As much as I dislike cell phones, they have proved their worth out here many times over. I probably wore .002" of glaze off the ceramic tiles, pacing and killing time before I decided that Mark and Brou should have reached pavement ... 2 hours seemed about right considering the roads. Yes, they had made it and were now heading to the vet's office. So far so good.
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Mark checked in as promised as soon as he had some definitive news from the vet. The man listened to the list of symptoms, did some palpation of the abdomen and said that he would like to run another quick test before Brou went off to radiology. Results were quick indeed and Mark called me with the news. Although he was unfamiliar with the findings, my heart sank when he said " ... something called Parvovirus, I think?" I remembered back to my first run-in with it back in the seventies when it was first noticed by the veterinary community. And it was suspected that I had lost the dearest little flop-eared shepherd puppy to it. Those wrenching memories now returned when I needed them least.
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Although no Pollyanna of optimism, the vet did state that Brou had an 80% chance of survival but they would need to hospitalize him for a week or so and our thoughts lightened a little accordingly. The most disconcerting part was that we knew very little about this killer virus. Where and when did Brou get it? The vet presumed that we lived in a populated area and that Brou had poked a nose into infected feces. Mark explained that the nearest dog was 5 miles away and that no one had brought a dog by in a month. The vet wasn't ready to buy into Mark's suggestion that he might have been infected by coyotes. Although the very young gal at the front desk thought that coyotes were not even members of the canine family (?!), there was something in this idea that made sense to me so I did research that night when the generator came on. Yes! There were ample reports on parvovirus exposure within not only the coyote population but that of wolves and even foxes and these reports went nearly as far back as the first reports of parvo back in the late seventies. When testing and studies were done on specific regional populations of coyotes, it was noted that the presence of antibodies to parvo ran as high as 95 to 100% exposure level. Brou's unusually long time to return when called one day has me thinking that he wandered far enough away to run into coyote scat (poop) if not the wily critters themselves. And Brou, being Brou, would no doubt have to investigate and maybe sample this new and exciting discovery. Oh Brou. If only he had stuck to old cow paddies.
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Given that the culprit is a virus, there is no way to kill it off with veterinary medicine. Antibiotics would be used to quell any secondary infections caused by bacteria. Dehydration and malnutrition are the real cause of mortality and these would be addressed by intravenous treatment. The idea is to support the dog while its own immune system develops its own antibodies to fight off the virus. Puppies are more likely to die since their immune system is not fully developed but Brou at least had the advantage of being slightly beyond true puppyhood.
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Friday: Meanwhile back at the ranch (I just love being able to say that literally now), Mark talked with Virgil and gave him the news on his buddy, Brou. As always, Virgil was quick to respond to the problem with a solution. His mother had a dog which she had nursed back to health with a natural compound - he would call her for info immediately. And she responded like the Marines hitting Iwo Jima (selfless goodness must run strong in that family). By the time I finished reading all the info, it occurred to me that I already had 95% of the medicinal herbs used in the medicine. Not only that but I was now inspired to mentally add another few herbs. So ... when Brou comes home, he will be getting the full blown Granny Clampett elixir.
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After talking with Virgil, Mark called the vet's office for an update. Good news! Brou had been responding remarkably well and might be sprung much sooner than they had estimated. It was now a matter of waiting until Brou could keep down foods and liquids. Oh ... but the roads. Mark eventually described his trip into town and back home. He started with "It was a good thing you weren't with me or I would have been dropping you off at the coronary ward first ... " His account will follow next.
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