There’s a post on this blog titled ‘The Five Paws’, I wrote it for the four puppies who took birth at my home and stayed in our society with their mother.
After January, the viral season took over and our puppies started getting infected one by one. It was the deadly Parvo virus. One day we saw Caramel sitting under a car, she was looking very weak and wasn’t moving around. I searched on google only to find out that the sickness symptoms were being caused because of the Parvo virus infection. Caramel wasn’t eating anything and had bloody diarrhea along with vomiting. We rushed her to a private vet the same evening and got the medical attention required, the doctor strictly told us that giving just injections won’t heal the pup, she will be needing doses of IV-fluids at least twice in a day to get back to being normal.
We started her treatment a day after. I and my mom took Caramel to the private vet daily twice in a day. Each IV-fluid session was around 1 hour and we sat there near Caramel hoping for her to get fit and fine. She wasn’t allowed any oral food/ water until the diarrhea and vomiting had stopped. Meanwhile I saw that the other puppies were looking happy and fit and had no symptoms of this disease. This all started around 1st February 2021. It was not until 7th February that Coco and Burrito started showing symptoms of viral infection. Me and my family were calling up the ‘1962’ (helpline) Animal Care ambulance every day and had personally requested the doctor to come and save these puppies. We were giving Caramel the private treatment as she was the weakest one with maximum symptoms. We kept Caramel inside our house so her body temperature could get back to normal. Gradually it started becoming exhausting for us to travel and sit through the IV-fluid therapy every day, the puppy was vomiting and had diarrhea throughout the day in house. Also, the physical and mental stress with fear of losing these puppies had taken over our peace already.
The society and people around us contributed in manifesting more hatred and anger towards ‘Humanity’ in our hearts. The unwillingness of people to help these stray pups and fake affection was getting me on my nerves. Seeing Coco and Burrito also getting sick shattered our hopes of being able to save them all. Unfortunately, nobody offered to take out time for driving these puppies to the private clinic for treatment; not even the people who used to affectionately give food to these puppies every day. It was then that we decided to call up the Animal rescue people and asked them to take these puppies away and give them appropriate treatment. We tried calling every NGO in Vadodara working for Animal care, they denied us any help stating that they ‘don’t take in infected puppies and can’t provide any medical assistance’. I tried calling 1962 for a week but after that they also stopped coming as the regular doctor who used to come went on a mini vacation. Meanwhile on 8th Feb’s evening, Coco gave up the struggle and left us suddenly… Next day on 9th Feb even Nugget gave up and left us.
Coco and Nugget both had minimum symptoms, but they couldn’t bear the pain for even a single day. Burrito’s condition was not improving and we couldn’t keep Caramel and Burrito in the same house as Caramel was in a recovery phase. So, we gave burrito to our neighbors. Unfortunately, Burrito had eaten something or maybe he was given oral food/water; Burrito’s health deteriorated overnight. I and mom rushed the very morning to clinic with Burrito for her IV-fluid therapy. She was dehydrated and lethargic that day, but after getting the IV-fluid dose her health was looking a bit improved. It was afternoon time when I heard Burrito’s shaky voice and saw she was having trouble in breathing. Her hemoglobin levels were down and her gums had turned pale white. I knew what was coming next…
We lost Burrito on 15th Feb 2021 evening.
We were positive that Burrito would recover, her immunity was good too. Maybe all our efforts of saving Burrito went in vain just because we couldn’t keep her in the same house as Caramel. Maybe not everyone is capable of looking after a sick puppy even if they take the responsibility for it. Maybe it was all my fault….
It’s been just few days since everything felt like it was falling apart, but waking up each day to see the wiggling tail of Caramel with her hopeful eyes of getting food, well that’s something priceless.
Seeing Caramel’s health improving and she getting back to her normal behavior has given my family a lot of strength. We unknowingly did adopt a Puppy. Caramel is not allowed to roam freely outside until her vaccination is done, so me and my family is looking after her.
“Beginnings always hide themselves in ends”- Mike Posner
These ‘Endings’ turned out to be the ‘Beginning’ of me and family having a pet in our house. My mom and dad are getting more affectionate towards Caramel with each passing day. She sleeps with me on the couch and eats breakfast with us on table. She knows our routine and we know hers. She greets my elder sister and dad when they come back from their office.
