MONDAY JANUARY 29 2001 Little Blind Puppy Sparky is not feeling well

Over this past weekend Sparky has gone from being a very playful fellow to gradually not feeling well. His cough is getting worse, and last night his chest sounded congested. He has no appetite, and now he's got diarrhea bad. This fellow is becoming very sick and needs to see the doctor. I'm so glad that it's finally Monday and the clinic is open.

Sparky and Penny go in for another checkup

By 8:00 a.m. I was at the clinic with the puppies for their second visit in a week. Penny checked out okay, and the tests the vet ran on Sparky show that this pup has a damaged liver and a bladder infection. We came home with cough medicine for both their coughs and an antibiotic for Sparky's bladder infection and a refill on the medicine for Penny's intestinal upset, which the doctor also prescribed for Sparks. No one seemed at all concerned that Sparky is not eating and is so lethargic.

TUESDAY JANUARY 30 2001 Puppy Sparky is rushed to the clinic again--it's PARVO

Poor little Sparky. He was so "lifeless" when I got up with the pups this morning that it really scared me, and by 8:00 a.m. I had him at the clinic for the third time in the 10 days that he has been with us. "Something is wrong with him," I insisted--for the third time. The doctor took another stool sample and ran a Parvo test, which came up positive. Sweet Sparky has parvo virus--a disease which can be fatal. The doctor began the IV immediately, which is given to help prevent dehydration, and I left the sick little puppy in their care.

The following information is per our vet's print out on Parvo:

Death from Parvo Virus can result from: dehydration, overwhelming bacterial infection resulting from the pet's lowered resistance, blood loss from internal hemorrhage or heart attack from invasion of the heart muscle by the virus.

Our wonderful vets have treated two of our other puppies in the past who have had parvo, and both survived. Neither pup was as young as Sparky, tho, and neither was nearly as sick.

Sparky just has to recover!

Penny is whisked to the clinic with a runny nose!

As soon as I got home (to our shelter) I went to check on Puppy Penny, Sparky's playmate. She was playing in the sun with their teddy bear-stuffy toy in their outside kennel, and as I approached her, she came running happily to me. She looked so healthy and happy and bouncy, but then, right away, I noticed that she had a runny nose! (Could be a sign of Parvo.) I scooped her up and drove straight back to the clinic. Within a half hour's time we were back in the same examining room with the doctor again. "Nothing is wrong with her," the doctor assured me. He said it's just a little runny nose from the slight cold she has. I asked the doctor to please run a Parvo test on Penny too, so he did, and it came up NEGATIVE, thank heaven. We will still be keeping a very close watch on her.

We are all praying for Sparky's recovery from this deadly disease. At 3:30 this afternoon I called the clinic for the second time to check on Sparky, and there has been no change in his condition.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31 2001 Still "no change" in Sparky's condition

I couldn't sleep much at all last night worrying about Sparky, and at 8:30 this morning I called the clinic to see how he was doing. The technician said there had been "no change." At least he hadn't gotten worse during the night. I'll be calling again later today to check on the fellow. This is just so sad to have this little puppy be so sick.

3:30 p.m. - Sparky is "holding his own"

When I called at 3:30 this afternoon the technician said that there was still no change in Sparky. "He is holding his own," she said.

Again I remembered our other sick "parvo pups." They survived. We've been going to the same excellent veterinarians for more than 15 years, and they're taking care of little Sparky, so he just has to be okay too.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 1 2001 Gina and Scooter go for third puppy vaccinations

Juan helped me load these two big puppy dogs in the van for their trip to the clinic for their scheduled third puppy vaccinations. Toby and Blackie (our house dogs) are also due for their yearly boosters, so they went too.

No change yet for sick little Sparky

While at the clinic I checked on Sparky. "He is still throwing up," said Shannon, one of the receptionists at the clinic. There is no change for the better yet. Shannon had fallen in love with puppy Sparky on our very first visit to the clinic over a week ago. Shannon will keep close tabs on the fellow and will let me know later today if there is anything new to report.

