Heartworms, Fleas, & Ticks
Being from the south, it was a no brainer that I would continue Gracie's monthly heartworm preventive on the hike. For people who live in more arid climates, heartworms may not be much of an issue, but they are common in many temperate parts of the country, are insidious, and can be fatal (the heartworm preventive marketers have done a fantastic job scaring the bejeebus out of dog owners). I figured Gracie's standard vaccinations, along with regular heartworm preventive and monthly topical flea & tick treatment would be all we'd need for the trail.
Giardia
Then I remembered that we'd both had Giardia in the past. I'm pretty susceptible to it - it seems I can get it from just looking at contaminated water. Gracie is almost as sensitive. Yes, dogs can get Giardia, and it is not pretty. Also not something you want to be dealing with in the middle of the woods, miles from the nearest town, be you human or canine. A quick trip to our vet, where I explained my plans for the hike, and I had a round of Flagyl in case Gracie got the G. I also happened to have a remaining refill from my last bout with G, so I made sure that was in my bounce box. I chose to keep Gracie's meds with me from the beginning of the hike, but put mine in a box I shipped ahead of myself on the theory that if I got the G, I could manage until I got to the next town, but if Gracie got it, I wanted to treat her right away. In retrospect, I should have carried my meds as well, because we got the G at the same time, but I survived, so no harm done.
Lyme Disease and Leptospirosis
At Bobblet's Gap shelter in Virginia, we happened to meet a veterinarian out for a section hike. I got high marks from him on my care and feeding of Gracie, but he also told me about vaccinations I hadn't seen information about during my research - Lyme Disease and Leptospirosis. I wished there was a human vaccination for Lyme, but if there was one for dogs, Gracie was going to get one at our first opportunity. Ticks were starting to be a nuisance, even with the topical flea & tick preventive. The vet assured me it was ok to treat her every 21 days, instead of the usual 30 days. I think he also recommended a tick collar. Leptospirosis is another water-borne parasite, but can be fatal with a rapid onset of symptoms. The vet really put the scare in me with that one. Really, if something awful happened to Gracie on the hike, and I hadn't done everything I could to prevent it, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. So, when we got to Waynesboro, off to the vet we went for Lyme and Lepto vaccines. The Lyme vaccine required a booster in a couple of weeks, so we took care of that when we got to Boiling Springs, PA, with the help of some trail angels who gave us a ride.
Both of those experiences with vets were really great. Matter of fact, the Waynesboro vet sent vaccination reminders the following year. I also got Gracie a tick collar, and in combination with the topical preventive, she got relief from my thrice + daily tick-pulling sessions (as did I). The dosage level was a little higher than necessary - such that Gracie would have some stomach upset each time I reapplied the topical preventive. But it never lasted more than a day and I figured it was worth it for the extra protection against Lyme.
First Aid
I did not carry a canine-specific first aid supplies. Most of the things I carried for myself, such as antibiotic ointment, elastic (vet-wrap type) bandage tape, alcohol swabs, and so on would work equally well for Gracie. The one thing I added, after our challenge of finding a vet near Wind Gap, PA to treat Gracie's treat-induced stomach upset, were official trail maps and the Appalachian Pages guidebook. I was fortunate that Journey, who we hiked with through PA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, VT and NH, had trail maps. After she left the trail, I carried maps for New Hampshire, and Maine. I wanted the maps, especially as the terrain got more challenging, so I would be able to find the nearest roads if we needed to get to one in an emergency. The Appalachian Pages were the one guidebook that included contact information for vets near the trail. A must-have after I had to phone a friend back home, who used Google to help find a vet near the little roadside motel close to the trail. Again, we had an outstanding experience. The vet's office was easily 5 miles away and the receptionist, on learning we were thru-hiking, drove us to & from the vet's office. Here's a shot of Gracie on the sleeping pad, feeling a bit under the weather as we wait outside the Wind Gap motel.
The Journey of Gnatty Jan
Many guidebooks tell you that you won't need bug repellent until Kent, CT, but they are wrong! I was surprised that as far south as Georgia, we were having to fend off biting gnats. By biting, I mean blood-sucking. Ugh. For the most part, they were more of a nuisance to me than Gracie, but at times they would be all up in her ears and I hated that there wasn't much I could do about it. At our first town stop in Franklin, NC, I found some bug wipes for kids. Full strength DEET might be ok for me to use, but I felt it was too strong for Gracie, so the kids formula was a good solution. I would wipe her ears in & out when the bugs were really bad, and it worked great.
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