After her first week at home, Cookie went back to West Coast Vetcare for her follow-up...
And when we said she has a huge appetite, we were not kidding. She's put on 1.4kg in just one week!
Although she's been given an overall clean bill of health, Dr. Melvin Tan did notice that her red blood cell count was dropping... Now this could be an indication of the presence of Babesia in Cookie's bloodstream.
Babesias are microscopic blood parasites that cause disease in many animals, and they are spread from dog to dog by ticks. Although Cookie has been cleared of ticks, her first few weeks of life were spent out in the wilderness, where she would have been far more susceptible to tick bites and infections. Its pretty common for all strays to suffer the same fate, and one species of Babesia (B. gibsoni) is particularly common in Asia.
If left untreated, it can cause the sudden destruction of blood, known as acute haemolytic anaemia in dogs. So its off to the vets again in a couple of days to get this test done. Unfortunately Cookie is not a fan of having her blood taken, but it'll be for her own good in the long run!
 |
| Cookie: on the move! |
Although she's been given an overall clean bill of health, Dr. Melvin Tan did notice that her red blood cell count was dropping... Now this could be an indication of the presence of Babesia in Cookie's bloodstream.
Babesias are microscopic blood parasites that cause disease in many animals, and they are spread from dog to dog by ticks. Although Cookie has been cleared of ticks, her first few weeks of life were spent out in the wilderness, where she would have been far more susceptible to tick bites and infections. Its pretty common for all strays to suffer the same fate, and one species of Babesia (B. gibsoni) is particularly common in Asia.
 |
| Babesia gibsoni infecting a canine red blood cell |
Follow Cookie and more of her adventures on https://www.facebook.com/cookiebeardog
