We are happy to announce the newest member of the RAGOM family – Zena! Zena was surrendered with her “brother” Cooper. She is very sweet and spent her first night here with me curled up on the couch on a cozy fleece blanket. One look at her sweet face and our hearts melted.

Miss Zena is 15 years old and is a Golden Retriever mix. She looks exactly like a miniature Golden. She is a dark golden color with white on her toes and chest. She also has an adorable white face. She weighs 25 pounds, though her ideal weight should be 35-40 pounds. Zena is very thin. Since she is underweight and doesn’t have a lot of fat to keep her warm, we put a coat on her to go outside and she has a sweater that she wears inside occasionally. Zena has been eating very well for us, so that is encouraging. She is now on Taste of the Wild dry dog food with Wellness canned puppy food mixed in. Her teeth are very dirty, but it doesn’t seem to affect her eating ability. We have also discovered that Zena is either completely deaf or she hears very little. It has taken a little getting used to, but we are adjusting well to having a dog that can’t hear. I do, however, catch myself talking to her a lot, even though she can’t hear me!

Zena went to the vet this week. She was brought up to date on vaccines, her fecal was negative, Heartworm test was negative, and she had senior blood work done. Zena’s blood work looked pretty good for a 15 year old dog. The only thing that wasn’t within the normal range was her platelets, which were high. The vet isn’t sure what would cause this, as she’s only seen it a few times. At this point, it’s not something to be concerned about and we will recheck it with a blood smear in 4 weeks. She does have ear infections in both ears, so she is on ear medications until they clear up. She has been scratching at her ears to the point where they are bleeding, so she is wearing an e-collar when I am not able to directly supervise her. Luckily, Zena doesn’t mind wearing it.

Zena also tested positive for Anaplasmosis, a tick borne disease. She will be treated with 30 days of Doxycycline, an antibiotic. Zena also has a grade 3/6 heart murmur. At this time she is not showing any symptoms (coughing, lethargy, exercise intolerance) so we will just monitor her for now. If/when she starts having symptoms; there are several medications available to make her more comfortable.

Zena is still settling in to our home, but quickly learned that the orthopedic dog bed and the couch are the best places to sleep. Some of the time she is able to jump up on the couch, other times she needs help. She does have stiffness in her back legs, so we will be starting her on a joint supplement. Zena is still very active for her age. She loves to run the fence line and bark at her friend, Sadie, the Bernese Mt. Dog. She hasn’t been interested in playing with any toys, but she does like it when we get on the floor and play with her. She does well at home while I am working. I have been putting up a baby gate and keeping her in my bedroom while I am gone, but today Zena met us at the door! This old girl has enough pep to jump the gate! Nothing was out of place, so we will let her have free roam of the house now. Zena is 100% housebroken, and has not had a single accident here.

We will update more on Zena as we get to know her better!