Imagine ten puppies and nine puppies' worth of "sick" and drool...this was the story I told my sister yesterday. It was itself a day of travel as we were returning from our deep South family visit in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana. One never knows what stories might come up on an 800 or so mile and back trip with a sister or dear friend! And so I thought I'd share it with you.
It was the day my six week old litter was to receive their first of a short series of vaccinations (a necessary evil despite my reduction in things allopathic in approach regarding my dogs' health and diet). I was so proud of my pretty, chubby, fluffy puppies; had given each a quick "spit bath" the day before their "debut" to my long time vet. My husband Mike had hand washed each little colored collar and hung them up to dry like little Beatrix Potter bunny or kitten clothes. We gallantly packed all ten of our little packages into one adult size car crate and embarked on our fifteen minute drive to the vet's office. Some of them barked, some whined, some were just quiet; we thought we heard some gagging, but nothing (not even the smell of curdled milk and kibble) could have prepared us for the sight we saw when we opened the back of the van upon arrival. Nine of the puppies (notice I said nine) had shoestrings of spit dangling bilaterally from their lips, their little white breasts and forearms soaked in copious saliva; their little heads and backs were covered in puppy vomit where they had vomitted atop each other...there was only one little bright eyed fellow among the ten....our "Green" collar boy; he was covered in curdled barf from the others but had not drooled nor vomitted himself. So he was the only one who was like his mother, tolerant of travel from the early age; all the others I found out later, were just like their Daddy who also got carsick as a young dog. We couldn't help but get bent over with laughter at the terrible, comical sight of our pretty puppies looking like wilted flowers. And we had no towels, only paper towels and hardly enough for ten wet, sad-looking puppies! We moved them inside quickly where I was now mortified with their appearance in front of the whole vet office! I found myself telling Dr. John "They don't NORMALLY look like this, believe you me!" We got them dried off as quickly as we could with the assistance of some clinic towels and each got his examination and requisite innoculation. They still looked nauseous when we got them home, but stayed "clean" on the ride back. Funny how just as soon as they were placed back in their warm whelping box on the soft sheepskin pad with their Mama and the milkbar, they immediately thrived and within seconds were fluffy and bright eyed once again! They reminded me of little chicks who dry off quickly after birth, or wilted flowers that get watered and stand tall once again. Ah woe is the puppy who gets carsick! Luckily, repetition is the key! Consistent trips on a weekly basis cured them all, some sooner than others.
