Starting the New Year with a Whimper

The year 2010 arrived the other night—it kind of has a prophetic ring to it doesn’t it? At my neighbor’s party I discovered that 3 out of 4 of the guests there, after much to drink, admitted to believing that all of us are descended from aliens in the distant past. Now isn’t that food for thought?

Anyone who knows Esperando and I can testify that we are possessed of much whimsy (caused by the thick alien blood in our genes no doubt), both of us feeding each other’s impulsive behavior. We are prone to making off-the-cuff decisions that really complicate our lives. A recent example of this is the new puppy we bought from Roswell, New Mexico, when we were traveling at Christmastime from a roadside puppy vendor. This vendor brings her puppies to Carlsbad to sell out of her van. Esperando fell fast and hard for a little black and tan Chihuahua he saw there. He has wanted a Chihuahua ever since we saw the movie Frida in 2002.

We have named her Guadalupe, or Lupita for short, for a breed native to Mexico. Lupita has a perky little face and shining eyes. Up until a few days ago she was playful and bouncy, but yesterday we took her at Alameda East Animal Clinic in Denver because she hasn’t been able to keep food or water down for the last two days and weighing not quite 3 pounds could become dehydrated easily. They discharged her to us last night, but we took her back again this morning as she was really lethargic and she still wouldn’t eat. This morning when we took her back again they tested her for parvovirus—which its turns out she has. Poor little thing, she is so tiny. She is in intensive care now where she will remain for the next two to four days on liquid and antibiotic IV’s and may even need a transfusion. Treatment efforts are focused on keeping puppies hydrated, making sure that their electrolyte balances are relatively normal and preventing secondary infections that occur due to the tissue damage and low white blood cell counts. Her chance of survival is 70%, however we have found out from a fecal exam that she also has a parasite which will diminish her hopes. The vet told us that this is mostly a puppy, not dog, disease and that if humans had they same disease in our population they would be devastated. She had probably just contracted the disease before we bought her

We have only had her 5 days. Everywhere we took her everyone fell in love with her, even people like me that have always disliked Chihuahuas. She is a very special little puppy and if you are reading my blog, please say a little prayer for her recovery.