An all around crap day

I had to take Burton (the new doxie) to the vet because he was obviously feeling poorly.    He hadn't eaten since I had gotten him on Monday, which isn't completely out of the ordinary.   Sometimes new surroundings will prevent a dog from eating due to stress for a day or two.    Monday he was happy and active and doing great, just not eating.    Yesterday he was still not eating and a little more low key.   Last night, I offered him braunschweiger and he refused it.     That stuff is like crack to dogs and I got very worried when that happened.      Later in the evening, he threw up.    Not terrible vomit, just phlegm and mucus.   I've seen that before and it's been due to a respiratory type illness so I wasn't too worried even though he wasn't coughing.

This morning, I made the soonest appointment I could and called one of our other volunteers to go with me.   At this particular vet, there are only a few authorized people so they have to be at the vet with the foster parent.  I called Janet around 7:30 and she met me there for the 11:20 appointment.  

After his initial exam, the vet was very worried which freaked me out.  I just was expecting some sort of antibiotics or maybe a simple shot.   But he told us right off the bat the Burton was in really bad shape.    He went through a list of tests and options we had.    So I had to set about calling and getting approval for what needed to be done.    I was able to talk to Michel after not being able to reach Ellen and we decided we would do the following in order:   Parvo test, XRay, blood work, urine analysis. 

Unfortunately, the first test came back positive.   Burton is now hosptialized for treatment of Parvo and I hope he recovers.   From what I know, Parvo can't be treated but they can only stabilize the animal with fluids and try to get them to eat.    Dogs don't die from parvo, they die from what happens from the disease and their body just can't handle it any more.    That's why puppies have such a high fatality rate with it.   The vet was fairly positive (and this is a vet we half jokingly refer to as "doom and gloom")  but even he said  "He has everything working in his favor.    His age, how fleshy he is, and that you caught it early."

I'm very hopeful but very scared.   I've only had one other foster that had parvo and he made it out of the hospital, but then died a few days later.   He was a puppy, so I really hope that Burton's age helps him make it out of the hospital and to go on to lead a wonderful life.    I'm now in the process of cleaning all surfaces and washables with bleach.    And now that I've had parvo in my house, I need to make sure puppies don't come here for 10-12 months.    That's ok, I don't foster puppies too much but it's nice to have them as an option.

The vet told me my dogs should be perfectly fine, they're all vaccinated and he's never seen a case of a dog with recent parvo infecting a dog with current vaccinations.

If you and everyone you know could say prayers for two little doxie boys, Mario and Burton, I'd really really appreciate it.

Healing Prayer