I'll also be calling around 3:30 p.m. to check on Sparky.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2 2001 I visited Sparks at "his hospital" today

I went to see little Sparky at the clinic this morning. This precious little puppy is so sick he doesn't even respond to our voices. I had a long talk with the doctor about Sparky's condition, and he said that sometimes it can take weeks of treatment before puppies get better. We just have to be patient. It is almost unbearable to see Sparky so lifeless and so sick.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3 2000 Saturday Adoption Day in Dallas

It's Saturday Adoption Day, but I really didn't want to leave the house today, thinking there might be some change in Sparky's condition, so I called the clinic to see how he was this morning. Still no change was the report. He is holding his own, and at least that is good news.

We know he is getting the very best of care at the clinic, so our adoption day plans will go on as scheduled.

We'll be taking beautiful Silver with us today, along with Scooter, George, Gina and Tommy Tootles.

GEORGE IS ADOPTED!

Lots of people came to look at the dogs today, and it was nearing 2:00 p.m. when a couple came over to see our bunch. The gentleman was retired and was hoping to find a dog companion today, and George immediately caught his attention. The two of them seemed to bond instantly, and the gentleman made the decision to adopted George. (George is the year-old red Chow mix puppy-dog rescued in Dallas--see our November 12, 2000 update via *Links to Previous Links on our Home page.)

George's new dad, whose middle name is also George, wanted doggie George to have everything he had been used to while here with us--such as food and toys--, so I helped the couple shop for George's food, and they picked out toys and more toys and other goodies, and they had their shopping cart full by the time they were ready to check out.

Susan and I took George to his new home and all appeared just perfect! George is about to enjoy a wonderful life as a very pampered house pet!

Scott Murphy along with his rescued dog, Millie, visit us, and Scott volunteers to doggie-sit for a while

This was really an honor for me. Scott Murphy is a wonderful man who is also trying to do what he can to help raise funds for Straydog. We have been corresponding for years it seems, and now we finally got to meet each other in person.

Scott is also an angel to "Millie" his beautiful, golden-haired, two-year-old Shepherd mix dog. He found Millie near a dumpster when she was just a pup. She appeared to have been beaten, and kind hearted Scott rushed the hurt little pup to his vet. Millie had a broken back, among many other life-threatening problems, and she wasn't expected to live. Scott's vet did everything possible for Millie, and along with Scott's tender loving care, Millie recovered and is fine today. Some of the results of the wounds she incurred as a pup (such as very poor control of her hind legs) are still with her, and will be with her for life, but she manages to get around very well and doesn't even seem to realize that she has a problem walking. She is a happy little dog.

It was wonderful to meet them both.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 4 2000 Our vet calls with very, very bad news about Sparky

Bill had to go in to work today at his regular job in Dallas, so he rushed to put an update on our website early this morning with the headline, "Blind Pup Sparky has PARVO--Please pray with us for his recovery."

Not long after Bill left for work, I got the call I'd been dreading from Dr. Stephen: Poor little Blind Pup Sparky didn't make it. This is so sad.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 5 2000 We We have the funeral for precious little Sparky

This is such a sad morning. It's so hard for me to believe that this precious little puppy isn't with us anymore. I was so sure he would recover, because our other two parvo pups had recovered, but Sparky was so frail and "had so much going against him," per our vet. I guess it was just not meant to be.

I wanted to be at our clinic by 8:00 this morning to bring Sparky home, and I took Sparky's little playmate, Penny, with me to have the doctor look at her another time, because her sneezing seemed to be getting worse. I dreaded the thought of her coming down with parvo too. For now, the doctor said, Penny is okay.

It was warm and sunny when we arrived back home. I put Puppy Penny in her outside kennel. She took off running and grabbed their pink and white, soft stuffy-teddy-bear, the one that she and Sparky had such a fun time playing with their first few days here, and she took stuffy-teddy to their favorite grassy spot in the yard where they always used to play their tuggy game together.

I left Penny playing in their kennel while Randy, Ginnie, Gary and I had the funeral for little Sparky. Gary said a nice prayer, and I planted pretty yellow flowers on Sparky's grave. It's just so hard to believe that he is gone.