4/27/21 – Please welcome Gordo. Gordo has been living outside for some time now, but his owner turned him over to us today. His bloodwork tells us he is anemic, but that is likely due to blood loss from being covered in fleas. He is malnourished and has a skin infection and dry eye. He needs to be neutered and he is heartworm positive. He also has an irregular heartbeat. Long term neglect has caused a lot of problems for Gordo, but we are committed to helping him feel better. First thing’s first—we’re going to love on him and try to get him to gain some weight. The cardiologist is going to see what’s going on with his heart. After that’s figured out, he’ll be neutered and then he’ll undergo heartworm treatment.
5/11/21 – Gordo saw the cardiologist today for an exam, ECG and an echocardiogram for his arrhythmia. Some of his heartbeats are originating in the lower part of the heart (ventricle) instead of the top part of the heart (atrium). These abnormal ventricular beats can be caused by a variety of causes including structural heart disease, cardiac inflammation (myocarditis), electrolyte abnormalities, drugs/medications, or disease in the belly. The echocardiogram showed some mild right-sided heart enlargement but no significant heart disease. Given his breed, the abnormal heartbeats could be due to a type of heart disease called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), secondary to heartworm disease or secondary to non-cardiac disease. As this time we do not know the exact cause of his arrhythmia. For now we will continue to monitor for increasing breathing rate or effort, exercise intolerance, lethargy, increased abdominal distention, inappetence, and episodes of collapse. We will move forward with his surgery then his heartworm treatment.
5/13/21 – Gordo has surgery today and went well; he had not issues under anesthesia. He was neutered, had his palate shortened, saccules removed, nares widened and had two masses removed. We are sending the masses off for biopsy. He also needs to have entropion surgery on both eyes but we need to do that another time. He was under anesthesia for a long time today and we did not want to take any chances with him being under any longer. He will have this surgery in a few weeks. Once he undergoes his second surgery he will begin his heartworm treatment. He has a long road ahead of him but we are committed to getting him all the help he needs to live a long healthy life.
7/17/21 – Gordo has been adopted. Congrats Gordo and Hope!
approximate age: 2
approximate weight: 50 – currently underweight
likes dogs: we are told he is good with other dogs
likes cats: we have not seen him around cats
likes kids: he seems to be fearful and reactive towards the one child he met so he will not be placed in a home with kids
food: Taste Of The Wild, Pacific Stream
lifelong medications: none
Bully Bag Sponsors:
Carol Robertelli, The Foy Family, Amy Grubb
