Fourth of July, One Sick Puppy, & Bowling

Once the sun went down we brought Savannah over to meet all of her new family. About 8:00pm she had gotten sick and we thought it was just because of the heat and all the new people who were holding her. We watched the fireworks and headed home because we were all so tired. Savannah kept dry heaving and would not eat or drink. Justin and I chalked the illness up to eating grass, traveling a lot that day, etc. But when she kept dry heaving at midnight and seemed very lethargic I began to worry. Yes being the paranoid mother I am I called the vet emergency line. Of course on the 4th all the vets beepers were off due to the holiday, but we had a scheduled appointment for today (Monday) so we decided to keep her comfortable for the night and we would just call and see if we could move our appointment up in the morning.

Originally our schedule appointment was supposed to be for her first round of vaccinations, but obviously they had to run a couple of tests to see what was wrong with her first. Once the vet came in he explained she had the Parvo virus which is something that is contracted 10-14 days out before any symptoms come into play aka she received the virus at the breeders home. Parvo virus basically cuts the villi in the intestines off so Savannah could not absorb any of the nutrients which equals a dehydrated dog + throwing up + diarrhea = on sick puppy. I don't know if it was because I was soo pissed off at the breeder, worried for Savannah, and the lack of sleep but I started bawling when the vet was explaining the treatment plan for her. Yes, I was that girl. Parvo virus has to run its course but Savannah has to be hooked up to an IV in order to hydrate her, give antibiotics to prevent a secondary infection, and stay at the vet between 48-72 hours all awhile the vet explains this type of treatment runs between $500-$600. The vet also mentioned we could talk to the breeder and get a different puppy if we didn't want to aquire the costs. NO THANKS! We wanted Savannah and why would I risk getting another dog from that breeder when it could have picked up the same virus.

When we left the vet's office, I called and gave the breeder an earful! At first she was really defensive and didn't believe me until she talked to our vet. Luckily, she called me back apologized and offered to pay for half the bill which at this point I am fine with. The thing that sucks is she cannot afford to pay us her half until she sells another puppy which she can't do for another 2 weeks due to our puppy contracting the virus at her home; the remaining puppies have to be quarantined for 2 weeks to see if any of them develop any symptoms of the Parvo virus.

In order to stop being pissed off at the breeder and sad for Savannah, we decided to take Kathryn bowling. I suck at bowling but love doing it! I haven't bowled in probably 5 years so I was exceptionally awful today, but the three of us had a great time.