Sad day here in OK

We just lost our fight with Parvo after two days of administering meds and fluids every hour round the clock to our two puppies. Bear and Moses both got Parvo virus probably around Monday but we were not able to diagnose it until Wednesday when Bear puppy started passing blood in his stool. Parvo is a deadly viral disease with symptoms that are pretty dreadful, has no treatments, and most pups usually die of dehydration before they actually die of Parvo, while they are loosing their stomach and intestinal lining and technically dieing a very painful and slow death. With excessive internet research li we administered everything possible, and even the vet confirmed that they would not have been able to do anything more than what we have done. Black dog breeds are the most prone to Parvo and are the least likely to survive. Bear passed away Wednesday night and Moses last night. We are all so devastated. The best thing to save your puppies from Parvo is to catch quickly (first signs are lethargy and depression, loss of appetite and loss of weight, eventually pups will vomit blood or pass it in their stool ), keep them hydrated orally or with enemas with pedialyte or like fluids, administer Parvaid every hour 24/7 and antibiotics 4 times a day. There is nothing else your vet can do than what you can do yourself, other than put the puppy to sleep if the fight seems to be lost. Bear had complications and he was loosing so much blood and fluid that we were never able to bring him back from the extreme dehydration, regarless of the fluids he was able to retain. Dehydrated pups have white gums, while healthy gums are light pink. Moses stopped vomitting on Thursday and was keeping down all his fluids , and even some soft food (solids should not be fed at this stage) and we were really hoping he would recover, but we lost him around 2:30 this morning, but he went peacefully and we praise the Lord for that.
We still have 4 pups to worry about, all are doing fine right now but the incubation period for the virus is 7-10 days. Even vaccinated puppies and even adult dogs can still get Parvo. It is very contagious and all premises need to be disinfected with bleach. We are hopeful and praying. Again, it's a sad day here in Oklahoma :(

Zoo Trip

Pastor and Mrs. Derksen promised the kids a trip to the zoo at the end of the animal Bible series. I got to come along and we all have a wonderful time. Oklahoma city has a really nice zoo and trail system, we also got to ride the tram to the exhibits which really helped when it got too hot to be hiking around on our own. Here are some shots of my little group and their zoo adventures and one of the whole gang as well :)

... and even more puppies

Some good soul dumped a litter of pups on Dobbs , right on the road. Trish and I found them on our way back from OKC . The Animal Welfare told us they could not guarantee these pups would be offered for adoption, since with the overwhelming numbers of animals they receive these months (mostly unwanted puppies and kittens), they unfortunately have to put many to sleep. These guys were just too cute for that. They look like Border Collie mix, and here you have them - Bear (with the white muzzle), Oreo (black and white) and Moses (he is almost all black) . They are all boys and all well behaved. Adrianne is getting used to being the mother hen, ha ! Anyway, Oreo and Bear are going to be adopted by the Carters and they are just waiting here for their flea treatment, so we only have Moses to find a good home for. He is the most alert out of the whole bunch and very friendly. And we still have Samson and Scout in the middle of all this, since Scout just decided to move in with us, so 6 dogs all together ... going through the dog food FAST ! We are not far from putting up the "petting zoo" sign, ha !

Cousins

Tan and David and the kiddos came up from Texas for the weekend but I think we might have scared David off some with the lack of food in the fridge, dial up and the lack of sleeping options available and they ended up leaving early;) It was such a good visit though, we all really enjoyed having them here and getting to meet Finn and Milana. We had lunch yesterday at Panera, stopped at the base, David fixed whatever electronics or computer related stuff he could find, Tania and I made a pretty card for her shower and had some good talks over a cup of tea and the kids, of course, had a ball playing. It was supposed to rain but we actually had a great weather and I just hope that Tan and David had a good visit and enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having them. I was able to snatch a few pictures of the kids before they took off, so here you go :)

