Sat 22 Jan: A cautionary tale

Sandy and Sugar

 I just wanted to share this sweet photo of two very lucky sisters, Sugar and Sandy, because not only did they quickly recover from parvovirus, but the foster home that they went to after leaving hospital is keeping them forever. They do look every different from each other, and Sandy is very small compared to Sugar, but that's not too unusual in a mixed breed litter. 

Alanna

Also staying in her foster home forever is poodle Alanna, a very sweet girl.

Mentioning parvovirus, I've thought about whether or not I should write about another case, a very serious one, but I think it's important.  

I need to start by saying once again how much we appreciate the foster homes that take in puppies before they're old enough to be put up for adoption, with eight weeks being the minimum age that a puppy should be on its own.  Without such foster homes we wouldn't be able to save as many young lives as we do, and the number of puppies who have started life being cared for in a home environment has made a massive difference to them and to HKDR, as well as the adoptive parents who welcome a puppy that is probably already toilet trained but certainly used to living in a home environment. 

When puppies are sent to their respective foster homes they go with full instructions on their care, as well as food, beds and anything else that's needed.  HKDR cover the cost of everything, as well as vet visits as needed, vaccinations and so on.  All we ask is that the foster parents follow our guidelines, which include not taking the puppies outside unless they're fully vaccinated (unless they're being carried).

The B Litter when they arrived in December

When we took in the "B" litter from AFCD in December, they were chubby and healthy, and it seemed they had come from a home rather than being born to a stray mother.  As they were still quite young they were sent to foster homes in pairs, with Blaze and Blair being recently returned to the Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre.  The other day Blaze was found dead, and Blair was later quite unwell so she was sent to Concordia Pet Care for hospitalisation.  Before she too died, she tested positive for parvovirus.  It seemed strange to me that the two puppies that had been in the same foster home had both been infected with what was clearly a serious strain of parvovirus, while all of the others in the litter remained healthy.  I emailed the foster parent and asked if the puppies had ever been taken outside, and the reply came back that yes, they had been taken out to a country park for a walk!  Apart from the fact that the puppies had only had one vaccination, which in itself does nothing to protect against infectious diseases,  baby puppies have soft bones that can be damaged if they're walked too early.  Playing at home is as much exercise as young puppies should have.

Now not only have two previously healthy puppies died, but all of the other young puppies that they had been in contact with are also now at risk and can't be adopted.  Fortunately they haven't mixed with others outside of their pen, and haven't been to the Whiskers N Paws Sunday afternoon parties because they're still too young.  However it seems inevitable that at least some will become sick and potentially die, and there's absolutely nothing we can do to stop it now that they have been exposed to parvovirus.

I know that the foster parent of Blaze and Blair didn't mean to harm the puppies, and a walk in a country park seemed like a fun thing to do, but parvovirus and distemper are two very common infectious diseases that are everywhere, and vaccinating puppies before exposing them to infection is vital.  Now we have to sit and wait, and hope that the other puppies that shared the same pen as the two that came back to us carrying the virus are strong enough to fight being infected.