I have something to get off my chest today. I went to take my dog to the vet because he hasn't been feeling well for about a week. He has been throwing up, walking slowly and overall wasn't looking good. My friend said that its normal for a dog to throw up, because he's just trying to get rid of the toxins or whatever else he ate that didn't agree with him. So anyway, took him to the vet and they said to leave him there for a couple hours. They'll take a look at him and give me a phone call.
I got home, took off my shoes and when I was about to sit down, the phone rang and it was the doctor. The doctor explained to me that my dog was very sick, he said my dog had parvo-virus. Parvo-virus being a highly contagious disease, contracted from contaminated grounds. This means dogs can get this disease from the feces of infected dogs.
So needless to say I had two options in my hands. I can let my dog be infected with parvo-virus, or I can do what needs to be done. Two very difficult options, two options that I want to avoid. The reason being, option one means letting my dog carry around with a highly contagious disease. With the risk of infecting other dogs using the same grass and the risk of him suffering.
I got home, took off my shoes and when I was about to sit down, the phone rang and it was the doctor. The doctor explained to me that my dog was very sick, he said my dog had parvo-virus. Parvo-virus being a highly contagious disease, contracted from contaminated grounds. This means dogs can get this disease from the feces of infected dogs.
So needless to say I had two options in my hands. I can let my dog be infected with parvo-virus, or I can do what needs to be done. Two very difficult options, two options that I want to avoid. The reason being, option one means letting my dog carry around with a highly contagious disease. With the risk of infecting other dogs using the same grass and the risk of him suffering.
Option One (Listed below)
- Let my dog carry around with a highly contagious disease.
- Let my dog suffer, he'll be throwing up..depression and a high fever.
- Walk around town borrowing money from my friends and family to conjure up enough money to pay the blood sucking vets. Surgery alone, plus the prescription medicine would add up to around a thousand dollars. (I'm seventeen years old, with not much change in my pocket.)
Option Two:
- 1. Put him to sleep. This means letting him rest, not to suffer and not to go through the recovering process that has a 50/50 chance of working. He's a puppy so he doesn't have much of a chance to survive as the vets say.
So these were the options I was left with and I went with option two. I stood there beside him, telling him how much I loved him, how much I'd miss him and left him wrapped up in his blanket so that he'd feel at least somewhat comfortable. Despite what was happening inside him, externally. Parvo-virus is a very brutal disease. If I had waited longer to get him checked out, I would of woken up with a dead puppy beside me.
Parvo-virus pretty much attacks the heart muscles, for puppies leading to unsuspecting death. As the needle was inserted inside this tube like thing (forgot what it was called) it worked very fast. I paid the vet two hundred dollars, signed the papers and got out of there. I remember just walking home feeling like crap, just because I had let this get out of hand.
Death, in many cases come unexpectedly or expectedly. Some people or animals are lucky and escape death's scythe, most people or animals aren't that lucky. The thing that I remember was that my puppy knew death is lurking in the darkness of the corners. Before I left the vet, earlier before I had to put him down was the look in his eyes.
It wasn't despair, but he was anticipating it, like he had a hunch that this would happen. He knew something wasn't feeling right. As soon as the needle was pushed into that tube, he glanced around the room and snuggled into me.
Its a very depressing thing to lose a family member. Regardless if they can't speak or not, he was much of life as it was him. During the nights he would bark, waking my dad up and during the day he was chewing on my shoes or trying to get the cats outside.
Well anyway, sorry for the wall of text. I just had to get this off my chest.
R.I.P Cory.
Parvo does not just attack heart muscles - It also does damage to the digestive system. It pops the capillaries in the digestive track, causing the dog to vomit blood or produce bloody stools.
As I said, my Heeler, Chaos, contracted Parvo. As expensive as it is, Parvo is curable. My puppy was cured and lived a long life. The treatment is very expensive due for a few reasons, the two main ones being the medicine and the treatment. The treatment is 24-hour, around the clock IVs, and the vets vacuum your pockets the whole time.
Again, I am sorry for your loss. I wish you a fast recovery.