We're back!

After a long time away we have come back to dogster! We had some computer issues that couldn't be fixed without just getting a new computer and for christmas that is exactly what happened so now we are back and better then ever!

Things have been great around here, Princess Leia is still one cooky dog and just started her first time being in heat. She has been wearing some pretty funny outfits to keep from leaving spots on everything and all of us have been getting a good laugh about it, thankfully Princess Leia loves the attention and doing anything to see smiles on her owners faces...even wearing a diaper, onesie or a body suit! !

Christmas was great for everyone, Leia got some new toys and of course some yummy treats! She also got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa while mommy and daddy were visiting other people. Leia also got another cousin for christmas! Tiger Lilly is the newest addition to aunty Tami's family, though saddly Promise will be looking for a home better suited to her needs. Promise was rescued from an owner who was not taking care of her and in fact even gave her away to Aunty because he didn't care about Promise. Now that promise is healthy she can find a good caring home without children or other dogs, we will all be sad to see her go but it is the best thing for everyone.

Princess Leia still loves to tease the cat, Leala, and irritate her. I think Leala likes it sometimes though, especially when she provokes Leia! Leala is not Leia's only friend, Dillion (Rat ter. Chua. Mix) is her best bud and partner in crime! Dill is always finding ways to come visit, even whining up a storm to get through the door! They play and take naps together, get into things they are not supposed to and chase my son around to try and steal his snacks!

Leia Also got a new brother! Seymour the albino, yes red eyes and all, Fancy Cockitiel. Though they do not spend a lot of time together they know they are family! Audrey, our other bird, is still sweet and sassy and loves her new brother, they like to fly to the floor to go after Leia...Power in numbers I guess! LOL

WEll I guess that is it for this year! Happy New year DOGSTER!!!And to ALL our pup pals out there!!!

Thursday

Once again we are doing fine today. Still no signs of Parvo as we near the end of this nightmear.

Seeing how there is no new news to share about my pup I will share about my sister. Earlier this week a neighbor of my sister's came around asking about two pups that had gotten loose and ran off. She had not seen them at that point but the very next day she spotted 2 puppies fitting the description and took them straight to the guy...who aparently was not the owner and didn't really know much about them so it was time to wait for the owner and see if these were the pups they were looking for. Soon after my sis recieved a phone call telling her that the pups where NOT the ones the owner was looking for and that they were being sent to the pound! My sis's fience' told her to go get one of the dogs and bring it home that he wanted to keep her if the owner could not be found.
Later in the day I got a call from my sis telling me that they found the owner...well the owner found her. But she reluctantly handed over the pup to the guy who she described as smelling like beer and didn't seem to care much about the wellfare of his pups (they had worms and tons of fleas BTW). So being that this guy didn't seem to care much for the dogs my soon to be brother in law asked if they could keep the pup! The guy said YES! So now they are welcoming their second new puppy into the home in less then 6 months!! Both have a story of owners not being able to or not wanting to keep them...thanks to my sister these dogs will not end up on the kill list at the pound/shelter.

I would love to say that I saved Leia from such a fate but I did not...however I may have still saved her given that she was 5 months old and unvaccinated ...had worms (that the woman who I got her from didn't even know about and they were full grown worms) Who knows if she would have been taken care of Properly later. Sad news is that she still has time yet before we know her fate with Parvo. Only time will tell if this pup has a battle for her life to face or simply a close call.

Tueday

Well today marks 2 weeks since Leia's first day of Parvo exposure. She is still fine...playful as ever, eating like a pig, drinking, and her stools are solid. Of course the princess is lazy most of the day! LOL That is nothing abnormal though, as I believe I previously stated.
I am still taking everyday with a grain of salt...though as the days pass things look up I still have more time to wait...still more time for symptoms to show up. If we can make it to this Sunday (Sept.2nd) we will be able to breathe once more, as Sunday August 19th was the last day she was exposed to Parvo in it's full. I am hoping that with all the caution we have taken in cleaning up and keeping her out of the yard where Peanut had pottied was enough to keep her from further exposure while we were waiting for the vaccinations to kick in.

