Visited Ben and Jamie

this evening.

Ben is well and good except for a lump developed at the site of the injection, which is not an uncommon reaction for heartworm treatment and will subside after a few weeks. Other than that, he is looking well and active. Clingy as usual.

Jamie, on the other hand, looks a bit listless today. He seemed to be having some sort of allergic reaction - swollen right upper eye lid and raised up red hives-like sores on his underside, around his groin. Nothing out of the norm was administered to him, so we are unsure of the cause. Just before we left him, the redness on his underside subsided, though he still looked listless, tired, resting silently on his side as we left.

It's said that the period of 7-14 days after a heartworm treatment is the critical timeframe where the adult worms are dying off in the heart, as the dog's body works to the best of its ability to eliminate the dead parasites.

"Heartworms live in the right side of the heart and the large arteries running from the heart to the lungs (the pulmonary arteries). The heartworm treatment medications kill these worms. When they are dead, they are still in the circulatory system and their dead bodies have to be removed by the white blood cell system.

When large collections of white blood cells are working in an area, they cause heat and swelling as well as being the major constituents of pus. This is irritating to the affected area. All of this is going on inside your dog's lungs right now. This irritation and inflammation leads to the coughing.

It is also the major reason why keeping your dog quiet works to help prevent death during the heartworm treatment. The less his lungs have to do other than fight their way through the effects of the heartworm treatment the better off they are. The better his lungs do, the better he will do during the treatment."

We will bring Jamie to the vet for a review tomorrow. Just to make sure what he is going through now is not out of the ordinary. And to get whatever medication that can help ease his recovery during this period.

Will update more after the vet review. Keep Jamie in your prayers for now. He shall be fine.

* We continue to wait in HOPE for the perfect family for Jamie. We believe together that his miracle of his very own home is fast coming his way.