A mother does her best
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How a brave dog suffering from distemper hangs on to life until her pup is vaccinated against this deadly disease
The vet looks at the dog and shakes his head sadly. Rescued from a wat during the recent floods, she has been doing well, but for a few days now, she’s begun vomiting. Now she walks poorly, indicating nerve damage.
Another vet has already tested her for parvovirus and canine distemper and found negative results, but this vet wonders if the tests were administered properly. The dog certainly shows signs of canine distemper.
The vet has seen her depressed earlier on. She seemed so sad. Then the ones who had rescued her found her two-month-old puppy and brought him to her. When they saw each other, both the dog and the puppy immediately brightened. The pup ran to her, and his mother sniffed him all over.
It was a few days later that the first symptoms of canine distemper appeared in the mother. Incubation might take up to three weeks before signs of this deadly viral disease appear, but in the mother, it’s taken less than five days. In addition to the vomiting, mucus has formed on her eyes and inside her nose. She’s stopped eating.
An ordinary temple dog, she’s never been vaccinated against canine distemper, putting her at risk for this most contagious of dog diseases.
It really is easily transmitted, spread by an infected dog sneezing droplets on another dog or on food or water that another dogs eats or drinks.
There is no cure for this disease. The vet knows that the dog is probably going to die, but he feels sad. She’s such a good mother, loving her little boy as much as she can. He doesn’t want to give up on her.
The puppy is safe temporarily, protected by antibodies in his mother’s milk, but the vet wants to vaccinate him as soon as possible. For the mother, it is too late for vaccinations, but the vet thinks that some antibiotics might protect her from the bacterial infections that usually appear along with the viral infections.
She’s lying on her side when he leans over to give her the antibiotic shot. She doesn’t move at all.
Then the vet starts to vaccinate the puppy. The baby cries out at the prick of the needle. His mother hears his cry and raises her head to see if her baby is all right. Reassured, she lays her head down. She never raises it again.
