Kizzy touched our hearts

Kizzy is a wise little one, I was told. In fact it was Kizzy’s Mummy, Teresa who told us how she crept into her heart.

When Kizzy’s owners went to meet the litter, two of the puppies went forward to greet them. Kizzy stayed behind. When her two siblings lost interest, she then wandered over to greet them. It seemed she was just a little more aware than the others – she waited for when the commotion was over and then presented herself. Kizzy stayed and lapped up the attention, and then fell asleep in her Mummy’s hand. At that point, they knew who they wanted to take home.

In the car, Kizzy cuddled up and made little whimpering noises that you could only hear if you were right up close to her. Perhaps she was a little nervous and unsure. She stood shivering for a moment when she got home but not for long before curiosity took over. And it seemed all too soon, she had forgotten this was all new. You know we doggies live very much in the moment. There was Penny, a Kings Charles Cavalier who wasn’t so interested in this new pup and refused to have anything to do with Kizzy. But Kizzy persisted and eventually won her over. The first night Penny refused to let Kizzy sleep with her. But eventually that too went away. You see, Kizzy knows what she wants and she works to get it. Health wise she passed a very large amount of very very large worms. So it was clear she had not been de-wormed before.

Otherwise, she was as happy as anything in her new home and with her new family and friend Penny. She was coming to her name and learning already to fetch a ball!! She took herself out into the back garden for toilets with only a few odd mishaps indoors.  Then one morning things started to go wrong.

She got sick and they put it down to change over of food. She was still ok in herself. Then she was laying in her bed more than usual and not overly interested in playing. She would not eat a thing. She started to bring up clear fluid. She became more and more lethargic within just a few hours. She made little whimpering sounds and her Mummy knew something was up. Thankfully the vet was open on a Bank Holiday and they took Kizzy in. The vet too thought it could be the food change, or the fact that she has passed lots of worms. He also mentioned possibility of parvovirus. As it turned out that was what she had – the dreaded word for puppies!

The vet explained that he would need to keep her tummy constantly full of food as parvo attacks the lining of the gut. He said even if she throws up the food he will feed her more. If she does not take food from a bowl, they would hand feed her and if need be, to tube feed. They threw everything they could at her to help her survive. But they could not head off the cycle of the parvo that had not yet done its worst.

Parvo is a virus and not an infection. Infection can be treated with anti-biotics. Viruses have to run their course. By day three she was just starting with the diarrhoea. This is the stage that owners usually bring their pups into the vets. Quite often this stage is too late to save the puppy. The diarrhoea is usually blood stained and as the vet described – “like red wine spraying out like a jet.”

They were worried for her survival as they did not know if that stage was going to take her life. Kizzy’s owners were told to expect the worst. The next 48 hours were the longest two days. She was very dehydrated and had been on a drip. She was being administered very powerful anti-virus drugs which were very painful injections. She was on very high doses of antibiotics to ward off any secondary infections that could still take her life as her white blood cell count was very low. It was low because she had used up most of these cells fighting the parvovirus. She has been on painkillers to make her more comfortable whilst the parvo is attacking the lining of her gut. She is on anti-sickness medicine too.  So you can imagine the toll that was taking on her nine week old body.

As everyone hung onto her every breath, for days she laid sleeping or looking at her Mummy with barely any response. Then she started to lift her head and responded to her name. Then came the little whimpering sounds. Despite how ill she was, she went into a grump when she knew she wasn’t going home just yet. Her Mummy saw a very ill puppy, and she was still a very ill puppy when she saw a twinkle in Kizzy’s eye.  We waited for that waggy tail. One day she sat up once and even resisted the meds being administered. Eventually she started eating her chicken as all the nasty symptoms started to subside. And finally the vet said she could go home. And we were all cautiously really happy. Little Kizzy’s fight against parvovirus caught the attention of so many poo owners and dog owners all over the world. As she fought for her life, many, many humans from all over the UK, North America and as far as Asia sent good vibes, said prayers and followed her progress everyday with lump in their throats.  Thankfully, the prayers were answered. May’s comment: We were all holding our breath as Kizzy fought for her life. Thank GOD she pulled through. Looking back at the course of events from the moment Teresa shared that Kizzy was ill, so many people were transfixed by the story of one little cockapoo fighting for her life.

But it was also became a story of human compassion – a story about the beautiful human heart. I was one of the many who read every Facebook posting that Teresa wrote – every morning and every evening.

I have never met Kizzy nor Kizzy’s mummy as it was with almost everyone who followed her fight against parvo. There was nothing we could have done to help Kizzy except to send her positive vibes, thoughts, wishes and then I just wanted to pray to the Almighty God to please let this one live. And it’s been a long time since I last prayed.

The other thing that it reminded us is the importance of having our puppies and dogs vaccinated. It was painful to see a helpless innocent life being subjected to such pain and agony through no fault of hers but simply because she was not given the proper care by her breeders. This is just one of the consequences of puppies not vaccinated.  And as it is weeks before they go home to you, that’s why it is essential for breeders to be responsible.

And then the dilemma of finding out that the breeder isn’t legit after falling in love with a puppy.  Do you leave a puppy behind or save it?  The school of tough love says you should never encourage these irresponsible breeders.  In this case, Kizzy’s life was saved because her Mummy took her home despite the breeders. Kizzy would not have had a fighting chance if she was left there.  Her Mummy’s choice meant Kizzy is alive and being a naughty poo today.

Since so many of us were so emotionally involved worrying and watching for every positive sign, we wanted Kizzy’s Mummy to keep us updated on her progress. Teresa started a blog and from now on, it will be about waggy tails and happy tales. This is the link to Kizzy’s blog:  Kizzy – a parvovirus survivor