Day 27 - First Day Inside

Written by Mason

We let Cooper socialize with the animals in the main room today. He would follow Atlas trying to lick his face.

As time went on he started nipping at Atlas' face and at one point Atlas had laid  down. He let Cooper bite him for a while but then Cooper started to bite Atlas' leg. Atlas responded by barking which temporarily scared Cooper off but it was only for a little while. Atlas also almost sat on Cooper one time and when he realized Cooper was at his feet he started growling. Overall though Atlas was very well behaved and seemed to be trying to let Cooper know what his limits were whenever he barked or growled.

The cats and Cooper acknowledged each other but didn't really interact with each other which is much better than fighting

Cooper fell asleep next to my foot before I carried him back to his crate to sleep so we wouldn't have to actively watch him.

Day 26 - Moving In

Written by Mason

I had worked out of town the previous days but was working at home today. I usually take Cooper out for long feedings and today was hot so the two of us hung out together in the shade while I petted him.

When Erin got home today was bath day. We had planned on moving Cooper in from the garage to the inside when his conditions had cleared up. We also felt it was getting important to get him to start socializing with us and our other animals. The temperature outside and predicted for tomorrow also necessitated getting him into the air conditioning so he didn't start overheating. So while Erin was giving Cooper his bath I moved the crate to our bedroom.

When I got done I went outside and Cooper was drying walking around the side yard. When I came out he started following me so I walked around the back of the fenced area and he continued to follow me. We were able to get Cooper to walk all the way around the house. Now that he was dry and finished exercising it was time to introduce the little guy to the inside. I carried him in and let him meet Atlas, Smokey, and Purrkins (Molly's Cat.) I then carried him to his crate for the night. All the animals checked in on their new roommate sniffing and licking him through the crate. He did very well not making noise all night and didn't seem stressed.

Hopefully, his health and behaviors will continue improving so maybe we can start playing with him.

following around the house

greeting Atlas

greeting Smokey

finally inside

Day 23 - 4th Vet Visit

Written by Erin

We took Cooper to the vet this morning for the 4th time. He is doing remarkably better, even since just last week. We increased his food intake over the past week, and boy did it work. He gained a full pound! We will still continue to feed him large amounts as he is still underweight. We went ahead and ordered another case of yummy food. His temperature had also gone up since the last visit. It was still low at 98 degrees, but that is much less worrisome than 94.

Much to his displeasure, Cooper had another skins scrape taken from his forehead. This involves scratching the skin with the edge of a blade until it barely starts to bleed. The skin mites hide deep down in the hair follicle and this is the best way to try to find them. Cooper is very good at the vet, and he never shows pain. He just ducked his head down. At first the techs couldn't find any mites. After a repeat skin scrape and more extensive searching, they found one demodex mite. He may still have mange, but it is close to being gone. The skin on his head and tail base is still rough and bumpy, so I suspect there are still mites hanging around in those areas. Perhaps you can tell in the picture below. We will continue giving ivermectin (medicine) for another few weeks, just to be sure.

Next, they took a look at some fresh poop under the microscope. The coccidia are finally gone! This means I will discontinue the banana flavored medicine. They did find 3 unusual shapes in the poop, and they had me take a look. They had smooth edges and were very small. They had a teardrop shape with a small clear end, making me think of another type of coccidia. They could have also been some type of debris, like pollen. The microscope didn't have very high magnification, though, so it was hard to get a good look. Due to the scare from last time, we decided to take the fecal sample to the diagnostic lab at UGA for them to take a look. I got a call a few hours later that the sample was negative. Either the unknown shapes were just debris, or they couldn't find any.

Finally, Cooper got his second DA2PP vaccination. He has improved so much that we do not need to go back to the vet for 3 more weeks when he will get his next DA2PP booster and his rabies vaccine. In the meantime, we will start giving him 2 baths a week to help clear up his skin. It is much smoother than 3 weeks ago, but he still has several scabs distributed all over his body. I sometimes touch him without gloves now, but the scabs and greasy hair are not fun to touch.

