Goodbye, pup...

It's a sad day.

In my busy week, I had been putting off a post about Colby. He had been kinda sick for a week or so - coughing, sneezing, and less energetic than normal. Over that time, it was actually kind of cute because he was more lovable than ever - always wanting to come sit on our laps and let us pet him.

We had taken him to the local vet previously, and they were not concerned. We chalked his illness up to a mere case of kennel cough, and let him try to rest it off. Then on Wednesday, he was sneezing more than normal, so we took him back to the vet. He had a fever and was producing a lot of mucus. They did a few tests, and found out he had distemper. Distemper is a virus that affects the nervous system of dogs and some other wild animals. It is incurable and pretty nasty as far as diseases go. And Colby had it.

He had been vaccinated as a puppy, but apparently they are not foolproof. We're not sure where he picked it up - he could have gotten it from his time in the kennel, or when out on walks sniffing around in the bushes. Who knows...and ultimately, I find it unproductive to play the blame game.

So after receiving the diagnosis at our local vet, we called a Canadian vet in town whose children attend CDIS. He gave us a recommendation for a clinic to go to. I took Colby down there this afternoon after lunch, but it was not an encouraging ride - his nose was running like a faucet, and he had started twitching more (muscle spasms caused by the virus). When I got there, as I feared, it was too late for them to realistically do anything to help him. So, we decided to have them euthanize him.

That was just a few hours ago now as I type, and I am sure it will take some time to sink in. Not wanting to prolong the inevitable (and because they are disease-ridden) we are quickly gathering up his toys and belongings and cleaning up the house.

We have some nice pictures we took with him a few days back. I'll post those tomorrow once I download them off my camera.

-alan