Jasso's vet visit

Today was Jasso's vet visit. It was probably the first time since his retirement that he saw a vet and he was long overdue. The skin scraping showed no demodex, which is one good thing. He tested negative for all the tick borne diseases, and his blood work was mostly pretty good. His ears were badly infected as is his skin, which we knew. He's strongly heartworm positive, but he's not in good enough shape to have the treatment at this time. He's got some issues in his mouth, probably a bad tooth or two, and some sort of growth. That can all be dealt with when he's under anesthesia for xrays and neuter, but the heartworm disease needs to be addressed first.

He rides beautifully, but I guess that was what he did most
of the time when he was working.

We came with with a few bottles of medication, an antibiotic for the skin infection, and prednisone to reduce the inflammation in his feet, legs, and joints, and to help prepare his heart and lungs for the heartworm treatment. That will be done in two stages and even the first stage of that is several weeks off. Right now he needs to gain weight and get the skin and ear infections under control. 

I know he looks forlorn in all his pictures,and he was a bit
nervous the vet, but really he's beginning to perk up.

He was good throughout the process and was happy to accept make up treats from the vet tech after it was all over. He came home and had a big second meal of the day and the first of his oral medications. He and Summer both need another bath, but I think we'll wait until tomorrow. 

He came up and put his head in my lap when we
were waiting in the lobby.

He's very thin, but a couple of
weeks of good food will begin
to change that.

It makes people angry when I tell them Jasso's story of abandonment and neglect, and it should, but I realized today it doesn't really make me mad. I suppose it's because I'm so jaded that people being assholes doesn't surprise me anymore. But also, I'd be angry all the time if I allowed this to get to me. In a way, Jasso is a lucky one. He got out of North Carolina, out of a situation of neglect, and I've personally promised him that there will be no more white trash in his future. He's not living at the end of a chain and he never will. We aren't going to be able to fix all his problems, but I hope we can give him a vast improvement of his quality of life. 

The drive home. I have to help him get in because he can't
push with his rear legs to jump, but he hops down on his own.