Hi. I apologize in advance for the length that this is gonna be. I had a 9 month old boxer that I had adopted when she was 4 months old. I was told she was current on all her shots. Yesterday morning I noticed that she was acting kinda funny. She is in a 30'x20' enclosed area in the yard with another female and there's 2- 7 year olds(male and female) on the other side in the same size of an area. I went down to feed them and she had gone in the dog house. I called her and she didn't come out which was not like her. I actually had to pull her out myself. Then she just layed there so I carried her up to the house. Her temp was below normal(96.3) so I thought maybe she had just gotten really cold. There were no signs of diarrhea or vomiting. She didn't want anything to eat or drink and she just layed there. I thought I'd let her warm up a bit and look online for some suggestins on what to look for. With no fever, vomiting,or diarrhea I didn't know what to think. I called the vet and told them I was bringing her in. When I went to pick her up I knew something terrible was wrong. I thought she was dead actually. Her eyes were open but she was not blinking and she did not move on her own. I put her in the car and rushed to the vet. I had to keep checking to she if she was breathing because she looked dead. I brought her in and told them a bit about what I saw and they did a parvo test and it was posative. They said they'd give her fluids and perscribe "Tamiflu". They suggested they keep her for me since I had other dogs-2 of which are expecting in a few days. They told me that I probably caught it early and the "Tamiflu" would cure her and she would fully recover. They said to go home and sanitize everything in bleach. I asked about the other dogs since they too were adopted older and she said they'd all be fine just to clean reall good. I felt a little better and went home. I looked up Parvo on the web and did not feel so good after a few websites. The vet was very mis-leading and did not (I feel) give me the true story. I didn't sleep at all. The vet called early this morning and said that Xena was doing fine last night. She had gotten up and was walking and drinking on her own. She then said that when she got in this morning she was laying on her side like when I brought her in but she thought she was resting so she moved her to the "work-up" area and was going to give her more fluids and her meds and diarrhea started "pouring" out of her and she did all she could but she went into cardiac arrest. I'm just beside myself! I couldn't believe it! First of all she said she'd be fine and second she said she would be better off there cause they could whatch her (not that they were going home for the night)! Now I have lost my puppy and have a huge vet bill!! I guess the moral of all this is to vaccinate your adopted dogs no matter what anyone says and to read up on Parvo and other illnesses and diseases even though you think you'll never have to go through it. And that you know your dog best if you think somethings wrong then there is(Xena had no real signs of Parvo besides the change in behavior and lethargy-and it happened within hours) And that the doc's don't know alot of things you expect them to!! Xena...You ARE the Warrior Princess!!! I loved you and I'll miss you puppy!!

Sorry for you lose.

We're so sorry for the loss of your furry loved one. We just lost our little guy a week ago. It seems like you went through something similar to what we did. Our Rusty (Lab/Pit Bull Terrier) was lethargic last Friday. He was a fun loving, energetic dog, so we knew Friday that something was really wrong when he seemed so depressed. On Saturday I took him to our Vet, who gave him warm IV fluids, antibiotics, vitamins and dextrose (in case it was a bee sting) His temp. was 97 (too low for a canine) By the time we left, he was back to his happy self. Sat. PM he seemed fine, walking around, etc. Sunday AM all was well. We went to an early Christmas party at a friends home. (Brunch) (I feel so guilty now) By the time we got home in the afternoon he was letargic again. Brought him in and put him under an electric blanket, but he was so cold. At 9:00 I was afraid he was getting really bad, and we couldn't wait untill Monday AM for his blood work. Took him to an urgent care facility, but by the time we got there he was gone. Sorry to be graphic, but I have to say that he never had bloody stool or vomiting until the end. Then it was bleeding from both ends. When we got to urgent care, they tried CPR and some injections, but it was too late. They felt it was Parvo or rat poisoning.

I tell you all of this because I want you to know that you are not alone in the surprise and havoc a sudden illness can take. Rusty has (had) a Malamute companion that is grieving right now as I type this. This has been a hard evening for all of us here- my daughters, 14 and 18, especially. We picked up Rusty's ashes this evening. We didn't know they were going to make a cast of his paw print for us, but it is so sweet.

Our regular Vet. called on Monday morning and told us the blood work was in and that it showed Addison's Disease. Something we couldn't have helped. He was current on all of his immunizations, neutered and never in contact with other animals other than our own. This was all so sudden. Not contagious, no previous signs of disease, just sudden illness and death. I feel that our regular Vet did everything he could for diagnosis without immediate blood work (due to the weekend) I guess sometimes things just happen that way.

I guess I needed to share this, and to let you know that sometimes there is just nothing that we can do. Things are just beyond our control.

Please hang in there, and bless your other babies!

P.S. I'm a cat person (6 cats, 1 Rabbit, 1 Ferret and previously 2 dogs) I got pulled into the Dog thing kicking and screaming, but Bless Him, he turned out to be a sweet heart!