Update On Rocky

I want to thank everyone for their purrs and prayers for Rocky and the pups. It's much easier to update you here in his blog then to try and tell you on Twitter. I'll start from the beginning. It started last Wed with Dega being under the weather. He was throwing up and just not himself. We thought maybe he had gotten into something. The next day he wasn't much better the next day, not worse but not better. That night around 10:30 he just didn't look right so we rushed him to the emergency ER where parvo was confirmed. They gave him IV fluids and a shot of antibiotics and told us to follow up with our regular vet in the morning, which we did. Our vet gave him a few more shots of antibiotics and sent him home. By that night, he was pretty much back to his old self. Then on Monday Bristol and Rocky started to get ill too. Rocky not as bad, just wasn't himself. Neither wanted to eat, but did drink. We called our vet who told us to give them the antibiotics and sub Q fluids. We did. Rocky didn't change but Bristol was getting worse. Before Joe had a chance to get her to the vet she passed away. Rocky had the same symptoms as Bristol minus the bloody diarrhea. We didn't want him to suffer the same fate as Bristol so we rushed him back to our vet. In the process of getting him ready to go, one of the little pups threw up and another one had done so just prior, so we opted to take them also to get tested. Rocky wasn't tested for parvo prior, we just assumed that since they all had basically the same symptoms they all had the same thing. Well, the pups tests came back as a light positive, while Rocky's came back negative. We thought that maybe they had mixed up the tests because there was no way that he could be negative. We wanted to believe it but just couldn't. The vet wanted to keep the pups, because pups that young could go downhill fast, so they were hospitalized. He gave Rocky some antinausa meds, more antibiotics etc and we took him home. The vet said that the blood diarrhea was the worst symptom and Rocky didn't have that. That was until 4 O'clock this afternoon. I went out into the kitchen to find a puddle of bloody diarreah about 2 ft across. We knew it wasn't another dog, all were in the bedroom with Joe (trying to keep them separated) and all were feeling fine. We called the vet back and he said to come in. They said even the test came back negative they were going to treat him like he was positive. So he got another shot of 'something' I've lost track actually. He isn't nearly as dehydrated as Bristol was, so he sent us home with an IV for him to give him fluids all night. He seems to be a little better than he was this morning, but still not eating. The vet said that this is normal for parvo dogs and he wouldn't be surprised if he didn't eat for a few more days. He's already lost 10 pounds in 2 1/2 days. We opted to bring him home tonight instead of leaving him there because they don't have anyone there at night to watch them. The pups had another round of IV fluids before the doctor left, and we wanted to keep a close eye on Rocky all night. Not to mention this has gotten to be pretty expensive. We are well over the $1500 mark right now and it's costing $250 per pup to be hospitalized overnight. Luckily Joe and I are both medics and we can get all the IV fluid and IV set ups we need for free, but we still have to pay for the medication that goes into them. But it's a cost we will deal with because they are our babies and regardless of the cost they will get any care that they need, we will figure it out later. It's been a very rough week in our household and I have a feeling it will get worse before it gets better, as if it can get any worse that it already is. Right now, Rocky is still 50/50, he seems to be acting better, but only time will tell. The vet told us that if they make it thru the first few days, then their chances of recovery are better. We gave the little pups their shots yesterday because none of them were ill at the time. It takes about a week for the shots to really take effect, so if we can keep the remaining pups (at home) from getting it, they should be ok. The 2 pups at the hospital we also given a 50/50 shot. We could go thru all of this and still lose everyone. So please keep them all in your purrs and prayers. I know that Rocky has truly amazing anipals and with all of them pulling for him and his pups he just has to get better. Thanks you all again.