Bailey's Story
This is the story of my dog Bailey. I adopted her mid-December 1996' from the local Animal Shelter. She was a 4 month old Aussie/Queensland Heeler. 3 days after I brought her home she was diagnosed with Parvo. The options for treatment were hospitalization for $150-$200 per day. Or home treatment for approx. $35 per day. Home treatment was less expensive by required much more work and time. I opted for home treatment. The first thing the vet tech showed me was how to give I.V.'s,antibiotic shots and meds to control vomiting. I had never given any of these before and this was very scary. So Bailey recieved 2 days of I.V.'s and shots then she seemed to be doing well. She started back on Kibble and we just followed up with oral antibiotics. After a week of playing,eating and seeming ok.
Then she started vomiting again...
This time she was diagnosed with Distemper. I knew nothing about Distemper except that the survival rate was very low. In fact the vet gave her a 10% chance of living. My options at that point were to put her to sleep or take her home and start I.V's again knowing the odds were against us. With tears streaming down my face I picked Bailey up and told the vet give me the I.V.'s I'm taking her home. That night I slept on the bathroom floor on cushions from the couch. The bathroom was the easiest place to clean up as she vomited through out the night. She also had secondary pneumonia and the green stuff poured out her nose. She sneezed and coughed all night.The vet told me that if she started having convulsions that I needed to bring her down and have her put to sleep.
I don't think I ever feel as helpless...
as I did those 2 weeks as I looked into my little Bailey's big brown eyes. Why hadn't she been given any vaccinations?? All of this could have been prevented with a few inexpensive vaccinations. I spoke with the receptionist and ask the hard questions I never wanted to ask. How would she be put to sleep? How long does it take? Can I be there? What happens to her body? I found out that they are cremated and their ashes used in fertilizer. I checked to see if I could get her ashes. They said for $125 I could have a private cremation (but couldn't be present) and have her ashes in a redwood box. The rest of the day was spent in tears as I hugged,loved and comforted Bailey.
and had posted a message when Bailey first got sick about how scared I was. I received so many positive messages from all these peopple telling me to hang in there that they were praying for Bailey and I. I returned to this board daily receiveing strength from these people who shared my love for dogs!!! Each day I gave Bailey her I.V's and meds and posted her progress on the Bulletin Board. My friends at ACME cheered as Bailey started to slowly get better!!! After 3 days she was able to start eating boiled chicken & rice. After 3 weeks on antibiotics her nose finally stopped running.
Then her cough went away...
She was playing and chewing and doing all those silly things puppies do. I spoke with the vet several times a week and kept him posted of her progress. I'll never forget the feeling when he said," I think Bailey is out of the woods and it looks as though the worst is over".!!!!!!! I have now had Bailey for 5 weeks and to look at her you would never know all that she went through to get here. There is a chance that one day she may develop neurological problems but no one can tell for certain when or if that will happen. So I try to live each day to the fullest..never knowing if it could be the day things take a turn for the worst. But for today she is a beautiful loving little girl that is a big part of my family!!!!! I love her one day at a time.
In closing I would like to remind everyone to vaccinate their Furry Friends!!!!!!!
To all my friends at ACME PET BB thanks for your prayers, support, love and caring as Bailey and I walked through a long dark tunnel into the beautiful light at the end!!!!!!!!!
Tammy's Pet Page
EVERYTHING DOGS HOMEPAGE
TNT333@msn.com