Maybe my mind is twisted to always search for the best in worst circumstances, but this sure turned out to be the beginning of something me and family had never imagined.
There’s an animated movie titled “Over the Moon”, in this movie the lead character Fei-Fei loses her dear mother to a chronic illness at an early age. The whole movie revolves around how Fei-fei struggles adjusting in the new environment and goes through a roller coaster of emotions. She denies the loss of her mother and hates her father’s new found partner. This movie is a retelling of the classic Chinese myth ‘Moon goddess Chang’e who took a potion for immortality, causing her to become a goddess and ascended to the Moon without her lover Houyi, and still awaits for him there over the moon.’ Later on, Fei-Fei through the story of Change realizes that she never accepted losing her mother. Realizing that she must move on from her childhood tragedy, Fei-Fei tries to find love all around her. This allows Fei-Fei to accept her loved ones’ death.
Maybe writing this article was a way for me to finally accept deaths of Coco, Nugget and Burrito.
Losing a loved one brings unimaginable sorrow, but ignorance can’t always be bliss. Only ‘Acceptance’ can return you to the bliss in such circumstances.
There are times when life shows you what ‘Life’ is really about. No matter how many falls you suffer, no matter how many loved ones you lose, till your life goes on you’ll need to ‘move on’, just make sure to find that hidden Beginning when it all seems like it’s falling apart.
Five Paws
Today I would like to share with you all a little story of me and my family finding happiness in Four little paws!
My family had shifted from our old house to a new one in August 2020. I myself am not a person who accepts change easily. I was reluctant for even going to a new place. But the circumstances were such that we had to relocate. After denying the new changes and crying over old memories we finally left our old home and shifted to a new one in the same city.
The day we arrived at our new home; I found a new friend. The new friend I had made is a doggo. She used to visit our house daily and sleep near the front door on our doormat. I guess, that doormat was her own little cozy bed. Me, mom-dad and my elder sister, we all were initially a little scared of the new doggo but as the time passed, we all became good friends. I named her Biscuit!
It was 2nd November 2020. Biscuit became a mommy and delivered four little puppies at our home. It was like a festival that day. I remember how my mom made a traditional Indian sweet dish for Biscuit and our neighbors were visiting to see these little cuties. We as a family had seen first time in our life four little newborn puppies and we were happier than ever before.
I named the puppies Burrito, Nugget, Caramel and Coco.
In my childhood, I always avoided going near dogs. For me Dogs just used to be a bunch of big scary animals that were somehow out to get me. There were two separate incidents when a dog came running at me and I tripped and fell down. I even used to get nightmares where dogs were chasing me and I wasn’t able to run fast even though I tried my best.
It was not until my graduation that I overcame the fear of dogs or cats. But becoming foster parents to these Four paws was something I could have had never imagined.
A lot has changed since 2nd November, 2020. All the four puppies are now almost 3 months old and have grown beautifully! They respond to their names and fight with each other on and off for food (obviously). Biscuit has stopped visiting the house frequently because her pups never let her sit in peace. She instead now sleeps in the parking lot of our society.
Here are some points I would really like to share with you all:
- Dogs/ pets are the perfect friends you will ever find in your life!
- You will experience another level of love and happiness towards another living being that you may not have had experienced before.
- When a little doggo walks towards you with hope of being patted, it’s the best feeling in this world!
- My family, even though being afraid of dogs, has now become a dog-lover family. In fact, my mom and dad are the ones who give breakfast to the puppies early in the morning.
- Being with them reduces stress, anxiety, depression and increases the levels of your happiness hormones.
- Not all changes are bad. ‘Changes’ might be scary initially, but you never know what beautiful blessing is awaiting you on the other side.
- You can find your own happiness in anything you want, if you are willing to be happy.
I guess, after all that denying for getting relocated, it was best thing that ever happened to us. We truly found abundant happiness, adventure and whole of lot of life with this family of five-doggo. Love a pet/ animal. Care for him/her and you will be astonished to see how healthy it is for yourself.
[Note: If you are a Dog lover, you must watch “A dog’s Purpose”- A Dog’s Purpose is a 2017 American comedy-drama adventure film directed by Lasse Hallström and written by W. Bruce Cameron, Cathryn Michon, Audrey Wells, Maya Forbes, and Wally Wolodarsky, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by W. Bruce Cameron. Available on amazon prime]