Joey’s life had a tough start – His journey began after being dumped at a shelter in South Carolina infested with lice.  For that reason alone, the county wanted him put to sleep rather than pay for Frontline Plus to treat the lice.  Thankfully, a dedicated volunteer refused and made sure he got the necessary lice treatment making it possible for Joey to travel to Helping the Helpless pet rescue.  Because Joey was so young the harsh lice treatment led to Joey’s immune system being compromised, and as a result he developed demodex, a condition affecting the skin and causing complete hair loss.  By the time the shelter volunteers tried to begin treating the demodex, Joey broke with Parvo, a viral infection resulting in vomiting blood and a 90% death rate.  Joey surprised us all and made a full recovery from the parvo with not long term effects!  It was now finally his time to travel north, and begin the necessary demodex treatment.

                When Joey finally arrived in PA his foster mommy was so excited to see him.  But something just wasn’t right.  Less than a week after arriving in PA, Joey crashed.  Unable to hold his head up, he was rushed to the vet.  Joey’s temperature was very low, and his heart was barely beating.  The vet felt he was shocking and dying.  His foster mom refused to give up and Joey was admitted to the hospital.  Amazingly, Joey beat this scare as well and came back to his foster mommy!  Joey did however continue to have a persistent cough  and with all he had been through chest x-rays became necessary to rule out pneumonia.  The x-rays did rule out pneumonia, but revealed Joey may have had an enlarged heart.  As a result Joey went to see a veterinary cardiologist who performed an EKG and ultrasound of his heart.  As it turns out Joey did not have an enlarged heart, but rather an irregular heart beat so at times, such as when the x-ray was taken, his heart has more time to fill with blood and looks enlarged.  The appt also revealed that Joey was two mildly leaky heart valves.  These two findings pose no problems to his health at this time.  Joey was cleared to be neutered and is fully of life and energy.

                Once Joey turns a year old, he will need to see the cardiologist again for the same tests.  This is because dogs don't have a mature heart until they reach one year of age.  The irregular heartbeat could resolve itself as Joey's heart matures.  However, the valves will not resolve themselves.  They will be something that needs to be monitored through out his life, but if they remain as they are now they will not effect Joey's abilities or life style. Joey will surely live a long healthy life full of love and playtime! 

 *Update - Joey was adopted in April 2010 by a wonderful and dedicated family.  Joey continues to grow, flourish and play with his canine wife Milly.