Here's Ruby getting comfy and trying to nibble on some fingers. Unfortunately, she has been so sick that we took her back to the vet today. They confirmed that she has Parvo. (This is a sad story but good news for Ruby will be included so don't fear reading on.) This disease was new to us but I won't soon forget it. The info we got on it is quite disturbing. You can look that up online yourself if you are interested but be warned that it is quite sad. The short story is that Ruby has a virus that keeps her from absorbing water and nutrients. That's why she had diarrhea every few hours. Drinking water eventually caused her to vomit. Generally, puppies get it and die quickly of dehydration. The good news was that we caught it rather quickly. The vet said she had a high white blood cell count and was starting her treatment from a strong place rather than a very weak place. I've been washing floors with bleach. The virus is hard to kill but I have a lot of bleach and my hands are dry anyway. I must hunt down all Ruby's feces this weekend and douse it good. The virus can live for 9 monthes and infect other dogs so dogs are forbidden from our home for quite a while. Starla and I have lived together for quite a while and I have to say our homes never really felt empty. Sadly, now that Ruby isn't here the place does seem empty. She took up a lot of room for only 7.5 pounds. ( Can you believe that she was only 6 pounds when we just dropped her off? 20% of her weight gone in two days. I can't imagine how I would feel if I was 36-37 pounds lighter on Monday. Even this morning though she had a couple little licks for me.) Well, we are going to see her at 4:00pm and, hopefully, she will be back home soon. The statistic we saw most frequently said 80% of dogs recover. So please pray for Ruby and us.
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