.
Stuffed squeeky toys are one of her favorite things and she almost always has one in her mouth. She continues to lay in her favorite spot in the house—on the bay window—and watch all the activity happening outside.
Roxy loved being at Goldzilla and had a great time. I was a bit worried, as she can sometimes be a bit reactive with dogs who are more rambunctious and don't allow her to get the "sniffs" in first. But she did really, really well. She even found two pups who engaged in play with her.
Since our resident girls are both seniors, they do not play much, and Roxy loved the chance to wrestle and play with these new friends. We were really excited to hear that one of Roxy's puppies was at Goldzilla and we had the chance to have them meet.
Last weekend we got back up to the cabin and Roxy was so excited to jump in the car and go.
After a day of swimming, running and exploring, she was exhausted and laid down to finish her dinner. The fresh air and exercise led to a deep sleep that night.
Monday, September 3, 2018
Roxy has been doing great. We began weaning her off of one of the medications for the autoimmune diseases about a month ago. She did well with the initial decrease and her blood levels remained stable.
The next decrease was going well, but soon after she started vomiting, had diarrhea, and became very lethargic. I was concerned that it was related to the decrease in her meds, and she was seen immediately by a RAGOM vet.
Multiple tests were run to see what was causing her symptoms, and it turned out to have nothing to due do with this; it was the equivalent of the "stomach flu" in humans. It took about a week of a bland diet, but this wonderful girl is completely back to normal and on track to a healthy life.
Last week's blood levels supported a further decrease in her meds, and we are hopeful this trend will continue.
In the meantime, Roxy continues to be an absolute joy. She even attended a fundraising event and met a lot of new people and did great.
While she may still be a month or two away from being healthy enough for adoption, Roxy is looking forward to Goldzilla next week and meeting more new people.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
It has been far too long since Roxy's last update, and there is a lot to report. Roxy continues to be such a joy. A couple weeks ago she spent the weekend at another foster's home and did just great.
I was a little nervous because she can be vocal in telling other dogs that they are invading her space, and there was a dog, a young beautiful boy named Douglas, in this new home she was going to have to live with for a few days.
We had them meet about a week before going there by going on a walk together, and Roxy seemed fine with Douglas. The day I dropped her off, she walked right into the house and just ignored Douglas. Over the course of the two days, the two of them got along just fine.
As Roxy begins to feel better, we are seeing more and more of her playful side emerging. She absolutely loves her "stuffies" that squeak. She has not destuffed any of them but seems endlessly entertained running around the house squeaking her toys.
Roxy has even begun play bowing, trying to engage our two senior Golden girls to play. Sadly, they are not much in the way of players so have not taken her up on her invitation. This weekend we have a former foster staying with us for a few days who loves to play, so hopefully we will finally see her become comfortable enough with him to actually play.
While Roxy is getting more goofy and playful, we still do see that she tires easily. Her favorite places to lie around are on the cool tile floors, or, most recently, she decided that the coffee table was a perfect spot for a nap.
We continue to make weekly trips up to our cabin, and Roxy has come to love it there. She spends hours in the water swimming around and just loves to lounge around and enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere.
This weekend, she finally was brave enough to try out the pontoon. She was apprehensive about getting on the boat and immediately hit the ground when the motor started, but after a bit, she relaxed enough to get up and look around.
Now for the most important update—Roxy's health. And the news is good.
About 3 weeks ago, Roxy went to see an internal medicine specialist, as she was not responding to the medicines for her immune diseases as expected. Her platelet level had rebounded, but her red blood cell count was not yet in the normal range despite almost 6 weeks on the medications.
Additionally, she was not gaining weight as expected with the amount of food she was eating. It took us about 3 weeks to get into this specialist, and I was so surprised when we checked in and got her weight to find that she was finally gaining weight and was sitting at a very comfortable 57 pounds.
Her blood work also looked good and the decision was made to begin weaning her off of the steroid she was on. Yesterday we had a follow-up exam to check her blood work again and were so happy to see that all of her levels are remaining stable. So we are decreasing her dose again and will recheck blood work again in 2 weeks.
I am just so happy to see her getting better, and I can tell she is feeling better. She still has a month or two before she will be off all medications and can be spayed, but I am very optimistic she will be just fine. She is a very young girl and so deserves all the good things that are coming her way.
Friday, July 6, 2018
The week before Memorial Day, RAGOM received a call about a very young Golden girl who had given birth to a litter of puppies. She and the puppies were hiding under a trailer on the White Earth Reservation. Rescuers were finally able to coax her and two of her puppies out, and they were transported to a RAGOM foster home.
Roxy was still nursing her two puppies when she came in, but once they were weaned, she came to our home. She has now been with us for over a month and she has fit so seamlessly into our household.
Yet she is still experiencing some medical issues, and that is why she has not yet been available for adoption. And she will not be available until she is healthy.
Roxy visited the vet almost immediately upon entering RAGOM. In addition to being very underweight, she also tested positive for two tick-borne diseases: Lymes and Anaplasmosis. We had thought that with a course of Doxycycline, she would be fine.
Unfortunately, a few days later she was even more lethargic and was not eating. A blood test revealed that her platelets were virtually non-existent and her red blood was almost as low. She was rushed to an internal medicine specialist to evaluate if there was a way to save her.
She was diagnosed with two auto-immune diseases. One of these attacks the red blood cells and the other attacks the platelets. She began medications in hopes that they would help her body begin to fight this. Over a month later, we are so happy that her platelets have rebounded and are now in the normal range.
Unfortunately, her red blood cell count, while it is has improved a lot, is still not in the normal range and has plateaued. Two weeks ago, we began giving her a new medication with hopes that she can continue to improve. If this works and she is finally in the normal range, we will begin slowly weaning her off the medications and hopefully her counts will remain stable.
While Roxy is battling these diseases, she does not act at all like she is sick. She is a happy, sweet, playful girl and is so easy going. During the summer, we spend a few days each week up at our cabin, and this has become her favorite place to be. The minute we get out of the car and hook up her long lead, she is off to the water where she enjoys going for a leisurely swim.
She is in and out of the lake all day and I can safely say that Roxy is very much a water girl. As much as she loves the water, I think that she just really enjoys the peace and quite there and spends much of the day napping in the sunshine listening to the loons.
Here at home, she also loves being outside, but does feel it is her duty to be on critter patrol. She chases rabbits out of the yard and squirrels up into the trees. She also really loves going on walks where she sees new sights and smells new smells.
Walking her is one area I can see that she is not yet 100% health-wise, as she does not have a lot of stamina, and about a mile at a time is her limit right now. So we do multiple walks a day to make sure she gets out and about.
In the home, Roxy is also perfect. She is a bit of an opportunistic counter surfer and does beg shamelessly for food when we are eating, but those are about her only "bad" habits. We are working on both of these and she is getting better. Maybe she is still just always hungry, although she is being fed a lot of food everyday. She still needs to gain more weight to be at her ideal weight.
Roxy has yet to meet a person, young or old, that she does not love. She is always respectful in her greetings and just wants to be petted.
She has done well with dogs we meet out and about, but she is a little reserved/nervous when dogs visit us in the home. After a bit, she is fine, but she needs just a bit of time to adjust. Our two resident Golden girls were here when she first came, and she has never had any issues with them. The three get along wonderfully.
Until we finally get Roxy healthy, she will not be available for adoption. I am also not completely sure of what her ideal home would look like. I want her to be completely healthy and feeling better to see if she becomes more typical of a year-old Golden Retriever in terms of energy and playfulness. But we will keep updating to let everyone know how she is doing along the way.