Cooper had a lot more gusto today. Both this morning and this evening he trotted after me as I walked through the yard with his food bowl in hand. He even ate from the bowl while I was holding it. Mason and I have been trying to get him to do this for the past few days, but he usually just stops a few feet away and gives us hungry puppy eyes. If he sees us as a source of food he will trust us more.

After eating, Cooper saw Atlas at the fence. He went trotting towards him with his tail wagging and head stretched forward. It was adorable. This little puppy really likes Atlas. He even barked at him the other day. You can see his tail swaying in the picture below.

After Atlas ran off, I again squatted down and called Cooper. He usually stops 2 feet away, but this time he was just a few inches away. He was soooooo close! He could've stretched his nose out and touched my fingers. I will be very excited on the day he decides to come all the way.

Day 21

Written by Erin

Today was a normal day. Normal eating, normal peeing, normal pooping, normal tail wagging. Another friendly visit with Atlas. Another deer ran by. We may start to do less frequent posts now that Cooper is over his biggest humps. He still has a long way to go before he's a fully normal puppy, but he won't make many magical improvements in a day. We are amazed at the progress he has already made. Just compare the pictures from today to those from the first few days. 

Day 20 - A Little Shadow

Written by Erin

Little Cooper seems to be trusting me more now. He followed me around today. When I went to pick up his poopie pile, he was walking towards me wagging his tail. I patted him and continued towards the target which was still several feet away. After I bent down to pick it up, I turned around and Cooper was sitting behind me. I rewarded him with more pets. I then went inside to throw away the baggie. Next, I came outside to pick up his empty food bowl. He again met me with tail wags, and again he was sitting at my feet when I turned around.

As I went back to the garage to throw away the bowl, he was following me again. I waited for him at the sidewalk by the garage. He came up to within a few feet of me as usual, and then sat down waiting for pets. I decided I'd give him extra attention. I put a towel in my lap, and put him on my legs to cuddle while I rubbed him all over. He started up sitting, and he seemed to be a little nervous. After just a few minutes, he lay down, put his head down, and took a little nap. He really seemed to enjoy when I rubbed his head. While we were there, a little chipmunk walked across the sidewalk in front of us. Cooper lifted his head to watch. When the chipmunk continued on his way, Cooper just put his head back down.

It seemed to be very hot in the garage yesterday. Even though Cooper has battled hypothermia, we found him panting a few times. We pointed a fan at one end of his crate. We still turned on the heat lamp before bed, just in case it got cold in the morning. We had the fan at one end and the heat lamp at the other so that he could decide where he wanted to sleep. We will leave the fan on at all times so that he never gets overheated.

Day 19 - Dog Visitor

Written by Mason

Morning feedings this weren't too eventful besides Cooper almost eating a yellow jacket.

However, this afternoon after feeding Cooper I tried to get him to play with his raccoon or tennis ball. I had no success but while I was making my attempts a neighborhood dog who gets walked off-leash decided to pay us a visit. The dog got within a few yards of Cooper but probably because I was there wouldn't approach any closer, not that I would have allowed contact. The dog's owner started calling but instead of immediately leaving the dog decided to sniff around and went into our garage. At this point I had to chase the dog off.

I have mixed opinions of dogs off-leash. I come from South Georgia in the country where many dogs live and roam free. In fact, we have had stray cats and dogs become pets and all have continued to live outside. We did have some problem dogs who eventually ended up with an electronic fence. This freedom makes me not want to overly criticize letting the dog off-leash but I have come to understand that social norms are different in neighborhoods. Since there are numerous other wild animals that can cause damage or poop in a yard including stray cats and dogs, raccoon, squirrels, etc I think it is up to a homeowner to avoid leaving things out that might be a problem (garbage, food, etc.) So in my opinion it is okay for the guy to walk his dog off-leash (since it is not an aggressive dog and seems fairly well trained) but he should be able to monitor it, call it out of yards if needed, and bag any poop.

Day 18 - Encounters with Wildlife

Written by Erin

Apparently Cooper didn't warm up to his heat lamp last night. Hehe. Mason checked on him around midnight, and he was hiding in the corner of the crate. He moved the heat lamp so it wasn't pointing over Cooper's bed. Later Cooper was back in his bed. His tongue had a slight pink color this morning, but it was still very pale.

