Supples’ Pub

It’s been a long day at work, and a long week at work for that matter. The Goat had a flat tire which could have been more of an inconvenience, but still a pain. My evening was looking up, but this sealed the deal.

On one of the discussion forums I frequent, someone posted about an adopted puppy but later updated with news of a downturn in health. Having some experience with adopted puppies that go south, I posted and offered some suggestions. I then noticed the person was located in Raleigh and sent a Private Message suggesting a veterinarian and details of my experience which may have proven valuable. The person thanked me for my input and I watched the thread for updates, with the pup progressively getting worse.

It now appears the pup has taken a turn for the better and I got this Private Message today:

I just wanted to thank you for recommending the Bowman Animal Hospital. We wanted a second opinion on Brody so we took him there yesterday. They were unwilling to rule out distemper, but they were very encouraged by the fact that he is so healthy right now, and think that either A)He fought it off, or B)this has been a combo of multiple infections that had the appearance of distemper. They want us to wait the results of the blood test done by our other vet and then go from there. But we really liked them, the vet we dealt with reminded us of our vet back in California. She was very thorough and detailed and made sure we understood everything about the situation. They even did an estimate of the tests they were considering doing so we could get an idea of the cost before we committed. Overall we were impressed. Thanks again

This really makes my day. I will say that I get asked my opinion on a regular basis (other times I just volunteer it ) about a variety of things, and when it comes to animals nobody listens. I recommend Bowman, I tell them of the wonderful turnaround Kat’s 9 year old boxer made despite various tumors & other issues, I tell them of the healthy diet they recommend and how great the boxer looks despite being at the end of her average life span.

And do they listen? No. I think the "integrated" part scares them off (i.e. practices Western & Eastern medicine). Yeah some of it comes off as hookey, but when they can fix problems that regular vets just shrug their shoulders at, I take it seriously.

Enough soapboxing, I’m just glad somebody finally listened and I hope the best for their little pup.

UPDATE

No sooner do I post this, but I checked the thread where he was updating about the pup. Damnit.

I’m sorry to say the little guy is gone. He started mild neurological symptoms last night, but we just figured it was just puppy stuff. Then this morning he was whimpering, but otherwise acting normal. We figured it was because of the bad cough he had. Once my wife got home he was a different dog. He was doing the "gum chewing," shaking his head, whimpering, crying, missing a step when walking, having a hard time keeping his eyes open. All the classic symptoms of the disease. One of his vets who initially diagnosed said this was the point to put him down. His other vet agreed, but recommended some other stuff we could try like anti-seizure medication and pain pills. We knew it was time to give up, we had tried so hard, done so much and spent so much money. We knew given the odds for this disease we were fighting a lost cause, and anything more was just us being selfish and doing it more for us than thinking of his own suffering. He was happy and well for a few days in there, but ultimately we couldn’t beat this deadly disease. We’re going to miss him, but this was for the best that we put him down.
My wife was with him when they did it, I simply could not handle it myself. I said my goodbyes to him, and left the room. We’ll miss you Brody.