This is the face of Advanced Heartworms

Meet Livy, she's only about 7 years old. A Border Collie this age should be in their prime, full of energy and full of life. It's not unusual for them to either be working as a herding dog or actively competing in dog sports way into their teens.

Instead, this girl was found panting and disoriented on Thanksgiving day and she could barely stand. The good Samaritan that found her took her to an emergency clinic. Her breathing was labored, she had a fever, and she could barely stand up. Radiographs were done that showed that her lungs were full of fluid, and her heart was enlarged. She was taken to the local shelter and when her stray time was up, Border Collie Rescue, Tx took her in. She was overweight, partly from retaining so much fluid and she was covered in mats. It was obvious that she had been an outside dog, but her foster found that she was crate trained and housebroken.

Initial blood tests were done immediately and showed some irregular readings in her liver values. But worse than that, the heartworm test showed a very high heartworm count and the damage to her lungs and heart indicated that she has been heartworm positive for a long time. Border Collie Rescue spared no expense and began treating her aggressively, hoping to get her well enough for heartworm treatment. Every day, she was getting weaker and the violent coughing was racking her body, she had a fever and her tongue was turning blue from lack of oxygen. This was all despite proactive daily vet visits and medications. She was on steroids, antibiotics, codeine cough meds and Lasix for her heart. After a weeks time and this treatment, she could hardly lift her head or walk 3 feet. She was admitted to the hospital and was put on IV fluids and meds. After a couple of days, Livy was dying from the heartworms, she wasn't going to get well enough for treatment, so as a last resort to save her, the vet gave her a heartworm treatment. It's no doubt that her spirit and will to live got her this far. We will continue to help her and fight for her life. Her treatment will take months and is very risky, every day she survives gives us hope.

The saddest, most ironic part is that heartworm prevention costs only about $7-10 a month. Instead, Livy is suffering constantly and her treatment will cost into the thousands of dollars. There's also a very high risk that the damage is too great and she cannot survive the treatment. Waiting to see if a dog gets heartworms to take action is not only expensive but very dangerous for the dog. Death from heartworms is not quick, a dog suffers immensely, they go into congestive heart failure and slowly deteriorate until they go into cardiac arrest.

As with any of our dogs in Border Collie Rescue, we will do whatever it takes to save Livy and give her a quality life. Her care and treatment will be very expensive and donations are not necessary prior to treatment, but any donations will help us to continue to provide care for all the dogs that come into our program, and it is tax-deductible*.

Please read the updates on Livy's treatment and keep her in your hearts and prayers.

Click here if you would like to make a secure online donation

* All donations will be acknowledged by a letter of receipt. Border Collie Rescue Texas, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation registered in Texas.