Orion is improving with lots of TLC

Orion is doing really well. His big achievement was becoming brave enough to venture into the house about four days ago. We had carried him in when he was first here, but he didn't like being indoors at all and had remained living in the backyard and the garage (where we carried him) at night. Anyway, earlier in the week, I was walking inside from the yard and turned to close the door behind me, and there was Orion with his big paw on the step. He walked up and came gingerly inside. Now, of course, he only goes outside to relieve himself!!
He likes looking out the front windows at the goings-on in the 'hood. He loves lying on the various dog beds in the living room, and although they are extra-large, he can't fit his whole body on, so either his butt or his head lolls on the floor. I bought two queen-size egg crate foam pads and put them down for him with a quilt, so he can stretch out completely, without rolling off!

I took him to the off-leash park yesterday and he loved it. I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to make it all the way around the circuit, but he did, and he wasn't overly-tired afterwards. His stamina has greatly improved.

His other milestone is that he had a bath in the back yard last night, so he is clean and relatively fluffy. He tolerated the process much better than I thought he would.

My biggest dilemma is that he has practically every disease/parasite, but I don't want to give him too many drugs. Right now, I am treating the Lyme's and the Giardia only. Unfortunately, the Lyme's medicine decreases appetite, so he is not gaining as much weight as I would like. It's a trade-off, because his joints are better, which could be a result of the Lyme's treatment. Once he is over the diarrhea from the Giardia, hopefully, he will gain more weight.

His favorite foods are hamburger and cottage cheese, and his eyes light up when he sees his big silver bowl coming four times a day.

Of all our dogs, he chose the 12 year-old Dachsund, Darwin, to be the focus of his first (and only) play attack. He put his giant paw and maw on Darwin's back and was not received gracefully. Darwin squealed in terror, and scared Orion to death!

His drooling is much reduced now that he is feeling better, but I remain vigilant on drool patrol after he eats and drinks.
He is scared of the camera, so getting pics is a challenge. One has to pretend not to focus on him and hide the camera while shooting, but I have attached two photos taken on the fly.

DeeDee

The Saint

Lauren's comments from the May Spay/Neuter Clinic

Mike and I drove up on the weekend for the last part of the spay/neuter clinic. It was a great experience for both of us as this was our first clinic. The volunteers and medical staff all worked so hard for the many animals that were brought in. One animal in particular really pulled on my heart strings.

Barney was brought in by his owner who wanted him to get neutered. Even at 104 lbs., this St. Bernard was so underweight that he could barely even stand on his own. His shoulder blades, ribs, and hip bones all protruded through his thick coat of fur. Barney was so weak that his large head hung low and any movement took great, pain stricken effort.
Barney was set up on a pile of blankets where we fed him hourly. Even though it took a lot of effort for him to eat, he gobbled it all up. He had to be lifted on to a rolling cart in order to take him outside to go to the bathroom. From the way he hobbled around, it was obvious that his joints were causing him severe pain.
Looking into his sad, droopy eyes almost broke my heart. To make him feel better, we cleaned his dirty ears, picked easily over 100 ticks off his skin, and brushed him. Even though he did not have enough energy to wag his tail, we could all tell that he loved having his head and ears massaged.

The vet determined that Barney is heartworm and Lyme disease positive. His joint pain may be due to the Lyme’s, so hopefully that will improve when he is treated for the disease.
We transported Barney down to the cities, where DeeDee will be taking good care of him in her home. He deserved a new name for his new lease on life, so now he will be going by Orion. It will be a long road to recovery for this boy, but hopefully one day he will be the statuesque St. Bernard that he is meant to be.

-Lauren

NOTE: Dogs like Barney that come to RLRR in such terrible condition require expensive medical care and long-term TLC before they can find a forever home. Red Lake Rosie's Rescue is an all-volunteer organization, entirely dependent on donations to continue this work. Any and all donations of time, money, supplies, etc. are greatly appreciated. These animals don't have a chance without our help.

Denise

UPDATE FROM FOSTER HOME:
We have named the Saint, Orion. I have attached a photo of him on his pile of quilts bed.

Last night, we finally saw a glimmer of improvement, and this morning, too. He sleeps 99% of the time, but gets up to eat three meals a day and to slowly cruise the yard while anointing everything. Even deathly weak, he is an intact male! He even lifted his leg on the chair in which I was sitting.

Most of the time he can rise on his own, but he still needs help sometimes. He has learned to cry for us to come and help him when he can't get up, which is fine except for midnight, 2am, 4am, etc. His joints are very painful, but his foot is getting better.

He is sooo sweet and loves having his ears rubbed. His body is still too painful to touch, though. He likes all of the other dogs, especially the little ones, who aren't too sure about him.

Thanks for saving him.
DeeDee-