Meet Snowflake.

[AndyS]

Snowflake is a stray. She is living under an unoccupied single wide trailer home about two blocks away from me. I pass her twice a day as I walk my dog Jack and at first she was belligerent towards Jack so I took some treats with me to disarm her. Seems she is very hungry. The second day I teased her to take one from my hand and she made defensive moves and put her mouth on me--not biting but defensive and afraid. It took two more days to get over that and now she comes to me and lets me touch her. In another day or so I may be able to get her to follow me home. I'm hesitant to put a leash or collar on her as her neck is raw from being chained, she may not take well to it.

My question to all of you is, beyond a rabies vax, what minimum DIY treatment should I give her to protect her and Jack? There is a low cost clinic that Pelican Bay hosts 4 times a year but that is Dec 2 and I want to do what I can 'til then.

Gotta' go now to the Woman's March in Ft Worth and will check back after noon. Thanks guys.

[secondwind]

1. Aww, she deserves someone caring like you!

I don’t have the answer for you, though. Would love to hear how this plays out. She’s very beautiful ..

[spooky3]

2. Deworming treatments and preventives may be needed.

Good on you for rescuing this poor pup!

[Duncanpup]

3. You are a good person Andys

[The Polack MSgt]

4. Thank you for helping that beautiful pup

Assuming no cough or discharge from her nose or eyes, fleas would be the most contagious thing to protect against.

You'll want to keep Snowflake away from your dog and your carpets until you can be sure she's not infested

If there's a self serve wash station I recommend using it or at least washing snowflake outdoors since the fleas will be hopping off as you wash.

Other than that - A generic Neosporin type of ointment for her neck and generic Bufferin for discomfort will let the healing happen.

Add some regular food and a place to sleep that feels safe and secluded until she's used to being in a home setting is a good plan too.

Good luck AndyS you're doing good work here

[Me.]

5. Are You Adopting?

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Take snowflake to the vet

First stop.

That dog deserves better - so glad she caught your attention. Poor sweetheart

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Snowflake is a beautiful abandoned dog, and she's so lucky you found her!

Best of luck in whatever you decide, dear Andy.

[Bayard]

8. Another poor abandoned pupster

So glad you found her, Andy, and want to help her have a good life.

Can you get her through that gate? I wonder if the ASPCA, or even cops, would bring one of those long snag sticks to help you get her, and put her in a crate in your car. She may even just walk into a crate with food in it, if you then have a friend that can help you hoist the crate. I wouldn't hope for her to just follow you home. I wouldn't even take her home until she is de-flea'd, vaccinated, and wormed. I'd be willing to send a few bucks to your vet.

She looks like a Good Girl, if given a chance. Kudo's to you!!

[slightlv]

9. Thank you for wanting to help her

for wanting to give her a home. I do it for cats. I hand it to you. I've done it recently for one large pup. I recently just healed from the broken leg he gave me (not intentionally!). Dogs are harder, I've decided. This one looks like a real sweetie. But you can see the sadness in her eyes. I agree, the vet is the first stop... especially since you already have a dog. You don't want to unintentionally pass on anything to Jack.

There should be a special hell for anyone who abandons or mistreats an animal. I know they never want to do it when I'm around. I may only be 4'9" but I can turn into a KS tornado of sheer rage when it comes to defending a critter. You'll have to bail me out of jail when it's all over!

Best of luck and all blessings upon Snowflake and your endeavor. May Jack help you ease the way between the three of you!

[SheltieLover]

10. Not DIY, but heartworm test & preventative!

Ty for helping this beautiful pup!

Ps - do not give preventative without a test though. If positive, she will need 30 days of doxicycline prior to heartworm treatment. (It kills some parasite that lives on the heartworms.)

[SheltieLover]

11. If she has fleas, she could likely have tapeworms, per my vet - DIY treatment

Apparently, they get tape worms if they swallow fleas.

Here is name of drug my vet told me to get - it is OTC:

https://www.drugs.com/vet/tape-worm-tabs-for-dogs-and-puppies.html

[Karadeniz]

13. Deworming is vital! And get some healthy food into her! Just as a booster, she could use about a

cup of canned pumpkin or grated carrot with a couple of raw egg yolks mixed in. Just carry it on your walks.

A heartworm test is recommended before monthly prevention. You don't need the expensive pharma products. You can just buy their active ingredient... IVERMECTIN!!!! Yes, there's a legitimate use for the stuff! You want the 0.08% solution drench for sheep. Available at any feed store or online. Buy the smallest amount because you just use a dab for heartworm. For a dog 30-58 lbs, you only give .2 on a 1 cc
Syringe... That's next to nothing! We squirt it on a bite of bread and give it as a treat.

Bless you for doing soul work!

[SheltieLover]

14. Do NOT use heartworm med without test - can kill dog!

If positive, dog needs 30 days of doxicycline treatment BEFORE heart worm preventitive meds, to kill off a parasite that lives on the heartworms!

Had a Pittie show up here about 3 years ago, loaded with every parasite imaginable, including heartworms. Poor pupper!

This is what vet told me & what we did.

We are doing "slow kill" treatment, which is preventative monthly, to keep new heartworms from hatching, and of course preventing reinfection.

This pupper is so hyper he would have to be knocked out cold for 6 months after the very pricey heartworm treatment. (Heartworms break up in chunks when shots kill them & any hyper activity can cause them to go into lungs & kill the dog, so this is the treatment plan we have settled on.)

[Karadeniz]

15. I stated that.

[SheltieLover]

16. Just reiterating for Andy

Poor pupper.

[niyad]

12. She is such a sad-eyed little beauty. Thank you for wanting to rescue her. The others

have given you excellent advice.

May the ones who did this to her receive everything they deserve.

Blessings to you and your Jack.

[George McGovern]

17. What niyad said. Now, have you talked to Jack about all this?

[AndyS]

18. As soon as I can get the fleas under control he can make a connection.

He is more active than I can satisfy and it may be time to get him a companion.

She let me get close enough to ruffle her hair and OMG it's like stirring a fire ant bed!

I keep a supply of Capstar on hand for 2-25 lb dogs, gave her two of them mixed with some of Jack's food. We'll see how she looks tomorrow and maybe by Monday she'll be ready to follow me home. Hopefully flea free??? We'll see . . .

[George McGovern]

19. Slow but sure. Sounds like she has seen some trauma.

Is Snowflake the name you've given her?

[Duppers]

20. I'll kick in $ with Bayard's offer above.

Do you intend to keep her or find her a good home? Depending on her reaction & Jack's, of course.

[Random Boomer]

21. Please please have her scanned for a chip

There are any number of ways she could have ended up a stray, and one of them was that she was lost/stolen from her original family and ended up in an abusive situation.

[femmocrat]

22. Great advice.

IMO, she should be rescued first by a no-kill shelter to be screened. Taking on a “stray” is a huge responsibility.