Puppy Love

I have to say I did not see it coming, but we did get a call about the puppy. Turned out he belongs to the neighbors across the lot from us on 162nd street, the Carters. They are really nice people and it was such a blessing to finally get to meet them and visit. Of course, we all had the blues though, all of a sudden the house seemed quite empty without a small puppy around. On one hand , we were glad puppy was safely back home and had a good family, on the other hand we did miss him . So, on Friday Trish drove us over to the place, where they picked theirs so we can pick a puppy of our own. Sebastien was so excited, he could hardly get through Thursday ;) Not an easy job, picking a puppy out of a litter, let me tell you. The owners were such a sweet older couple and they had an apple orchard and their place and a really nice garden. I got to taste mullberries for the fisrt time, I see the scent used often, especially in candles but I have not yet had the chance to actually see or eat them. They look a lot like blackberries, grow on trees and taste like a cross between a blackberry and cherry. Very yummy. Messy though, as they fall off the tree on the ground , where they get stepped on. Back to puppies, they still had 5 left out of the original 10, none colored like the Sammy (or Scout , which was his real name as we later found out). They really looked more like labs than anything, 2 black ones and 3 yellow. Sebastien had his heart set on a male pup, so we mostly looked at the three boys more closely. After long and hard decision making, he ended up choosing the biggest yellow guy, Butch. We named him Samson since he is really huge, but that's about how much he has in common with the real Samson, we should have named him Big Baby if we were looking for personality traits match ;) He is just a big yellow bear, totally mellow and I really mean MELLOW. You will usually find him where you leave him, or sleeping behind the couch or under the bushes. Under the steps of the front porch is another favorite spot. Thats as active as he gets, he doesn't lick or bite, bark or run, if you pick him up he will sit on your lap as long as you let him, like I said, a big baby. He is a sweetheart though and is slowly winning us over. It was a different transition since he is nothing like Sammy and it's amazing to think they are even litter mates since they don't look or act anything alike. He doesn't want much to do with Adrianne (even though at this point she does appreciate the company and would like to be more playful with him) or any of us, he just hangs out on the porch or under the bushes, you can leave the gate wide open and he would not even think of going out and exploring, the couch potato he is. He slept all night in his basket, I found him exactly where I left him, its just too funny. Babo and I are slowly adjusting to this personality, and I keep thinking - when exactly does mellow actually need to be labeled lazy ,ha! Either way, he is a dear, let me know what you think of him :)

Memorial Day

I promised the kids we would get out and do one last search mission for Yuki, targeting some of the neighbor's yards. We walked up and down 160th and Prairie Night and found a few other cats, but no Yuki. It started to rain so we headed back home. Shortly after, Remy comes running saying , Mommy, there is a puppy at the back door that wants to come in. I though to myself, well, let's go and take a look at Remy's imaginary puppy but there he was, little guy, all wet from the rain and dirty from the mud. He had a collar so I figured he wandered off in the rain and got lost . We took him in and gave him a bath and later took him to the Derksen's house for a Memorial Day cookout. He was such a sweetheart, we all fell for him hard pretty quickly, even Ree, even though he probably won't admit to it ;) I started calling him Sammy (you can only call a puppy a "puppy" for so long before he needs a name) and it stuck. On Tuesday Babo and I went out and put signs out at Stella and Country Boy and on a couple of telephone posts nearby that we found a puppy, both hoping no one would really call and we would get to keep him. Adrianne wasn't sure about Sammy at first and growled at him, but it didn't take long for her to appreciate her little buddy. He has no fear whatsoever and likes to play with her and play rough. I know he is a mutt, probably has some Shar Pei in him judging by the nose, and some shephard considering his markings and furcoat, but you just could not find a sweeter pup.

Still looking .....

We adopted a kitty, well, she really adopted us, came over one day and started hanging out on the front porch. She told Adrianne what's up and smacked her over the nose a few times and she would clearly establish herself as the only cat on the porch and drive away Gus every time he came close. Nadja named her Yuki and we really enjoyed having her around. I haven't seen many cats who like having their bellies scratched but this one sure did. We also suspected she was expecting and were looking forward to a litter of kittens (plenty of mice around here to feed on). One morning, however, Yuki wasn't at her usual spot and we haven't seen her since. Still hoping she just took a stroll to a neighbor's yard or hid to have her litter. Gus is happy to claim back on the porch though. I am posting two photos, one of Gus and Nadja, and the other one of Yuki, you get the picture who is the indoor and the outdoor cat around here ;)