Tragically, the beautiful boxer puppy that I purchased at a greatly inflated price on 12/17/05 had to be put to sleep a week later, due to pnemonia (brought on by either kennel cough or distemper, according to the two vets that saw her on Friday 12/23). I had bought this little dog as a gift to my family for Christmas and instead of a joyful Christmas we were all grieving the sudden death of our puppy.
On December 16 our boxer woke up with a cough. I had already scheduled her well check at the vet that the petstore sends you to (Camino Pet Hospital, Irvine) so when I took her in I told the vet about the cough. She even coughed while we were there in the office.interestingly, another Indogneato customer was also in the waiting room with his puppy who had a cough.
The doctor said my dog had caught a cold and since it is a virus it would just run its course. He said she will have the cough for 3 weeks and gave me some antibiotics just as a safety precaution against any secondary infections. He also prescribed Robitussin for the cough.
By late afternoon my puppy's cough had worsened and she was struggling to breath and was gagging. I called the vet and told them this and they said to just wait to see how she is in the morning.
All night long my puppy coughed and gagged. When morning came she wouldn't eat or drink and was struggling for breath. As soon as I could get her to a vet in my area (their vet is 35 minutes away) I took her in. The vet here in Dana Point immediately sent me off to an Advanced Critical Care facility because my puppy was so sick. All the way there I cried and begged my puppy not to die.
The hospital immediately put her in an oxygen chamber and hooked her up to IV antibiotics and painkillers. The vet there told me that her situation was dire and it would be touch and go by the hour. She told me that a ventillator may be needed to breath for the puppy over a five day period at an additional cost of about $8,000.
But by 6:00 pm that day (12/23) the vet said that her condition was deteriorating and she was suffering, so I had to authorize her death. It was a horrible, horrible shock to me and my children who thought we'd have this beautiful dog for the next decade.
So far the manager at Indogneato has been accomodating and seems to be arranging for the refund of the dog and to pay the hospital bills from last Friday ($1,000). I will rest assured once I have received this reimbursement.
However, my anger is more directed at the vet (Dr. Shoolman) that we saw at Camino Pet Hospital (the one the store sends you to), as he did not thoroughly examine the dog and did not accurately diagnose her condition. When I called them later in the day to tell them that she had worsened, a responsible vet would have told me to bring her into the hospital immediately, being that she was only 8 pounds and 9 weeks old. If they had intervened that day I believe my little boxer would have survived.
I, too, believe that the puppy was exposed to the infection at the petstore and would caution anyone planning to purchase a puppy to not risk such a tragedy by buying it there.
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