Found abondoned sick puppy

Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I had an adorable 3-4 month old boxer pup show up on my front porch that
has obviously been without care for a while.  He is very skinny.  He was
pretty energetic when we first allowed him in our home, but not for long.
We offered him dry food and water, and he was not interested.  We then
tried canned puppy food, and he ate a few bites and  lost interest.  I
have tried just about everything to get this poor pup to eat and drink.
He will drink a bit, but I don't think it is enough.  He has been puking
up a yellow slimey fluid since this morning.  He has puked about 6 or 7
times.  And this evening when he went out to potty he has severe diarhea,
mostly liquid and bloody mucus.  He has been urinating so I am not certain
he is dehydrated.  I just want to help this poor puppy.  And we are
worried about him making it through the night till we can take him to the
vet.  He is very lethargic, sleeps constantly.  Please offer any advice or
tricks you may have to help me get this pup to eat or at the least, make
it through till I get him to the vet!  Thankyou!
Answer -
Hi Indra! This pup is very lucky he found you! It is so wonderful of you
to take him in. Are you planning on keeping him?
Yes, a vet visit is definately a must. I am concerned about Parvo, a
severe and serious virus that pups can get (or unvaccinated adults). He
more than likely is dehydrated as not eating/drinking much and vomiting
and diarrhea can no doubtedy cause dehydration. If you force feed or force
water into him, it may only cause the vomiting and diarrhea to increase
and become more severe. There really is nothing you can do at this point,
until you have your veterinarian take a look at him. Keep him warm and out
of a draft and give him alot of TLC. Hopefully you can get him to your
veterinarian ASAP in the morning. Please let me know how he does.
If you have any other dogs, be sure to keep them separated as Parvo is
HIGHLY contagious. If your dogs are up to take on their vaccinations, it
would decrease their chance of contracting it, if this is in fact Parvo.
Best of luck,
Hilary

Thankyou for the quick response Hilary! I am not looking forward to the
vet bills associated with recovering from parvo, but I too am thinking
that may be his problem.  The poor little guy is so sweet, the entire
family fell in love with him the second I let him in the house.  We will
most likely keep him should he survive what is ailing him.  He is not the
first stray I have taken in!  I am a big softy!  To me, a dog without a
home is no different than an abandoned child!  They are so helpless, and
just need love!  And I so hate to see this one suffering.  I hope it isn't
Parvo, and maybe he is just severely dehydrated and/or ate something bad
while trying to make it on his own.  I will let you know what the vet says
tomorrow if you'd like. Thankyou again for the fast reply!


Answer -
Hi Indra!  You sound just like me!  My hubby and I have confiscated a small zoo made of strays hehe.  I always feel so sorry for them.  They didn't ask to be born and live that kind of life...they all need love and a good home.  That good home always turns out to be ours hehe.
It really does sound like Parvo, but you never know.  It could be dehydration, that he ate something bad, intestinal parasites.  It would be much better if it be the latter!  I would love it if you would keep me posted.  You are such a wonderful person for taking this poor baby in!  He sure was lucky when he chose your home!
BEST OF LUCK!
Sending millions of get well puppy kisses his way,
Hilary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow up-

Hello again!  We took Buddy ( that is what we named him) to the vet Friday
morning and he did test positive for parvo.  But the Dr said he was bright
eyed and in good spirits and still had some energy so we caught it very
early and his chances for survival are excellent.  He was hospitalized and
they expect he will be well enough to come home Sunday or Monday. The poor
little guy.  He is house broken, and although he was so sick, he had no
accidents in the house.  He is very loving and wags his tail everytime you
even look at him.  All we can figure is he got sick and someone didn't
have the money to have him treated so they dumped him off.  We live very
close to a no-kill shelter and they know me by first name.  They figure
that I end up with so many strays because people dump them at thier place
and they wander off.  So, they are great about helping me find them homes
and getting them spayed and etc.  But, I do end up keeping too many!
Right now we have 5 dogs and 4 puppies!  We are trying to find a home for
one young dog, and of course the puppies.  And then, we hope to stay at 4
dogs.  LOL, until the next one comes along!  

Answer
Oh Indra, I am so happy to hear that the puppy should be okay.  I've been so worried about the poor little guy!  He is absolutely the luckiest little guy to have found you!  So, are you going to keep him?  What's his name going to be?
Oh I totally understand where you are coming from about the strays.  I can never turn them down!  Right now we have a dog, 5 cats, 3 ferrets and 5 birds.  Three of the birds are wild Starlings that my dad found at his work 3 days ago. Their nest had fallen and the mother died from a broken neck.  So...I am feeding these babies every 30 minutes lol.  It's a job and a half, but I have to help them!
My other pets have all been rescued too, and like your situation, they were all sick and required tons of veterinary care, which led to tons of vet bills.  We're "two birds of a feather"...we both can't turn them down!  It's lucky for them...and it's lucky for us too:)
Please, if you have time, continue to keep me posted!  Be sure to give that baby tons of hugs for me!
Hilary