Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Well, last night as I was getting ready to leave for Arkansas I received a phone call from the Humane Society. One of the pups I was scheduled to adopt has come down with Parvo Virus so now my pup and all the other young-ens at the shelter are under quarantine and won't be able to leave for at least another week.

Parvo is a really weird virus. It likes cool air so you see it more in the spring and autumn, (although some seasons it will go straight through summer and winter too.) It also changes from season to season. Some years it is VERY virulent and will plow through like a freight train in a really nasty way, killing almost every pup who comes into contact with it. Other years it is a little more benign, merely making pups sick for a few days and never really spreading like wildfire. Even the less evil strains of the virus are still difficult to deal with though. There is always severe bloody diarrhea and vomiting, dehydration is a big issue. Some years there is horrible fever that accompanies the virus, other years not so much.

Apparently, the strain going about Arkansas this season isn't too bad so I'm hoping that my sick pup will survive and my other pup will escape infection. Unfortunately these pups didn't get to nurse from their mother for very long so they don't have the maternal antibodies that would normally boost their little immune systems.

So, needless to say I won't be going to Arkansas after all, at least not this week. I'll post if I get any new news.