Bruce Wayne had his first round of heartworm injections on Monday, and the vet emphasized that he must be kept quiet and not allowed to run around after his injection. As the heartworms die off, their bodies break down and may begin to circulate in his blood stream. If Bruce gets too excited and gets his heart rate up, the little pieces of worm could lodge in his lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism.
Once of Bruce’s favorite activities is sitting on the ottoman in front of the big picture window at the front of the house and watching for critters, pedestrians, and delivery drivers. Every one of those offenders gets him very worked up when they come into view, and he races back and forth, barking his little head off. Thus, the window must be covered.
I tried using painter’s tape since duct tape would damage the pain on the walls, but that didn’t hold the curtains in place very well. I thought about taping newspaper over the windows, but that would look terrible from the outside of the house. Finally, I settled on sewing the curtain panels together from waist level down, then nailing the bottoms and sides to the wall with small finish nails. The holes left behind from the nails will be easier to fix than patches of paint ripped off the wall by duct tape.
Even with keeping the windows covered, Bruce Wayne does not want to be calm. Because of the injections, he is not getting a nice long walk after dinner, and he is not chasing the ball around the back yard. We can’t even engage in a vigorous tug match with his favorite toys. Overnight, we have become incredibly boring dog owners, and he has told us his opinion of this new development.
Add into this mix the fact that he is also on steroids, taking little white pills twice a day this week, then tapering down for the next three weeks. Take a Jack Russell Terrier mix, who is already quite twitchy, add high dose steroids, avoid any aerobic activity, and wait to see how long it takes before he explodes.
When we put him in the crate, he attempts to dig his way through the floor. When confined in a small space, he twirls, chasing his tail endlessly. He has recently begun a passionate love affair with his dog bed, vigorously humping it to burn off excess energy. I’m afraid he’s going to hump himself to death.
We’ve dosed him with CBD treats to take the edge off, and one of us keeps him under constant surveillance. I’ve tried giving him enrichment such as a snuffle mat, chew toys, treat-filled Kongs, puzzle toys. Each one works for five minutes then he’s back to levitating across the room with his pent-up energy.
He is scheduled for his second injection thirty days after the first, and we will continue to keep him quiet for sixty days after that injection. In total, he will have ninety days of quiet time. We will get through it and then he will be cured. In the meantime, we’re trying to keep him entertained but not over-stimulated.
One amusing discovery is the area the vet shaved for his injection. Bruce is a little white dog with black markings, but underneath the white fur is speckled skin. This shaved spot makes me think of packaging that has a window to reveal the contents to the shopper, like a box of macaroni that lets you see the noodles within. Here, we see the contents of the little white dog package is actually a speckled pup!
Dawn Levitt, Author 