Benny One Month Later

Benny has become part of the family and is a wonderful little dog. Here he is one month after his ordeal. He loves to sit in the sun on his "deck" and play with his big sister, Meghan. He recieved vaccinations two weeks ago and appears to be very healthy.

Benny two weeks after

Benny two weeks after being released from Cary Street Vet. He would not have survived his ordeal if not for the excellent care he received from Dr. Kuhn and all the staff of Cary Street Vet. Adequate vaccination begins before birth -- the mother dog should be current on her vaccinations at the time she gives birth because the puppy acquires its first immunity toward parvo from the antibodies it receives from its mother (called Passive Transfer of immunity). Then its important that the puppy receive an initial vaccination against parvo early in life, followed by the full series of puppy boosters. The main thing to remember in this regard is that Parvo vaccination is begun very early (usually around 6 weeks.)

Benny was released from the doggie hospital after four days and is living with his rescuers. He is eating and drinking and gaining weight by the hour. Benny loves "the big dog" that lives with his rescuers -- although they have only met through the baby gate as Benny is contagious for the next two weeks. He is very sweet and loves to give kisses and hugs.

"Benny bulletin: IV is out, WBC count within normal limits, he's alert and has kept down several ounces of food. He is wagging his tail, licking his rescuers and acting like a regular puppy. Benny may even be released tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 We visited Benny at 6 p.m. today. The vet says he stood up for the first time today around 2 p.m. When we got there he stood up and wagged his tail at us! He is still vomiting so he has not be given any fluids yet, still IV's but if he makes it through the night without vomiting he will be given a few cc's of water in the morning.

Benny the Puppy Battles Parvo A Preventable Tragedy

On Sunday afternoon, we found a cold, wet, shaking puppy huddled in a corner in the alley behind our house. The puppy looked about four months old and I tried to tempt him with treats but he didn’t move at all. When I put a spoon full of peanut butter under his nose, he looked so defeated and a little bubble formed in the corner of his mouth.

We brought him inside thinking that he was just lost, cold and hungry. He lay in a kennel we fixed for him covered in blankets. After a while he got up and drank a little water. He was wobbly and obviously weak. He could not keep the water down and I tried giving him a few cc's of Pediatlyte. When he couldn't keep that down I knew something more was wrong and we took him to the animal hospital.

They told us he had parvo a highly contagious virus mainly affecting dogs. The disease is highly infectious and is spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces. It is especially dangerous for puppies that are not nursing or protected by a simple, inexpensive vaccination. Without treatment, 91% of unvaccinated puppies that contract parvo die. The staff explained that animal control will not accept animals with parvo and that they would put him to sleep. I told them that we would like to try and save his life.

Treatment for parvo is expensive and consists of treatments of crystalloid IV fluids and/or colliods, antinausea injections (antiemetics) such as metoclopramide, dolasetron, ondansetron and prochlorperazine, and antibiotic injections such as cefoxitin, metronidazole, timentin, or enrofloxacin. The virus attacks either the intestine or heart. In the intestinal cases, pieces of intestine actually die off and the secondary infection that sets in the dead intestinal tissue kills most victims. It is an excruciatingly painful, slow death. The puppy vomits and has severe hemorrhagic (bloody) diarrhea until it becomes too weak to eat or drink. We had observed that the puppy's paws were not raw or dry indicating it had not been on the street long. The best we can figure is he was abandoned when he became ill. By the time we found him, he was so sick and weak that I don't think he could have gotten himself out of harms way.

The doctor told me there are so many cases of parvo where we live that the shelters cannot afford to treat abandoned animals with the disease. Parvo is easily preventable and every puppy should be given a parvo shot when they are a few weeks old. I cried bitter tears as I looked into his sweet trusting face, his whole life hung in the balance of a stranger willing to take on the medical care that may save his life.

So far the puppy we named Benny has survived a little over 24 hours. His fever has gone from 104 to 101. His white blood cell count is grave; 2.68 – a normal count for a puppy is between 5 and 16. He continues to receive intravenous medications. We are taking it hour by hour and will post his progress.