Parvo Hits the Farm

I am saddened and quite shocked to write this blog post. Just a week ago we had 8 silly, fat beautiful puppies playing around the back yard. While working on the farm I noticed my Jenny Girl, curled up in a ball, not feeling so well. So, I just cared for her. Nothing special, just at home care, I thought, maybe she had a tummy ache. 

A few days had gone by, and I noticed she stopped eating and drinking and started to look like a skeleton. She shivered and cried out loud. The red flag was waving. I called my primary, whom said to bring her in right away. Which, I did. The conclusion was: Parvo. 

Parvo? What is Parvo? What does it do? How long? What do I do, personally? So many questions. Nobody seemed to have any answers. Everyone kept telling me: Euthanize.  Euthanize? All of them? What? Why? 7 puppies were sick, but surly not a lost cause. 

The primary sent me to the Puppy ER. The Puppy ER said she wanted to see them all, to see if they all have Parvo. Medical Common Sense does not seem to exists in the world of animal medicine.  

The nurses kept telling me "Isolate Jenny", "Bleach the backyard." (Bleach a 1/3 acre? How does one go about bleaching a 1/3 of an acre?-- No one had a suggestion. I figured it out, I'm just waiting for illness to slowdown. I do not want to be redundant in this part of the situation, my time is better spent trying to nurse the puppies.) 

When I slowed down their thinking process, I had a volume understanding of what I was dealing with. The nurses were trying to prevent the other puppies from getting sick. Which is great, and kind but kind of asinine. They say it is so contagious that if a dog steps on one single germ, they will get it. 

As shes telling me this: Puppies are biting our sick Jenny in hopes she will play. So, to say that, is to logically conclude the entire backyard is sick. Logically speaking, everyone sleeping in a pile, plays in a pile, eats in a pile and drinks in a pile. It would be a medical miracle if ONLY Jenny was sick.

So my Parvo Situation advanced from 1 to 8. I felt: defeated. 

The Dr. said that there is no cure for Parvo. They just treat the symptoms. 

What I've learned about Parvo: Parvo attacks the lower intestines, eating the lining. Causing extreme diarrhea and vomiting. (Living through this, and reading this are two very different things.) 

The Websites are true, and factual. But to watch a sweet little puppy vomit, then diarrhea every 30 minutes ( x 7) is disheartening to say the least. Their intestines and brain function suffer from the lack of hydration.

The pain from the lining of their intestines being eaten, is so painful, that they do not want to eat, or drink. Causing malnutrition. Now these little puppies are fighting for their life. Just like that, one day, out of the blue, they are all dying on my land.

The Dr. said that if they can live pass the 1st 3 days they have a fighting chance. 

What the Dr. didn't tell me was that the puppies did not all get sick, conveniently, at the same time and I am fighting a group for 1-3 days. No. Like children, the sickness is scattered. Jenny was the leader of the pack, and the farthest into the sickness. Joey was the last to get it. 6 other puppies fell ill somewhere in between it all. 

They wanted to keep the puppies in the hospital until the sickness was over. Hospitalize 8 dogs? They also said that they would need around the clock care. 24/7 puppy care x 8 x est. 8 days + medicine x 8 = Minimum $10,000. Of coarse, I didn't have that kind of money. 

"Time for Plan "B" Dr." I said "Euthanize them all." She replied.  Wow. That escalated quickly. 

There had to be another option. I called the local pound, and told them the situation. I asked if I surrendered the animals, would they nurse them back to health and sell them? They said they would euthanize them, because dollar for dollar its cheaper. What kind of disgusting world do we live in where a life is valued by dollars and cents???

Plan "C"? Is there a Plan "C? The Dr. said we could do Out Patient Care. My ears were perked up. "Whats that?!!" The Dr. said that I would give IV drips twice a day, per puppy. I would also give 2 shot per day, per puppy. The shots were antibiotic and anti-nausea. But, it was all in my court. It was going to be A LOT of work. I was also to force feed them Pedialyte every hour on the hour (to combat the dehydration) , and baby food (Chicken with gravy <7 G protein per jar) with baby rice  cereal (to combat the malnutrition). 

1 Cor 10:31 Reminded me to do all things for the glory of God. I had to fight for Jehovah's creation. 

To glorify what he created. To respect what he had made. 

So began a 10 day stretch. I didn't know what day it was. 

24 hours a day, every hour on the hour Force Feeding 8 puppies. Sometimes every 1/2 hour depending on the level of vomit and diarrhea. At 6 am and 6 pm I administered IV's with the anti nausea shots and antibiotics and 1 tsp of Pepto per dog per day. I slept in between requirements. 

I am not a vet. I am not a trained educated medical personnel. I have personal experience in: Life. 

In my experience with Parvo; the following pattern hapened to all six  puppies that passed:

Vomit and diarrhea --> Shaking--> sleeping plus all previous symptoms --> loss of eye contact plus all previous symptoms --> Fever of 105 or above --> death. 

I have two puppies (Joey and Jenny) that pushed through the fever. 

When I noticed this pattern, I began trying home remedies for fever reducers. ( All the Dr.'s agreed that there was nothing I could give them, or do. There is ALWAYS something we can do.)  I tried ice baths, I tried Force Feeding herbal teas, and ice packs. Nothing seemed to work. Puppies were passing away. 

When I came to the medical conclusion that I could not fight the fever, I chose to fight emphatically. 

If a little one was fevering, yet, her paws were ice cold, I would gently lay her in the sun, and pet her, talk to her and let her know she was a "Good Girl." Others wanted to be snuggled tight, while they cried. So I held them and soothed them until they passed. ( 1 Cor 10:31) 

Others did not want to be touched. Just wanted to look into a set of eyes, that knew. So, I did. 

The mother of the puppies, Stella was on site. She sat with me. Or maybe, you could say, I sat with her. She would kiss her baby and look to me. I sobbed more than once on her neck. 

Interestingly, my male (the father) Troy, some how knew. He did not play for a week. He just walked back and forth and back and forth. When a puppy would pass he would bark. I dont want to read into this action-- But I'm convinced he understood. 

After the 5th puppy passed and life was.....quite grim....Jenny began to drink! DRINK! On her own!!

She became my light, my finish line. Looking at a calendar, she began drinking on day 7 or 8.

Auggie and Joey were the only two sick puppies left. Auggie passed growling at his sickness, while paralyzed on a towel. He was fighting. Troy, encouraged his fight, by growling with him. 

I pushed through the incrediable sadness and told him to "Get it boy. Go Get it!" I knew, he was passing. This was his way, I respected that.

 Today is Friday--- 10 days ago this awful ugly virus came onto our land, changing it overnight. 

I am happy to say that 2 puppies: Joey and Jenny are on the mend to recovery. Now that they are eating (Boiled chicken and rice) and drinking (water with Electrolytes) I can finally take a nap.

 My goal in all of of this was very simple: Give life its due respect.

I hope, in some way, I did that.