When I stepped outside to place Cooper's food, I saw a wild rabbit in the yard. I ran to get my camera. In the meantime, Cooper was outside searching for his food. The bunny stayed in place for a little while before running away. I was surprised at how close it let Cooper get. Then again, Cooper isn't much bigger than the rabbit was.

As Mason was preparing Cooper's lunch, I peeked into his crate. He was resting with his head on his new raccoon toy. It made me smile. He may have just thought it was part of the towel, but it was still sweet.

Just before Cooper's final feeding, I saw a young deer in the backyard. I went onto the deck to take pictures. It strolled right on through Cooper's area. We frequently see deer around the house at that time of night. We saw a few last night as we were bringing Cooper outside, but they were farther away and they ran off as soon as they heard us. Now we have seen a dog, cat, rabbit, and deer in Cooper's area. Along with countless birds and squirrels. It's a good thing he didn't really have the raccoon roundworm to spread around!

Day 17 - Meeting Atlas

Written by Erin

Cooper had another slew of firsts today! The morning feeding and potty break were normal. We are lucky that he is in the habit of walking out of his crate, across the yard, devouring his food, peeing, then pooping. It was chilly this morning and I noticed the pale color of Cooper's tongue as I gave him his medicine. I guess it had always been that color in the mornings, but I just assumed he had a pigmented tongue. I didn't realize how pale it was until I compared it to his pink tongue that I saw yesterday when he was panting. Since he loses his body heat in the early morning, we bought him a reptile heat lamp. We will keep it on during the nighttime so that he can stay nice and toasty.

Mason handled the lunch duties because I was at work. He texted me to let me know that Cooper walked all the way back to the garage again. He was in the habit of doing this when the food was only 15 feet away from the garage door, but we moved his food much farther away last week, and since then he hasn't made the journey back. He usually just sits down at the other end of the yard when he's done with his business. We are glad he is now walking around more, and apparently still knows the way to his bed.

When I got home from work, Mason was in the middle of giving Cooper his evening meal. Mason came to greet me in the driveway as I got out of my car, and he then rolled the garbage can down the driveway since it got picked up today. I was headed towards the front door when Mason stopped and yelled, "he's running!" I promptly walked back around the corner of the house, only to see Cooper walking at a normal pace. Mason started rolling the garbage can again, and this time I saw Cooper start trotting away. It wasn't a full run where an animal leaps in the air, but this was definitely the fastest we'd seen this guy move. We tested the theory by stopping the trash can and re-starting it again, and we got the same results. He was scared of the noise, but at least he has energy to run now!

After the running incident, I went inside to put my stuff down. I then went into the backyard with our dog, Atlas. I walked over to the edge of our fenced backyard just to watch Cooper and Mason. Atlas walked over with me and leaned against my legs as he watched too. When Cooper saw the 2 of us, he stood up and walked over to us while wagging his tail. I should mention that he now wags his tail at me whenever I approach him and talk in high pitch puppy voices. When Cooper got to us, he stuck his nose through the diamond holes in the chain link fence so that he could sniff Atlas. Atlas lowered his head to sniff the strange being that he had gotten glimpses of over the past 2 weeks. When their noses met, Cooper licked Atlas! He did this repeatedly, and Atlas didn't really like it. He stayed next to the fence, but he preferred to sniff the grass instead of the puppy. Cooper looked like he just wanted to cuddle with Atlas and steal his body heat. I was delighted by the successful encounter, so I ran inside to grab my camera.

sniffing

During the final feeding of the day, I went to stand by the fence again, but this time I was in the side yard with Cooper. He once again came over to visit Atlas. Once Atlas ran away, I walked to the other side of Cooper and called him to me. He wagged his tail and came within 2 feet of my extended arms, but then he sat down. This was the second time he'd done that today. I don't think it will be long before he comes all the way.

We decided to spoil Cooper today, so we went shopping for him. He is finally gaining more energy and getting healthier, but he stays alone in the garage all day without any mental stimulation. We went to the pet store and got him 3 toys - a mini tennis ball, a rubber nylabone, and a stuffed raccoon to honor his unique story. When we checked on him an hour after placing them in his crate, the bone had been moved across the crate. Hopefully these toys will provide him comfort. And hopefully he won't ruin them with pee!

