Dexter's Journey so far

January 15-Dexter made an 11 hour trek from Spokane Washington (SpokeAnimal Shelter) to Bellingham, Wa to meet the transport to take him from SpokeAnimal's care to the care of Without Borders Boxer Rescue in BC, Canada.

Once he arrived in his foster home he was bathed to remove all the old scabs and dead skin. His skin is covered with sores that are infected. He had his dinner of turkey and rice and was started on a battery of supplements both internally and externally.

January 16-Dexter's first order of business is to visit the vet who has agreed to come in on a Sunday morning (his day off) to check our sweet boy over as we realized in the light this boy was in rough shape. Dexter was diagnosed with a severe case of demodex mange (we were aware of this before hand), a grade 3 out of 5 heart murmur (which we hope may be a 2 out of 5 when he's back to being healthy), kidney infections, bladder infections and a urinary tract infection. He has secondary skin infections to most areas of his body. His legs and feet are swollen and bleeding from the open sores. His ears are open and bleeding. He is started on strong antibiotics and a mange treatment is put in place.

By afternoon he is not doing well. He is very weak and wobbly on his feet. He is unwilling to get up and is limp in our arms when we move him. Gallons of water in, gallons out. He doesn't even know he's peeing and will often pee himself lying down or stand up and just let go. We are very concerned. Although we are doing all we can Dexter just doesn't seem to have the fight.

In the evening Kerri a WBBR volunteer arrives with the honey and together we wrap the worst part of his infected body, ears, head, feet and legs.

January 17th-Dexter had a very quiet day. He was quite disconnected from the people around him. He spent the day cuddling with his foster sister. He had little appetite and was urinating constantly.

January 18th-Today's the day Dexter has decided to fight along with us. The spirit has returned to his big brown eyes and he's got some spunk there to prove it. I walked in at lunch time and there was Dexter standing his crate looking at me. As I looked back he started barking and pawing to come out. Once out he gave a little playful dash towards one of the other dogs in the house. He stood behind me for almost an hour as I cooked up another batch of his home cooking and ate an entire helping without thinking twice about it. He enjoyed his bath licking every part of himself as the water flowed over him. The New Dexter has arrived and now we are ready to go!