A Glorious Day.
Today Helen and I took all the older pups (Kim and Kelly, then Jolt, Wired, Sobe, Rocky and Boo) out free running. It was so wonderful to watch them barreling down the trail with their heads down, ears flat and HUGE grins on their face. The grin on my face was as broad and my heart was brimming over. See, there is something that I haven't, until now, shared with those that are on our list and follow my blog.
The Friday after we got home from our Nova Scotia trip the pups in the kennel came down with Parvo. It started with Kim and at first there was hope that it was just a 'break' in her immunity, especially when the vet called a day and a half later, begging us to come get our pup that was screaming at the top of her lungs at her confinement, but before the day was out, Kelly had taken her sister's place at the Clinic. She ended up in for 7 days.
It took a few days but then the Energy Drinks started showing signs. It was a beyond awful time, as all we could do was sit and wait. Parvo has about a 10 day incubation period, so the exposure happened well prior to Kim showing signs of the illness. There is also no cure, so it is a matter of waiting for the symptoms to show, then treating the complications as the pups battle the illness themselves. First little Boo, then Sobe, followed by Rocky and Wired. The only one that didn't end up coming down with the illness was Jolt.
The pups were all in the Clinic for varying times - I was worried sick all the time.
With no small thanks to the terrific staff at the Westlock Vet Clinic every single puppy recovered completely. They have all been home for over three weeks and now that they are no longer shedding the virus are back to running the trails and life pretty much as normal.
There are still some precautions that we will be taking in the yard for the next year or so, but our vets assure us that we have the protocols in place to safely look after our dogs and raise puppies.
As to where it came from...? Parvo is such a hardy virus, the answers to that could be many and really the best defence for this, in my opinion, is to keep your vaccinations on your pets up to date, so when you do run into it - which you are almost guaranteed to - you are protected.
I do want to take a moment to thank the tremendously fantastic vets and staff at the Westlock Vet Clinic for taking such wonderful care of the pups - and for putting up with my very frequent phone calls. A special thanks goes out to Vet Tech Wendy, who was basically assigned full time to our pups. Even on her days off Wendy phoned the house after the last of the pups were home to check up on them. We all think the world of her!
And finally, I'd like to share a few photos of the puppies that I took last week. It was the first time since they got sick that I allowed myself to take pictures of them, so they are indeed special photos for me.
The Friday after we got home from our Nova Scotia trip the pups in the kennel came down with Parvo. It started with Kim and at first there was hope that it was just a 'break' in her immunity, especially when the vet called a day and a half later, begging us to come get our pup that was screaming at the top of her lungs at her confinement, but before the day was out, Kelly had taken her sister's place at the Clinic. She ended up in for 7 days.
It took a few days but then the Energy Drinks started showing signs. It was a beyond awful time, as all we could do was sit and wait. Parvo has about a 10 day incubation period, so the exposure happened well prior to Kim showing signs of the illness. There is also no cure, so it is a matter of waiting for the symptoms to show, then treating the complications as the pups battle the illness themselves. First little Boo, then Sobe, followed by Rocky and Wired. The only one that didn't end up coming down with the illness was Jolt.
The pups were all in the Clinic for varying times - I was worried sick all the time.
With no small thanks to the terrific staff at the Westlock Vet Clinic every single puppy recovered completely. They have all been home for over three weeks and now that they are no longer shedding the virus are back to running the trails and life pretty much as normal.
There are still some precautions that we will be taking in the yard for the next year or so, but our vets assure us that we have the protocols in place to safely look after our dogs and raise puppies.
As to where it came from...? Parvo is such a hardy virus, the answers to that could be many and really the best defence for this, in my opinion, is to keep your vaccinations on your pets up to date, so when you do run into it - which you are almost guaranteed to - you are protected.
I do want to take a moment to thank the tremendously fantastic vets and staff at the Westlock Vet Clinic for taking such wonderful care of the pups - and for putting up with my very frequent phone calls. A special thanks goes out to Vet Tech Wendy, who was basically assigned full time to our pups. Even on her days off Wendy phoned the house after the last of the pups were home to check up on them. We all think the world of her!
And finally, I'd like to share a few photos of the puppies that I took last week. It was the first time since they got sick that I allowed myself to take pictures of them, so they are indeed special photos for me.
http://picasaweb.google.com/northwapiti/PuppiesOctober92008
Karen
posted by Karen Ramstead at
3:41 PM
2 Comments:
Karen- So glad the pups all survived. Parvo is a horrible virus. Based on the experience I had with it, in one dog, I urge you to be very careful and sparing in future vaccinations of these pups. Years later, it can come back to haunt you with dogs who have such compromised immune systems.
I know you'll take great care of them. Please be careful, and don't give them anything they don't absolutely need, WRT vaccines.
Wooos Karen,
We know it's October & almost Halloween & all, but this really is way too scary. So glad to hear the pups all recovered. Bless all those marvelous vets & techs who lovingly cared for them during their confinement!
Running free at breakneck speed down a trail sounds great, we're not allowed off-leash, so we can only imagine.
Woos & a-roos,
Star & Jack
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