Giles Express, Part 1

"Meet me at the ER with all the cash."  That was the message relayed to Rebecca Braker during a phone call. Rebecca was not thrilled. She was in the middle of cooking dinner, hot and sunburnt, and worn out after coordinating an event the weekend before. However, as much as she did NOT want to meet up at the ER, she loves dogs and will do anything for them!

Word was just received by Cyn Mobley, President of At Risk Intervention (ARI).  She'd been told of an elderly greyhound, dumped by its adoptive owner and suffering greatly from neglect, which was on the verge of dying.  Little did Cyn know that she would quickly be overwhelmed at the response that that one badly neglected, black greyhound would elicit.

Giles Express On Intake

On Monday, July 2, two people went to Knoxville Animal Control and attempted to turn in two dogs - a sick Shih-Tzu and a Greyhound.  The Greyhound was emaciated and infested with fleas.  He had so many fleas that his skin was crawling.  His fur rippled from the movement.

Fleas on the rear of Giles Express on Intake

The people claimed that the dogs were strays, however, the shelter workers recorded the greyhound's ear tattoos and found that the people were actually the dogs' owners.

ARI took immediate ownership of the greyhound and had him transported to the Knoxville Pet Emergency Center. On intake at the ER, he weighed 56 lbs, down from his racing weight of 73 lbs, and his hematocrit (1) was 11.  A hematocrit that low is NOT conducive to living.  His gums were not just pale... they were white.  Giles received a blood transfusion and, post transfusion, his hemocrit went up to 17. The Vet said that's about as good as he could have hoped for but it was still a long, long way from the normal greyhound values of 45-65%. (2)

Giles Express on Intake, Note the White Gums

Capstar was given, orally and rectally, to eradicate the bloodsucking fleas. One thousand (1,000) fleas died and fell off of him and it was only a drop in the bucket. 

Dying fleas on the blanket and on the dog's face & legs

Dying fleas on the blanket around Giles Express

To aid his labored breathing, he was placed on oxygen. A lot of his bloodwork was wonky and it was feared that the lack of oxygen in his system may have damaged his internal organs: the liver, the kidneys, and the heart. 

Giles Express - Bath to Remove Dried Blood & Fleas

Doing as well as could be expected and as much as could be hoped for at that point, he was still a long way from being out of the woods. The vets pulled him back from the brink. However, in truth, he was down to hours of survival... at best. The ER had done all it could do.  Now, it was a wait to see if he'd survive the next couple of hours and, hopefully, the night.

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1) Hematocrit or Packed Cell Volume (PCV) - Provides information on the amount of red blood cells (RBC) present in the blood. Decreased levels means anemia from hemorrhage, parasites, nutritional deficiencies or chronic disease process, such as liver disease, cancer, etc. Increased levels are often seen in dehydration.
2) "Making Sense of Bloodwork in Greyhounds" by William E Freeman III, DVM; C. Guillermo Couto DVM, M. Cristina Lazbik DVM, and Liliana Marin DVM; Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University.