Aspen our little Survivor

So I don't post as much as I should - but I really don't think that anything that interesting happens day to day with just me and Brad. Our little dog Aspen has definitely added some spice to our lives. We love her so much but went through a pretty traumatic ordeal the first couple of weeks we had her. We had no idea how attached we could get to this puppy in such a short period of time.

After only having our cute little puppy one week - Aspen got really sick and started having diarrhea and throwing up. She had a seizure the Saturday after we got her - we bought her fathers day weekend the next weekend we were at the hospital. She had a common puppy virus called Parvo and she was very sick. Because she was so young and so small - only four pounds - the outlook was not good. The vet really was doubtful if she would make it or not. We felt like we had to give her a chance. I cried a lot over our puppy the next week or so.

After 10 days in the hospital, yes 10, the vet felt that she was finally taking a turn for the better. It was really hit and miss the whole week and a half we would call in every day and go and visit her almost every day and never got very good news. Mostly she was just still alive and hanging in there. Because this is a virus it has to run its course and because it is so contagious she was in quarantine. So when we visited we could only see her through a doorway and talk to her. We couldn't touch or hold her. We finally got her back - she was still very weak but we were so happy to have her. She ate really good the first night but then started to go down hill again - we couldn't believe this was happening to us. We syringe fed her one whole day. She had another seizure because of low blood sugar and went back into the hospital for a couple more days to get her strength up. So after about 12 days in the hospital and a hefty vet bill she made it through. Our little miracle survivor or our million dollar baby as we call her sometimes. We are also soo grateful to Cottonwood Animal Hospital and the great care they gave her.

I feel like breaking out into song a little "At first I was afraid, I was petrified. I kept thinking I could never live without you by my side ........ (fill in the rest - sing along - I know you know the words and want to) Chorus....... Did you think I would crumble, did you think I would lay down and die. Oh not I, I will survive. As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive. I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give. I will survive, I will survive - yeah yeah."

Well she did survive and we are so glad. You would never know now that she was ever sick accept she looks a little different. She has put back on her weight and is such a sweet fun loving puppy. She has a little mischievous personality that is not so fun sometimes but mostly it just makes us laugh. She is all the way recovered except she did loose a lot of her hair during this period. And all of her legs were shaved to put the IV in. They had to switch it every couple of days. So we call her our little rat sometimes because she just looks so skinny and mangy right now. But her hair is growing back and it will fill in soon. For now we love her to pieces and she is still very cute even without much hair.

Here are the two loves of my life right now.

Here is a BEFORE and AFTER

Her ears starting flipping backwards when she came home - we wondered if it was because she had no hair so that extra little weight wasn't there to push them forward. So I taped them for a couple of days to train them to go forward again. In the pictures with Brad they are taped. The tape is white so it is hard to see but now her ears flip forward by themselves again.

BEFORE AND AFTER

And for a little update. We took her back in to start her shots again and one of the technicians who had worked closely with Aspen didn't even recognize her. They were so amazed at how well she was doing and how good she looked so that was really great to hear.