I volunteer for a dog rescue and one day in early November 2006 on a trip to the shelter to rescue some dogs , I came across a beautiful momma and her 6 adorable 6 week old pups. We were already picking up another mom and litter but I begged the rescuer to bail them too. My husband and I were ready for the sleepless nights of fostering 6 puppies, momma, and having 2 of our own already.

We knew it would only be for 2 weeks until they were ready to go to their “forever” homes. The puppies were a mess when we brought them home. They were born in the disgusting shelter, and had lived their first 6 weeks of life there. There were worms, and little runny noses, but nothing unexpected.

After a couple of weeks of fostering, the puppies started getting extremely sick. They all had really bad diarrhea, green runny noses, and some didn’t seem to be eating anymore. I took them to the vet, and they did a test for parvo which came back negative.

I remember the vet telling me that there was a slight possibility that it was distemper and if so, there was nothing they would be able to do for them. He gave me sub q fluids, antibiotics and wormer. I figured that would solve all my problems. How niave I was.

A couple of the puppies had a positive reaction to the antibiotics, and started thriving. One was in really bad shape. He was the runt of the litter, and didn’t respond to the medication. He developed pnemonia, and couldn’t stand, eat drink or even lift his little tiny head. We knew at that moment he would have to be put to sleep. I cried all the way to the vet’s office, and held his little fragile body in my arms until it was time. I was one of the hardest things to go through.

A couple of weeks later, one of our favorites, Merle started having horrible seizures. He was deteriorating very fast. Again, we knew it was his time to go. He couldn’t hold on any longer. One of the saddest parts was telling the families that had pre-adopted these puppies that they didn’t make it.

Another little guy, Fin, was going to be adopted by our neighbors. He was mine and my husband’s absolute FAVORITE puppy. We were happy he would be living next door. He didn’t seem to have any symptoms of sickness until right around Christmas. He begin with a constant twitch in his right front leg. He also developed a green crusty nose/discharge. I took him back to the vet, and he was kind of rude to me. Pretty much wondering what I was doing keeping a sick puppy alive. I thanked him, paid my money and left. I KNEW that it was NOT Fin’s time to go. He was a happy little guy.

His neurological issues progressed over the next several weeks and he now has constant body twitches. My neighbors decided against adopting him so we felt that the best decision would be to keep him. I do have to say though, he runs faster than my other 2 dogs with no issues. The final result was 3 of the litter had to be put to sleep, 2 were adopted, and my husband and I are the proud “parent” of Fin who is now 9 1/2 months old, and doing EXTREMELY well! He is one of the 3 loves of our lives, and while he has issues, he doesn’t seem to notice them, and it doesn’t slow him down one bit. All the neighbor kids get a full Fin face licking every time they see him.

We ended up taking the homeopathic route with him, and I credit it with saving his life. Distemper is a horrible disease, and it’s hard not to feel hopeless sometimes when you are in the midst of dealing with it, but always remember that there are people out there going through the same thing, and don’t give up!