Day 16 - 3rd Vet Visit

Written by Mason

Since Erin was busy at work today and I was working from home I was in charge of taking Cooper by the vet. This was my first visit to a vet and I found the staff very friendly and still very interested in the little guy.

Cooper has only gained 2 ounces since last week so we are going to increase his food intake to 1/2 can every 4 hours 4 times a day. Hopefully this will help him perk up by getting a little more food in him. The only concerning news was that Cooper's temperature was 94.3 degrees F and they double checked with a separate thermometer. A healthy range would be closer to 101.5 degrees F. He is probably losing a lot of heat because he is so little and doesn't have very much hair. It gets chilly in the mornings when the grass is covered in dew. While we were there another fecal check was done and they found a moderate amount of coccidia so we were given so more albon. Otherwise, it was a very good vet visit as he is improving.

panting puppy

During one of Cooper's feedings we caught him grazing through the grass and when we went to stop him we find that he is eating deer droppings. Apparently he still has the taste for poop so whoever ends up with him if they have a cat will have to watch the litter box. He also looks healthier since he has started panting. Almost seems like the little guy is smiling when you look at him now instead of a look of pain, fear, and distrust. The panting means at least he isn't cold all day long.

Cooper's last feeding of the day right as it turns dark resulted in me running into our neighbor. He was watering some plants next door so we talked a  little bit. Later when Erin approached Cooper he started growling. He didn't do it for very long but we guess in the dark with strange men's voices he had flashbacks as we suspect guys were the ones who shot him. She called me over after the neighbor left to see if he would do it again. I slowly approached him as I crouched like a scary man and he growled at me too.

napping in the shade

Day 15/Weekend

Written by Mason

I got back home on Friday after working out of town all week and was very pleased to see how much better Cooper was looking. His skin and hair looked amazingly better and when I had left previously he was still bloated which had since retreated.

I went ahead and burned the new spots in the yard Erin had marked as being poop locations and redid a few older spots. Since his roundworm has cleared up and the diarrhea has stopped we aren't flaming new spots. Just bagging it like normal poop.

Otherwise, it was a very uneventful weekend. We were gone most of the day Saturday so we had someone come feed him during the day. On Sunday my younger brother Jake was over but Cooper really didn't require much attention. Just continued to feed him on his normal four hour schedule.

On Monday, Cooper got another Ketochlor bath before his visit to the vet tomorrow. He never whined or really tried to get away but you could tell it was not his favorite part of the day. His skin is looking a lot better but there are a few patches that haven't cleared up yet.

I'm so thankful for Erin taking care of Cooper since I picked him up she has handled the burden of care for him very well. I'm still not comfortable handling him with his skin conditions but I think I'm mainly trying not to get attached. Wherever he ends up at the end of the summer I hope there is a chance I get to see his progress over time.

Day 12

Written by Erin

size perspective

Cooper lays down in his cage all day, and he barely walks when outside on his food breaks, so I decided to make him walk a little more. I placed his food about 30 feet farther away than usual. He sniffed around in the area where it usually was for a little while. As I was walking by him to go back into the garage, he wagged his tail at me again. He was hoping I had food in my hands! By the time I came back out from the garage, he had already found his food bowl. After eating, he just sat down and didn't walk back.

walking to his food

Later that evening, Mason got home. While we were outside with Cooper, we had a visitor. A kitten was in the neighbor's backyard. He was very curious and came up to us. After I petted him for a while, he wanted to go see Cooper. We let them get within a few feet of each other before separating them. We have seen this kitty around in the neighborhood a lot recently. He enjoyed some more pets and belly rubs from me before carrying on his way.

kitty visitor

Day 11

Written by Erin

"please don't pick me up"

 
Today was a typical day. Cooper is eating well. He starts to bark when he is hungry too. We are stretching his feedings to every 4 hours instead of every 3, and I think he is adjusting well. Cooper's diarrhea seems to be going away, and he is also pooping less frequently. This means easier messes to clean! He pees in his cage a lot, but he prefers to potty outside. This morning I left the crate door open to see if he would come out on his own. It took him several minutes, but he eventually tip toed out when he thought I wasn't looking. I had my back turned away as I drew up his drugs, but I was peeking. When he got to the garage exit, he couldn't step down the stair. He had to do a little jump! It was very cute.

