Panther found! He has been escorted off the mountain and is now receiving treatment
Wow! I was just overwhelmed by the amount of care and support that we received when we put out the message across all of our social media regarding the fur-covered minor-celebrity of Tiger Cave Temple and how he was unwell and missing. He was found the next day and escorted off the Tiger Cave Temple viewpoint by some concerned volunteers. We went to pick him up and gave him the VIP treatment. I was pleased to discover that the rumors of him having a bad temper now turned out to be untrue. It probably helped that I came offering really tasty treats to help ease him through the process though.
We didn't know for sure until yesterday evening but we had seen photos of how skinny he had become and how he was being more stand-offish of people approaching him over the past month or so, but I hadn't seen it with my own eyes until the past 24 hours. He wasn't as bad off as I had expected but he is still noticeably smaller than the last time I saw him.
To be honest, Panther is nearly an ideal weight but it is just the exposed ribs that concern us a bit. Many people have the wrong impression about what a dog should weigh and most pet owners actually over-feed their animals to the point where they are actually harming them by doing so. For us, it was the change in friendly attitude that was more alarming to us than the weight loss. Panther does do a ton of cardio afterall because he chooses to live in an area that has over 1200 steps leading to it.
Although my camera isn't the best and this pic is out of focus, you can tell by the hind-legs beg that Panther is quite comfortable around us and was nothing other than very friendly the entire time. We did some blood tests and are doing more later but found that he has two different blood parasites.
He tested positive for anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis both of which are tick-borne diseases that are very curable. This is something that is quite unlikely to actually result in a dog's death, but it diminishes their quality of life because it suppresses their appetite, among other things, and by not eating, their general energy levels drop a dramatic amount. This is likely why he was a bit grouchy when people would approach him in the past month or so. Just think about it: Have you ever snapped out at someone because you were hungry and tired? Well that is what Panther has been going through. He's still the same sociable pup, he was just tired and hungry, didn't understand what was wrong with him, and wanted to be left alone to rest.
The treatment involves a lot of medication and some hands on treatment and we estimate that he will be back to 100% in about a month. This can be problematic because Panther tends to like to be a "lone wolf" and will isolate himself at the temple grounds and we may not be able to find him if we put him back. We are going to keep him with us for a while to keep an eye on him in the meantime.
if you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
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