Lola 11-430 [1]

Sponsored by:

“In memory of Judy Lilledahl”

December 27, 2011

Lucky little Lola joined our RAGOM family on December 22nd, just in the nick of time to ask Santa for a present. If she asked Santa for someone to take care of her, I have to say Santa granted her wish, and none too soon. Lola is a very sweet, petite, 55 pound, 3 year old pure bred female Golden Retriever. She is a medium brown in color and is smaller in size. She is not spayed and is now up to date on vaccines other than one booster needed in a couple of weeks. Lola has had a very eventful week. She and a 4 month old puppy were found by a Good Samaritan running loose in southwestern Minnesota. The Good Samaritan took both dogs home hoping to find them both homes or their owner. She ended up surrendering Lola to RAGOM after a couple of days because Lola and the resident female dogs were not getting along. We suspect Lola was being protective of her pup who stayed with the GS. So far Lola has gotten along fine with all the dogs she's met. She also gets along fine with humans, loves to be petted and gives sweet kisses.

Lola's first stop as a RAGOM dog was at the vet for a routine exam, blood work to check for parasites/illness and vaccinations. Other than being underweight, having a poor quality coat, hearing a possible heart murmur, and pending lab results Lola was said to be in ok health. Because Lola needed to be picked up immediately from the GS, she caught a ride to Stone Mountain where she was placed in boarding while she waited for an available foster home.

All of our dogs have their routine medical exams and so waiting to hear on the lab work is normally just a formality, rarely do I give it a 2nd thought. Unfortunately for Lola the lab work results were anything but routine. Lola is heartworm positive. Lola has had her initial work up and we are optimistic for her future. X-rays did not show any heart or lung changes so the vet feels the worm load is low which is very good news for Lola. We will have the results of her blood work tomorrow and are hopeful those will be normal as well. HW can cause anemia and kidney damage so lab tests are done to make sure the HW has not caused problems already. The vet did hear a heart murmur again but does not feel it is related to the heartworm disease. We will need to do an ultrasound of her heart to make sure there are no issues. Lola will have the ultrasound before she begins her treatment. We have started Lola on antibiotics to prepare her for the start of her treatment. Heartworm treatment is painful and can cause deadly complications. Lola will need to be kept completely quiet during her treatment, usually 2 months or so. She will need to be crated or leashed 100% of the time and her only exercise will be leashed trips outside for potty breaks. Heartworm treatment is also expensive and is preventable with a monthly preventive medication. Lola will be unavailable until she completes her heartworm treatment. She is not available to meet any applicants at this time.

Please help Lola's Christmas wish come true by considering a sponsorship in her name or by donating to her care. I know she asked Santa for someone to care for her. So far her wish has come true, let's make it a real Christmas miracle for lucky little Lola. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Lola would like to express her heartfelt thanks to her sponsor for the donation in memory of Judy Lilledahl. It is because of people like Judy Lilledahl that RAGOM is able to help dogs like Lola. Donations have helped RAGOM save more than 430 dogs in 2011 alone!! Thank you for your generous donation.