Later in the day, I opened the crate door, then I went to put his food bowl in the middle of the yard. When I as on my way back, he was already out of his crate and about to jump down onto the sidewalk. I hope he continues to exit on his own like this. It means we won't have to crawl halfway into his crate to pick him out and carry him outside.

so skinny

Day 10 - Messy Puppy

Written by Erin

I had a field trip with school today, so I had my good friend Jen come take care of Cooper around lunchtime. I was very worried that he'd make a big stinky mess for her since he hadn't pooped since 5 pm the night before. Much to my surprise, she reported that she only had to clean up a pee stain. While this was good for her sake, it meant he was saving it all for me....

When I got home, I opened the door to the garage and got knocked in the face with the horrid smell of puppy diarrhea. Normally, we keep the door to the garage open during the day for ventilation. Since nobody was home today, I kept it closed. This hot, closed area is not ideal for containing smells. I immediately put Cooper outside while I tackled the war zone. It was really just a single giant pile of mushy poop, but Cooper had stepped in it and painted brown footprints all over the crate. Poop even got into his water bowl. This was the first time he had finger painted. Up to now he had been clean with his poop. I had to hold my breath while I cleaned. There was one point that I gagged a few times. I was just hoping my dinner was going to stay in my stomach. All the while Cooper was sitting in the yard just watching me.

I let Cooper stay outside for a while today. I figured he could use the fresh air after being in the garage with his mess all day. He walked around a little while, and then he took a little nap in the sunlight. I was hoping for another tail wag today, but I think it will be a while before he does it regularly. He still crouched as I approached him, and he even tried to walk away from me. He would probably run if he could.

nap time

Day 9 - Vet Visit #2

Written by Erin

Mason is out of town for the next few days for work, so I am on full puppy duty. Since Cooper has been sluggish the past few days, I was delighted to wake up to him barking this morning. He was sitting up and ready to go to the vet for his first week check-up I guess.

ready to go to the vet!

At the vet, Cooper had another fecal float and skin scrape taken. Good news - all the hookworm and roundworm eggs are gone. Bad news - the coccidia have taken over. This just means that Cooper will continue his banana flavored medicine. I don't think he'll mind. More good news - there weren't any scabies mites found on the skin scrape. This doesn't mean there aren't any left, as they are harder to find on skin scrapes, but this is a significant improvement compared to the flooded skin scrape from last week. We did find another type of mange on the skin scrape though. Demodex. This type of mange is not transmissible to humans, but it is much harder to get rid of. There are 2 ways to treat this mite. One is repeated weekly Amitraz/mitaban dips. Given the condition of Cooper's scarred, flaky, infected skin, Dr. Nemetz chose the other option, ivermectin. This adds another daily medication to Cooper's list. This is the longest lasting one, though, and will be given for at least a month. It supposedly doesn't taste good either.

Cooper was again very hypothermic. We will try to keep him warmer and wrap him up with more towels. I am letting him stay outside in the sun for longer amounts of time as well. While at the vet, we also bought a whole case of the original food that Cooper loved, especially given the recent digestive issues after switching his diet. I think he will be happy with our choice!

Cooper and Liz, his favorite RVT

Once a week Cooper will get a bath with a medicated shampoo to help his nasty skin. He had his first one at the vet last week, and I took over the honors today. As soon as I put him in the water he tried to jump out, but he stayed in place once I put my hand on his back. I was able to remove most of the major flakes from his sides, but he still has a lot along his spine.

My favorite moment of the day was at 5:30 pm when Cooper wagged his tail at me for the first time! Mason had thought he saw a tail wag last week, but when I saw it I think it was just the aftermath of a total body shake-off. Today, Cooper had just finished eating, peeing, then pooping, and he was walking in the grass towards the door. I came outside to pick up his poop and he started wagging his tail at me. I thought it was just a coincidence again, so I squatted down 2 feet in front of him and starting talking in high pitch baby voices. Sure enough, he stretched his head towards me and and wagged it again a couple times. He still won't come to me on his own, and he lay down shortly thereafter, but perhaps he likes me now.

