Golden Retriever : : Female : : Baby
Learn more about the Golden Retriever.
On April 24, 2024, we received a call from an emergency veterinarian in Peoria– they said a Good Samaritan had “found” four sick Golden Retriever puppies and brought them to the ER. The two males and two females were thought to be 2 to 3 months old. One of the puppies was quite ill – was vomiting and had bloody diarrhea; the other three had milder symptoms. The sickest one tested positive for parvovirus, so all the puppies had at least been exposed. Would we take them? Of course. The AGR transporter picked them up at the ER and took them all to Animal Medical & Surgical Center for 24-hour specialty emergency care. All of the puppies tested positive for parvo. There is no specific treatment for parvo – either a puppy is going to survive the disease or won’t. However, supportive care is given with fluids, anti-nausea medication, nasal feeding tubes and antibiotics to ward off possible secondary infections. Fortunately, all four puppies survived. All have been adopted with addenda given for neuters or spays when the puppies are about one year old. They are all in the process of being fully vaccinated, but are too young to need testing for valley fever or heartworm. The two girls were placed as soon as they were well enough to leave the hospital (one in two days, one in three). The boys were both fostered by our Intake Co-manager who had fostered parvo puppies for AGR in the past. She was familiar with the clean-up protocol – pick up poop immediately and douse the area with bleach. The virus is transmitted in the feces and can remain viable in the environment for up to a year, so the adopters were all cautioned to use the same protocol. 24-028 Rachel was transported directly to her new home with an adoptive family in Phoenix. The vet tech had said: She’s the smallest one (of the four) but has the biggest attitude! The AGR transporter reported: Rachel serenaded me all the way from AMSC to her new home. She was quite comfortable there . They have a foster dog that is living in the back yard right now. She has puppy mill dog behavior and is very frightened of people; they are letting her decompress. I saw her and she seemed interested but did not attempt to approach me. They did say that someone else came to the home with their dog and that the dogs sniffed noses with no issue. Puppy Rachel will be a handful, I think! Hopefully the foster dog will come around soon. The next morning, the adopter told the transporter: We had a great night! She pooped this AM and it was normal. She’s eating and drinking well; no throwing up. She slept through the night except when we had midnight meds. She is playful and full of love. Thank you so much for bringing this sunshine into our lives. So much sunshine they renamed her Sunshine! A couple days later, though, the loose stools did recur, so the puppy had a visit to the vet and was given a probiotic and a different food. Both helped, and three days later the adopter reported: Sunny is doing great. Sunny loves the dog that had been a stray. Both dogs have really bonded and are doing wonders for each other. Sunny might make a good therapy dog when she grows up!
Other Pictures of Rachel/Sunshine (click to see larger version):
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