I plan on watching her closely for at least another 2 weeks...mainly because of the week following the Parvo exposure she was still able to be exposed to it via the house...should we have overlooked something...until her second round of shots took effect. Though if she were to of gotten it I highly doubt that all that would have mattered...she would have gotten it the week she was around Peanut. As my husband reminded me, she helped Peanut (who was in heat) clean herself those first few days...which means she was pretty much licking up the virus directly from the source! If she was to get it from that it would be today or tomorrow that symptoms would start. Besides whoever said it was EXACTLY 7-14 days after? Couldn't she still on day 15, 16,17 even 18 or 19? This is part of the reason I am waiting for the rest of this week and all through next week...but like I said as each day passes it looks good for her (being that today is tech. day 14 as of first exposure) and again, I HAVE to take each day with a grain of salt....otherwise I will get into a false sense of security when we are not to the secure point yet!

Aside from watching her I have made it a point to research doggie viruses and illnesses. Some are not of so much concern some are at the front lines of worry.... I also have seen that there is possibly a new strain of Parvo...the F strain...however I have seen little on this and what I have has been mostly from forums of normal dog lovers. Nothing solid enough to say that this is a fact. I also came across something about F strain not even being Parvo that it was a new Distemper strain that has been mistaken for parvo as it has the same symptoms and is just as deadly. How true any of that is I still do not know, should i find evidence supporting it as fact I will do my best to inform others of this. There is no vaccine for them according to what I have seen on them. For anyone who has a heart for animals...their own or in general...should want and need to know this information.
I like to have the facts before spreading the word as truth...yes I will tell you that I heard about it...but I will not back it up as something truthful until I have seen the proof.

Anyway I guess that is all for the update! Keep praying for Leia and other Doggies out there in danger of Parvo or in it's grips.

To late for Peanut, Now we hope and pray for Leia

Tuesday of last week was the day that 2 dogs came to our home for a week. We were dog sitting for my MIL and FIL. Peanut (a full blood rat terrier) and Berny ( a full blood shi-tzu) were staying with us while their owners went to Tenn. and Ohio, they were due back Sunday. Tuesday night into Wednesday things were pretty normal....the dogs played, I cleaned up pee and poop spots while my son chased them...they ate dinner, well sort of Peanut and berny were not used to a set dinner time and had trouble adjusting to not having food at will and sometimes would not eat.

Wed. Night as we all were sleeping Peanut had been waking me up vomiting....even vomiting on my bed between my legs, how gross! This lasted the better part of the night but she was better by morning it seemed. She stopped eating and drinking all together. I assumed she missed her owner, I passed it off as anxiety or still an upset stomache but seemed like it wasn't anything to worry about. And why not she was pretty much fine after wednesday night aside from not eating!

Come Friday She went with my husband and son to my MIL's house, I was being given a night to myself.....just me and my baby dog Leia. Saturday I drove over to my Mil's to spend the rest of the weekend with my family and the dogs. It was a wonderful day, one of the best that we have had in a long time, but as night rolled around that was finished. Peanut started to Vomit again, not that she had eaten or drank anything for days so it was nothing but foam...we couldn't get her to drink at all and there was nothing we could do in the middle of the night. Well after a LONG night we woke up to black goo on the floor....it was poop from Peanut who had been up all night roaming the house leaving black puddles everywhere. As we were cleaning up we noticed that she wasn't moving just laying there. (mind you this is spanning into early afternoon now) She was unresponsive....just little groans. I knew then that something was very wrong, this was beyond missing her owners.

By 2:30pm I was on my way to the emergency vets with a completely lethargic puppy and a peice of pink paper with credit card info from my MIL on it to pay for the visit as they were still hours away from arriving home. When I got there i was taken in immediately, they knew what the symptoms were and knew she had to be kept away from other dogs. I was told as they took stool samples that she probably had Parvo, a very contagious and deadly dog virus. Things were not looking good for Peanut.

When the results came back Negative for Parvo I seen a glimmer of hope....that was soon shattered by the vet techs saying it was likely a false negative and they needed to take blood. I am unsure of the time frame here because my mind was racing with questions about my pup Leia (a Rat terrier/ lab mix) who had only one set of shots....as had Peanut, I do know that I was at the vets from 2:30pm until after 7pm that day.