Cooper had another first today, although less exciting. I saw him do a real stretch for the first time. He started with his elbows on the ground and his butt in the air, and then stretched his nose forward while extending his back legs. Okay, so it's really not a big deal to see a dog stretch. I just appreciated it because he is behaving more like a real dog now.

Day 8 - Not So Rare Indeed

Written by Erin

Cooper still didn't appear to be feeling well today. He was still very bloated, and he wouldn't eat much of his food all morning or afternoon. We switched his diet on Saturday evening, and I don't think he or his body liked the new food. I found bits of it in his feces, so it probably wasn't digesting too well. We will get more prescription food at the vet.

bloated belly

Around dinner time I went to find Cooper sitting up with an empty food bowl. I was very pleased, especially considering he had been lying down the past 2 days. He still wasn't perked up as much as a few days ago though. We didn't hear a single bark out of him. When he was outside, he wouldn't walk to his food bowl. We had to bring it over to him. After he ate, he walked back over to the garage but couldn't make it up the last step. I'm glad he now recognizes the garage as his home.

ready to come into the garage

We saw Cooper scratch himself for the first time today! It was provoked by Mason rubbing his back. While getting this massage, Cooper lifted his back leg and scratched like the itchy puppy we expect him to be.

scratching

I went to visit the expert parasitologists today as they looked at the fecal float from last week. Upon closer examination they do NOT think it is Baylisascaris anymore. This is based on the texture of the egg's coat. Toxocara species have a pitted/scalloped pattern, somewhat like a golfball, and Baylisascaris has an irregular texture. It is still unclear why there were 2 types of Toxocara eggs that looked so different. Perhaps one is Toxocara cati that the puppy got from eating cat poop? All we can do to know more at this point is to look at the worms themselves. The lab was unable to definitively identify the worm I brought in today. The last update I have is that they were putting it into a lactophenol solution in hopes of being better able to see the morphological characteristics. For now I am just being instructed to collect any more worms I may find.

Either way, we still can not back off on our safety precautions. Toxocara species also migrate to the eye and other organs, just not usually the brain. We still are torching any poopie piles outside and throwing way anything with poop on it.

Day 7

Written by Mason

Not much happened on this lazy rainy Sunday. Cooper basically slept all day in crate. Because of the cool weather Erin covered him with an extra towel which he stayed under without moving.

When we took Cooper outside he didn't like the rain and walked back to the door of the garage instead of taking refuge in nearby foliage.

Unfortunately, when Erin and I got back in the evening we were disappointed to find Cooper all bloated and not eating. Since there wasn't much of anything we could do we just left the food in the crate with him that night which he did finish before the morning.

He was also very quiet today only hearing him bark twice all day. Poor guy isn't feeling too well but has a vet visit scheduled for Tuesday.

Day 6 - Rare Indeed

Written by Erin

Today I received a very exciting phone call concerning Cooper's rare parasite, Baylisascaris procyonis. First, though, I will begin with his update.

I went to clean up a Cooper pooper pile around noon and I found a roundworm! Only about half an inch was sticking out and it was brown like the feces. If I hadn't been looking for it I never would've noticed it. I milked it out of the turd and it was approximately 4" long. Many of you may be squirming right now, unlike the worm, but I was squealing like a kid in a candy store. If you don't want to see the gruesome picture, I suggest you don't scroll to the very bottom of this page.

resting in the sun

Just as it was getting dark, Cooper planted his first pile of diarrhea outside in the grass. Unfortunately we can't just roll up the grass like a towel and throw it away. Since we have seen loose dogs wandering the neighborhood before, we decided to go ahead and flame it. Mason did the honors.

flaming poop

I am starting to see Cooper more as a puppy now rather than just a sick, nasty creature. He holds his head up when sitting now, unless we are within a foot of him (he knows we're about to pick him up). I found him sitting up in the crate several times today, and he continued to bark intermittently like the past 2 days. He explored a little bit outside but he is still nervous and slow moving. Now that some of his bloating has gone down, I can really appreciate how skinny he truly is. You can almost see his entire skeleton. I brushed up on my anatomy by naming the bones. I thought I saw a tick on the tip of his ear, but upon closer examination it was just a large crusty wound. As I squeezed the tip of the ear while holding it up some pus started to extrude from the area. He is still very flakey and very stinky, but if you compare a picture of him today to the one on Day 1 there is a significant improvement.

