Channeling Shades of Stalin

So busy! As if taking on two work-in-progress wolfdog puppies wasn't enough, one of them turned out to have parvo...

We noticed that Zelda, the flop-eared foster, was lethargic and had diarrhea. And although sleeping a lot and cuddling with her toys was really cute...

I mean, really cute....

It was clear she wasn't feeling well. We took her into the vet and she tested positive for parvo - because of course, none of the myriad of people who have apparently owned her before me could be bothered to drop a few dollars and get either of them vaccinated...

Luckily, we caught it quickly and she required only an overnight stay at the vet before she was back at home, looking sinister as hell and ready to eat everything that didn't eat her first.

If you stand still long enough, she'll eat you, too.

While we were at the vet, we insisted on getting Midna vaccinated, which she took with poor grace, having already been coned for the large cut on her side.

Every time I think they can't get more pathetic, they do.

Parvovirus, as most of the dog community is aware, is a very contagious virus that spreads in the feces of infected animals. Bast is up to date on his vaccinations and is in no danger, but since Midna has only recently been vaccinated, we've adapted some very strict bleaching rituals.

We first pushed bleach into every corner of the house, and threw away all of the girls' toys. If you ever want to feel like a complete monster, throw away your dog's toys while they watch. I think there's a permanent scar on my soul...

The Itty Bitty Judgement Committee

We also quarantined the area where Zelda pooped the most by fencing it off. Then, the backyard was subjected to a thorough mucking... a VERY thorough mucking. Using a shovel that rests in a bucket of diluted bleach when not in use, I scoop every little diseased pile of turds I find. Since parvo can live in the soil, I also dig several inches down, remove the dirt, and then spray the entire region down with diluted bleach.

That sounds excessive, and it probably is, but parvo is one of my big time pet peeves when it comes to dogs. It is stupidly easy to walk into any vet, pay a very small fee, and save your dog from a terrible, slow death. If any of the people who had owned these puppies prior to me had given a damn about them, they would have gotten them vaccinated, and I don't want to hear about cost -  it's about $20 around here.

Twenty damn dollars could have prevented Zelda almost dying. That's less than a week's worth of Starbucks, the same as skipping fast food for two for one night; a thousand thousand little things these people could have done without for just a few days to pay for their dog's care.

I'm going to get off my soap-box. Since I know most people come here for the sillies and the pictures, I'll leave you with the thought that every morning this week, while y'all have been enjoying your coffee, maybe reading the news or frowning over the crossword, I've been in my backyard with a shovel and a bag of infected turds, moving across the Bermuda with a gallon of bleach at my side, waging an obsessive-compulsive, Stalinesque scorched earth campaign against my lawn.