Off the streets of Houston and heartworm free!

Hi, we’re Matt and Isabelle! We’d like for you to meet Indie! She's a stray that we rescued off the streets of East Houston. As Matt was driving back to work from a job site on January 19th, He saw this blue eyed girl with no collar running around with a couple other strays. Unlike the other dogs, she was willing to come up to Matt even though he had nothing for her to eat. She even rolled over and asked for some belly rubs as her friends took off. After a few minutes, she realised her friends had left without her, and took off to try and find them. At this point she had left an impression on Matt, and with a cold Texas forecast for the coming week, he knew she wouldn't be spending the night outside. He caught up with her again and she came right back up to Matt. With a wagging tail, he got her loaded up in the work van and headed to the vet to get her checked for a microchip!

At that point in the day, the only vet still open was an animal hospital. They scanned her for a microchip & nothing. They also shared she is not spayed and likely 10-11 months old. With no microchip, no collar, and not being spayed, we made the decision to get her a full work. We were at the hospital for about four hours (we think because they forgot Matt and Indie were in the last room). She was hungry, thirsty, and dirty but was such a happy girl. All of her tests came back negative, except for heartworm. Indie, just like a lot of strays and rescues in Houston, is heartworm positive.

This past Monday (01/24) we brought her to our vet (not the animal hospital), and got x-rays and more labs done and confirmed she is heartworm positive. Luckily, her x-rays did not show any major issues or tons of adult worms!! However, to save sweet Indie's life, we are going get her treated. We have started her on annantibiotic which is the first phase of heartworm treatment. Over the next few months, Indie will have to go through more medical treatment including multiple injections, crate rest for 4+ weeks, antibiotics, steroids, no running, etc. After all of this, fingers crossed by April she is heartworm free!

This Friday (28th) she has an appointment to get spayed and a microchip. We love this sweet girl and want to make sure she has a long, happy, and HEALTHY life ahead of her. Heartworm treatment is not a walk in the park and is definitely not the cheapest. Since Matt found her as a stray dog, we are not backed by a rescue. If we were to have gotten her from a shelter or a rescue group, they would have assisted with funding treatment. We are appreciative of any support, even if that is just your kind words and love towards Indie. All dogs deserve a loving and warm home, and we are very thankful she and Matt crossed paths last week.