Anyway they came back in some time later to take blood...they had a lot of trouble getting it because Peanut's blood pressure and temp. were so LOW. THey finally got the blood and tested it....her white blood cell count was below the charts, not good and another sign leading to Parvo test being a false neg.

a bit after that they came back in with some hot water bags and towels in attempt to warm Peanut up, then they left again to another emergancy. While they were gone I paced...I had nothing else to do except worry about Peanuts fate and what would happen to my pup. My answer for peanut came all to soon. I had my back to her when I heard a loud bark (as loud as it could be for a small dog), I turned to her only to see her tongue hanging out and she wasn't breathing...I opened the door and yelled down the hall to anyone that would be able to help that the dog was dead.... a vet came running, she found no heart rate..but a light shown....a minute later after debating to do CPR she had a heart rate again....they took her out of the room to help her live.

Some more time passed and the vet who had run to help me came back to tell me she was breathing again on her own but needed to know what to do if she should crash again because it was likely as she was starting to go downhill once more....meaning save her or let her die. This had me on the phone with the owner right then (and in tears)...the answer was grim but understandable, Peanut was to be allowed to die. It would have cost thousands to save her and it probably would NOT have saved her anyway...she was to far gone already into the Parvo. Again time passed....the vet re-entered the room with a sympathetic look on her face...Peanut had passed on. I was extremely upset...but I had to call my MIL and FIL to inform them of the sad news...and hand the phone to the Vet for her questions of what to do with the body. I also had to keep focused on the things I had to do for my puppy.

I walked out of there sometime later....no dog and a headfull of worry and questions about my puppy. As I was cleaning up the mess we left at my MIL's (my husband and son took Leia home) my home was a buzz with carpet cleaners and the smell of bleach as they cleaned anywhere we could think of that peanut had been...all in an attempt to hopefully save Leia from getting it if a week with Peanut had not already allowed her to be infected with it. My Mattress is still sitting in the garage wet with bleach water...hopefully it will be dry by tonight and I wil be able to sleep in my own bed again and not in my son's and my husband not on the couch!

Monday I took Leia to the vets for them to do stool tests and then give her her second set of shots. Though we are not out of the woods for another two weeks, if she didn't get it then she won't now. If she already has it then there is nothing we can do except give her the meds the vet gave us and wait for the first Vomit, then we will know and we may be able to save her life because we know and can get in early....much earlier then we did for Peanut. That gives her MUCH MUCH better chances of surviving Parvo.

All I can say now is that I learned my leasson. Never put off even the second set of Shots for your dog, you never know when, who, where they could pick something up. One set of shots does give us a small barrier but it is unlikely to be enough to keep her from getting it. I have to wait for at least two more weeks to say she is in the clear....I don't think I will be able to NOT watch her closer for a few months just to be sure! This Sunday marks One week since Peanuts death...I am going from that day for my timeline on Leia instead of Tuesday when she was first exposed to it. I am to rush her to the vet at the first vomit...of course this is one of several symptoms I need to look for...at least I know what they look like now.

Symptoms include:

BLACK or Red (wine) Color Diarrhea (Peanuts was the thickness of blood no chunks)

Lethargic (Though by that time it may be to late)

Stops eating and drinking

Vomiting

Tempature or lack of (I say lack of because Peanut was COLD not HOT but I know that Fever is a sign as well)

I seen everyone of these with Peanut....Every ONE of them...when the vomiting and not eating started it was so ....not unusal that I thought nothing of it...nothing serious anyway... After this I would take my pup in to the vets at the first vomit/diarrhea unless I KNEW for 100% sure that she got into something that would do that to her.....I would probably still do it after this whole mess.

In the end...let this be a leasson to everyone to get your Puppy's SHOTS, ALL OF THEM...and to make sure that you get your yearly boosters for your dogs...it may cost, but think of this.....for Peanut to go to the vets and DIE it was over 500 dollars...they didn't do that much. To save her life would have been THOUSANDS of dollars...and it would not have been 100% that she woud have pulled through WITH help...in fact it was unlikely.

I am in a boat where I may be losing my Puppy.