On Monday we got a frantic call from the nun who cares for the Temple puppies saying Foxy is very ill and can't walk.  We rushed her to our local vet who confirmed she had a very high temperature and thought she had tick fever..  Sadly our vet has no blood testing facilities to confirm this.  We brought Foxy to our Centre and put her in her old pen where she'd stayed as a sick tiny puppy.  Foxy has never been strong.  The next day I kept her hydrated and started her Doxycycline treatment whilst also organising to take her to Kasetsart Hospital 200ks away in Hua Hin.   She started to eat a tiny amount of food and drank some water but she was still shaking and unable to walk.  On Wednesday we arrived at the hospital where Foxy was weighed and her temperature checked.  Happily her fever had abated.  The vet examined Foxy's back legs to make sure she hadn't got any bone or muscle damage.  She then decided to take a blood test to confirm if she had got blood parasites.  Little Foxy who is only 5 months old and recently neutered was such a good patient.  She never struggled or wriggled even when her blood was being taken.  We had to wait an hour for the results to come through which confirmed that Foxy had got blood parasites and her red blood cells were very low.  We were happy to learn that all the other readings of her blood were normal as we had got her to the vet quickly before the blood parasites had done more damage.  It's  bad enough that they have already attacked her muscles making her paralysed.  I asked the vet if Foxy would be able to walk again but she would'nt commit herself.  Foxy took her medication last night and this morning and I'm very happy to report that she was able to sit up and stagger a few steps.  It's too early to know if little Foxy will be able to walk normally again but she is obviously responding well to her medications.  She has to return to the hospital in Hua Hin on March 12 so she has a long way to go before that date.  In addition to the medicines prescribed by the hospital Foxy will need food rich in vitamins, additional vitamins and de-tick/de-flea treatment to make sure she stays free of parasites and regains her strength. 

Just over a year ago we found Cake swaying on her legs unable to walk at the Temple.  We rushed her to the vet who confirmed she had blood parasites.  I started her treatment immediately and a few days later blood was pouring from her nose and mouth.  We pulled her through a long illness and it was 4 or 5 months before she started to eat well.  A month ago I noticed her stomach looking very droopy and swollen.  I prodded it and it sloshed around as if it was full of water.  The vet didn't think there was a problem but we treated her with diuretic meds and iron tabs.  She didn't improve and I felt she was even more swollen.  So we took her to Hua Hin yesterday with Foxy for a thorough check up and blood test.  The vet gave her an ultrasound check and the screen showed many black areas denoting water.  The areas were mostly in her stomach and around her intestines iindicating there was a leakage A blood test was then done to ascertain what was causing this and the results were quite alarming.  First Cake had blood parasites again.  I was horrified.  Secondly her red blood cells were very low and so was the protein in her blood.  The vet explained that this is due to liver damage.  Thank heavens I took Cake for this check up before she became seriously ill again as I know she wouldn't survive a second bad attack of blood parasites.  The vet said many of Cake's organs including her liver and kidneys are damaged from the first attack but thankfully not yet seriously yet.  Cake has been prescribed tablets for her liver together with Doxycycline, iron tablets and medicine to strengthen her immune system.  She has also been put on a diet rich in protein including 2 hard boiled eggs a day!  It will be a long haul for Cake's organs to completely recover if they ever do and I'm extremely concerned about this second attack of blood parasites. She is in great danger at the moment.   Cake will be returning to Kasetsart Veterinary hospital with Foxy in a couple of weeks for a further blood test hopefully showing a great improvement.Please support us by helpiing with the medical costs of lovely Foxy and Cake to ensure a speedy recovery from their serious illnesses.  Blood parasites are probably one of the biggest killers of rescue, street and Temple dogs in Thailand.