Tom-Tom Update

The good news.... He is still alive.

The bad news.... This is one of the worst parvo strains there is. Even the vet is shaking his head. Normal parvo goes active for 72 hours, tearing up the intestinal tract. The dehydration begins with vomiting and usually kills them in 3 days.

Tom-Tom's first symptoms (vomiting) appeared about 120 hours ago and he has not held down anything since then. He has not eaten in 5 days and he is still vomiting up even water. It finally hit his bowels at 5 am this morning and he lost a huge amount of blood.

Last night was very bad for him, I was beside him all night. I really did not believe he would survive long enough to get back to the vet today.

Thankfully I have a very wonderful vet. Smart, too. He is treating Tom-Tom in a way I had never heard of before. You know the loose skin on the neck and throat of a lab...? Instead of putting him on a constant IV drip, he is filling up the folds of that loose skin with liters of electrolyte fluid. It looks strange as hell, but it is keeping him hydrated. And also this way I can get it done and bring him home. I can not bear the thought of him dying thinking I had abandoned him to die in a strange room full of strangers with needles.

He has had his neck filled 4 times now and if the virus does not go inactive by morning we will do it again. Poor baby has so many needle punctures in his neck already, but so far it IS working. He looks like hell but he is alive.

The vet says this bowel thing is a good sign, (even though it completely traumatized me to see it happen), because it means the virus is in it's final stages. If we can just keep him alive maybe another 24 to 36 hours the virus will or should go inactive. It is hard to say because it never should have lasted this long in the first place.

He is a brave boy, and before it happened he was as strong as they come, so if his strength can just hold out a little while longer....

I am sorry if I am not here or that I seem to have totally gotten off the subject of art, but I have been crying for 4 days straight and it is not over yet.

On the other hand, some really good news, Sam seems completely unaffected. But he also had his full series of shots where Tom-Tom had not. So... That is a true blessing.

So, yall keep on posting and I will be back as soon as this passes. I am going to go try to get a nap while I can. It is going to be another very long night.