Zaras List

Anchovie's Mom Pizza came into our rescue very pregnant. She was a joint venture between our rescue and GRCGLA (Golden Retriever rescue). They had taken her from the shelter and upon examination it was clear she would very soon whelp and it would be a greater risk to spay her. After a few calls our rescue took soon-to-be Mom in and in no time the Toppings were born.

Anchovie was approximately 9 weeks old when he suddenly had some very strange symptoms occurring. He appeared to have an infection in his eyes, his lymph nodes were swollen, he wasn't eating much and he was clearly not feeling perky. With an educated foster mom who was not about to lose one of her puppies, she began her research when the initial vet was unable to identify what was wrong with Chovie.

After some hours of research it appeared he might have puppy strangles. After visiting with a second vet the diagnosis was confirmed and appropriate treatment was started. But that was only the beginning. It's often a disease that you see other symptoms appear, disappear and reappear. We at times were fighting a very elusive enemy.

After over 2 months of weekly treatments and daily shots Chovie was back from the brink. There were certainly moments and trips to the emergency that we were sure we were going to lose him. The secondary infections had taken hold and were fighting us. He would do well for several days and then relapse. It was an up and down battle but through total commitment and great vet care we won this battle. It took a dedicated foster mom and a proper diagnosis to see our little boy well again.

Puppy Strangles: www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1614&articleid=3442