Now, about that phone call. It was from Dr. Michael Yabsley, a faculty member at UGA who focuses his research on wildlife diseases and specializes in parasitology. He was one of our professors for our parasitology class. Dr. Yablsey clued me in to how rare this case of Baylisascaris really is. Apparently this disease is quite common in the Northeast, but less so in the Southeast. Infected raccoons have only been found in 2 counties in Georgia - Dekalb and Athens-Clarke County. A canine case has never been reported in the Southeast! This is a truly exciting case that will be the focus of a lot of study.

First, we have to determine if the puppy actually had a patent infection or if he just digested eggs from raccoon poop without developing an infection. To do so, we need to determine if the eggs were larvated or not. An infected animal will shed un-embryonated eggs in their feces and it takes several days for the eggs to larvate and become infective. We will look at another fecal float from Tuesdays stool sample to evaluate the eggs. Even if they are larvated (indicating that the puppy is not actually infected), the case would still be noteworthy since Baylisascaris hasn't even been found in raccoons that far south in Georgia. I will also bring the worm from this morning in to the lab so we can look at it under a microscope and determine if it was Toxocara (dog roundworm) or Baylisascaris. This puppy is a prime candidate for a case report. His story has been reported to other scientists who specifically study this parasite, and he may be of use for their studies as well. Cooper certainly is getting a lot of people excited!

roundworm removed from feces

Money

Written by Erin

A lot of people have been asking me how much we have spent on Cooper. While we are going through towels pretty quickly, we should be in a bigger hole than we are. Dr. Nemetz and South Athens Animal Clinic were very generous and donated a lot of services and supplies. Here's a list of what they gave us for free: a physical exam, a fecal float, a skin scrape, one Capstar, 2 applications of Advantage Multi, a KetoChlor bath, sub-q fluids, 4 days worth of food, and a day of hospitalization. I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting. They also tried to send us home with a box of gloves, but I already had a few boxes at home. The only things we paid for were the take home dewormers and one vaccination, and they even gave us a 20% discount off those. At the end of the day we only paid $40 for a visit that should have cost over $200.

We do go through a lot of supplies at home, mainly towels. I have mentioned previously that we throw away towels as soon as they are soiled, which means we can shorten a stack of towels pretty quickly. We go through about 4-6 towels a day. Even though we are buying the cheap $2 towels at Walmart, it isn't cheap when we are making repeated trips and buying 15 at a time. Since we were given a small supply of free food at the vet we are just now having to buy more. Dog food is just a minor expense though. Other supplies we bought but don't expect to deplete very quickly: disposable paper bowls, a giant pack of puppy potty training pads, and large nitrile gloves since mine don't fit Mason. To date we have spent about $160 on Cooper, including the vet visit. As time goes by I'm sure expenses will pile up, as they would with any pet. A couple people have asked if they can help with money, so small donations to help pay for the towels and future vet visits would be appreciated. You can send me an email and I will give you a mailing address.

Day 5

Written by Mason

I'll start with a little story from last night. Erin can attest that I have soft-heart for whimpering puppies and Cooper started barking/whining, so I got out of bed to go check on him. Erin couldn't even hear him as he is in the garage and our bedroom is on the opposite corner of the house in addition to the fact that we keep our bedroom door closed at night. So I checked on him and he immediately quieted down. I went back to bed but he immediately started barking again and I just couldn't sleep. I got up again but this time I wrapped Cooper in a fresh towel and held him in my lap in the dark garage. Cooper fell asleep and I set him back in the crate still wrapped in the towel. In the morning when I checked on him he was still asleep wrapped in the towel.

The previous day, I had noticed a funny spot on Cooper's right thigh. I had forgotten to point it out to Erin but this morning I did. Erin confirmed my suspicions that it was another BB. She was able to remove it from the skin as it was not embedded deeply. She squeezed it out leaving behind a little red crater.

