Last week, I wrote about the stray Golden Retriever that came up to us on Christmas day.
Well, Katie took him to the vet today. As soon as he heard Rufus’ story, the vet guessed that Rufus had heartworms1. Apparently, a lot of people abandon their dogs when they test positive for heartworms: either the owners think the dog is a goner, or they don’t want/can’t pay for treatment, which can be quite expensive. In either case, just dumping the dog is a poor choice (don’t get me started!).
A heartworm test was one of the reasons we took Rufus in to the vet. Sure enough, he tested positive. Fortunately, our country vet only charges $3002 for treatment, and he thinks that little enough damage has been done to Rufus’ heart that he’ll have a full recovery.
1 Heartworms are very common in this part of the country, and all dogs should be given preventive medicine.
2 He said that other vets charge up to $1000.