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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Friday, December 21, 2012

Goodbye Shotgun

It is a sad morning for me this morning. We lost our little Shotgun last night. We have been battling what turned out to be F4 strain parvo. If you don't know about F4, let me tell you it is particularly nasty. I have dealt with and treated many parvo puppies over the years and never seen anything as awful as this strain. It tends to be vaccine resistant, meaning even vaccinated pups can contract this strain and if exposed usually do. It doesn't present with "normal" parvo symptoms to start with and just when you think you might be on the safe road to good health they relapse and are often worse the second go round than they were the first. Shotgun and I battled hard and my vet and I hit this disease with everything we could think of. He rallied Tuesday night and looked like he was going to be just fine. He was playing with the girls, barking at the other dogs and drinking his chicken broth like their was no tomorrow. Then round two hit about 3am Wednesday morning and it was a battle. He gave up about 10pm last night and started fighting us giving him his fluids and meds. He passed away 2 hours later. He went from a healthy robust rapidly growing little ball of fluff to emaciated and weak in just 5 days. He barely looked like our little Shotgun last night. I think I am the hardest hit with this as I have spent 24 hours a day for 5 days working to save his life. I miss this time as it was our special cuddle time before the children got up and then it was playtime. He usually could be found laying on my feet under the desk while I sat here and did my computer stuff in the early morning hours. It will be tough going out to feed this morning knowing that my little shadow won't be there to watch me. I am going to miss him, but at least his suffering has ended. Goodbye Shotgun, I hope you know how much you were loved.

2 comments:

living from glory to glory said...

Hi Kate, I am sooo sorry about Shotgun. I loved hearing about him and I loved his name.
I hate that Pirvo !!
I must say on another note your Mom's Dr. wack is so typical MUMBO JUMBO.
Hope the kids and you and your hubby have a sweet Christmas.
Blessings, Roxy

hoosier girl said...

So sorry.