The Roller Coaster

Well, it's stopped snowing since my last post. Been a while, hasn't it? Matt and I have kept ourselves pretty busy in the last few months. Things have felt like a roller coaster lately with lots of ups and downs. Here's a bit of an update:

1.  Roller coaster going up...

The Reilly's came to visit us in May! We had a blast on our adventures through Heidelberg, Paris, Berne, down the Rhine River, and in and around our little village.

 Our Rhine River Cruise

Could Paris be more beautiful?! No. The answer is no. It's pretty much perfect.

No visit to Germany is complete without a wine tasting. Come visit us, and we'll make sure you experience one!

Our collection of Starbucks mugs is growing!

2. Up, up, up...

We got a puppy!!! Indiana Reilly, Canine of Doom. Or just Indy. Whichever you prefer.

3. Down. Waaaay down.

Within 24 hours of bringing our sweet little fluffy bundle of joy home, we realized that something was very wrong. Indy refused to eat. And the few times he did eat, he was unable to keep anything down. We took him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with coccidia, an intestinal parasite that is common in puppies. However, our doctor made it very clear that in this case, Indy sickness was due to the negligence of the breeder. He said that Indy was extremely underweight and could not have lost that amount of weight in the short time we had him (less than 2 days, at this point).  In other words, he was already malnourished (yep, malnourished) when we purchased him. His extreme puppy fluffiness made his low body weight very easy to disguise from unsuspecting puppy buyers such as ourselves.

Every day for a week I sat with Indy at the vet for a number of hours while he received fluids and glucose through an IV.

On the second day I brought Indy in, I was told that another dog who could possibly be Indy's litter mate was also receiving care from our vet for the exact same condition. I confirmed with the puppy's mother that they were indeed litter mates: they had the same birth dates and were purchased on the same day from the same breeder at the same address.

Meanwhile, we struggled to get Indy to eat. He didn't want rice or chicken or cottage cheese. Nothing the vet suggested whetted Indy's appetite. Matt and I were faced with the possibility that Indy might not survive. He was so thin. He hadn't held down food in three days. The situation was pretty dire. We were forced to resort to a nutrition paste for critically ill animals. In order to feed it to Indy, we had to put a small dollop of the paste on our finger and slather it on Indy's gums so that he had no other choice but to lick it off, thereby absorbing its nutrition. He didn't like it, but he kept it down. We gave him a dallop of this meaty-smelling goo every hour on the hour. It was heartbreaking to watch suck a little helpless animal struggle so much.

Then I had a thought. I remembered back to the days when my dog Percy was getting pretty old and often couldn't eat his regular dog food. Mom would make him scrambled eggs, and Percy would gobble it up. I couldn't believe it had taken me so long to think of eggs, but as soon as I did I broke out the eggs and the pan and got crackin'. Ten minutes later I held out a tiny bite of warm egg to Indy, which he immediately ate with gusto. An hour later, another small bite. We alternated between the egg and the gel for the rest of the day, sometimes giving him both. By the end of the day, when he had still kept everything down, Matt and I felt a glimmer of hope. 

The next day at the vet, Indy's sugar was not anywhere near as low as it had been during the previous days. And he wasn't nearly as dehydrated. He still needed some fluids, though, so the tech got him hooked up and settled down, and I once again sat down beside Indy. A few minute later, the tech came back in the room carrying a small pouch and a bowl. She explained that it was cat food for sensitive stomachs and that dogs who are having difficulty eating often prefer cat food because it's wetter and tastier than the dog food. She emptied a small amount of food into the bowl and put it in front of Indy. Let me tell you, I have never seen a dog--healthy or otherwise--eat with this much excitement. He licked the bowl clean and began sniffing around for more. I knew at that moment that he was going to be OK. 

Indy's health has done nothing but improve since then. He's had a few set backs, including a diagnosis of Parvo and Corona virus. But the vet said that he had had these viruses all along, and that although he was tested for them, they could not be detected because there was such a small amount of the viruses in his system. But the vet also said that Parvovirus does not exist any longer in Germany. And although Indy had been vaccinated against it, he still must have come into contact with it at some point while in the care of the breeders. Which means that someone is likely importing dogs from Eastern Europe.

And a couple of weeks ago, Indy came down with another small setback in the form of a case of worms. But this, thankfully, was an extremely easy fix; one pill and they were gone. I don't want to go into the details of that. It's was pretty gross. But Indy's doing just fine. 

Matt and I have been working with a lawyer to get to our medical bills reimbursed by these awful breeders. We have been learning more and more about these people and the horrible operation they're running. The more I learn the more disgusted I am. Indy's sister did not make it, and I can't help but wonder how many more dogs like her suffered because of these people.

4. Going back up....

Matt and I are so grateful that Indy is healthy now. Matt told me that when he brought him to the vet last week to get him dewormed, no one recognized him because he's doing so well! Which is saying a lot because we've spent SO much time there! 

This little puppy has brought so much joy to an already joyful home, and we couldn't be happier with him.

Indy, while he was still on the IV. That's his catheter, under the green bandage.

Indy now: happy, healthy, and causing mischief.

5. Up and up!

Once Indy was better, it was time for the Walz family to visit!

We saw the sights of the Mosel valley, Paris, Heidelberg, Idar-Oberstein, and Kaiserslautern. 

All of this time with family has been a blessing. Now Matt and I will be spending a relaxing summer with our puppy. And you can be sure it won't be another 5 months before my next blog entry. But let's just hope that the roller coaster doesn't start heading down again!