I've been working from home this week and yesterday's blessing of a bark felt like today's curse at one point. I heard Cooper start barking so I went to check on him and he wanted attention. However, I needed to work so I had to just leave him alone in the garage. For what felt like an eternity even though it was only a half-hour or so he barked. When he stopped barking I checked on him just in case and he had tired himself out and was sleeping.

During his feedings today he started wandering and exploring which made it much harder by myself to change out towels and pee-pads while keeping an eye on him. I had kind of gotten spoiled by him just laying around after he had been fed.

Lessons learned as I handle Cooper:

• Paper disposable bowls are fine for food but are not good water bowls (we have since switched to plastic for water)
• Setting the water in the corner of the crate tends to get spilled by Cooper trying to get out. Moved the  bowl closer to the middle and also made a box stand so it would be harder to tip over.
• Keeping cleanliness safe guards are real tough even if ours are fairly simple. I've contaminated flashlights, truck floor mats, cooler, and probably many more. Probably need to stop wearing flip-flops when handling Cooper but I tend not to think about it till I'm already handling him. Sleeves would be nice but I'm not sure how to handle that because I don't want to start trashing shirts.

Cooper receiving his morning dewormer

Day 4 - Signs of Life

Written by Mason

After Cooper's lunch time feeding I was working in my office when I heard a few high pitched yelps. Atlas who was sleeping next to me hopped up to go with me to check it out. We had heard barely a whimper out of cooper over the previous days.  I opened the garage door to find Cooper sitting up rather than sleeping which was an oddity up to this point as well.

During one of Cooper's feedings in the side yard, Atlas was in the fenced in back yard and Atlas came over to whine at us since he felt left out. Cooper found the sounds interesting and started walking towards Atlas. I had to cut Cooper off because of his potential for transmittable infections.

Later in the day Erin and I got back from the store and Cooper was barking up a storm until I checked in on him. So either he was looking for human comfort or was ready for his final meal of the day. Either way I'm glad to see signs that he is improving.

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Written by Erin

I was very shocked when Mason told me that he heard Cooper bark! He simply didn't look like he had enough energy to bark that morning. I almost didn't believe him until we were in the driveway later and heard him barking like crazy.

When we put him outside Mason had me place him away from his food bowl so that he had to walk to get it. He walked right up to it and licked the bowl clean. He then walked towards cover. Although he was walking more, it was still a slow lingering movement. He is not at all running around, nor do I expect him to be any time soon. He was sitting up at one point in the crate but in general he still prefers to stay lying down. His improvements today were very exciting and leave me very optimistic.

Day 3

Written by Erin

With the vet visit out of the way and a routine established, we begin our day to day monitoring. Mason and I will both give our observations, as mine will be more medically based and Mason's will come from the viewpoint of an average dog lover. He prefers not to describe things like bowel movements, and I'm sure a lot of you prefer not to read about it. As a vet-in-training I can't help it!

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When we went to check on Cooper on Day 3 we opened the door to see that he had made his first bowel movements since he was in our possession. The first was a pile of well-formed stools and the second was a steaming diarrhea soup. Considering all the dewormers he's on and the fact that he's on a new diet, we are expecting a diarrhea storm over the next several days. Luckily he did his business away from his bed and also away from the edges of the crate, thereby making it an easy mess to clean up.

Following our protocol, Mason took Cooper outside while I cleaned the diseased doo doo piles. He was proud to report that the puppy peed for the first time outside. It was good to know that he was urinating and defecating like a normal animal. Shortly thereafter, though, he began licking where he had just peed. Perhaps a survival instinct?

This little guy also has a satisfyingly normal appetite. He always eats every bit of his food and licks the bowl to make sure he got it all. This is a very good sign!

Throughout the day we didn't notice any changes in demeanor or energy. Whenever Cooper was in the crate he was lying down in his "bed." If outside he was either sitting or slinking away from us to hide in the bushes. He sits with his head held down low and stares up at us with his little eyes. His eyes did seem to be opened wider than the previous 2 days but that was really the only change.

trying to hide in the bushes