On Friday, May 8 in Belton, Mo. A woman, Jody, from Jody's Kennel was selling puppies in front of the Noe's/T-Mobile parking lot. She had many different breeds of puppies and I instantly fell in love with a Lhasa Poo. I bought him for $300 and he was a very energetic, loving puppy.
The following day, he began vomiting. I thought nothing of it because I had given him the canned food Jody provided for the first time, rather than the dry food. He was very sleepy the rest of the day and vomited about once every hour for the entire evening.
On May 11, he was due for his next set of shots. I took him to the vet where he was diagnosed with coccidia and an ear infection. We went home with pills and ointment and he seemed fine the rest of the day.
However, the following day was a nightmare. When my puppy awoke, he seemed normal - very energetic and playful. However, as the day progressed, he began vomiting at least once an hour and became very lethargic. He normally follows wherever I go, even if it is to the next room, whether he is sleeping or not. He remained sleeping in a very deep sleep for most of the day. He refused to eat or drink anything. His body was scorching hot and he had an obvious fever. Towards the evening, he began having diarrhea. Because of these symptoms, my grandmother and I took him back to the vet.
There, after blood tests and what-not, he was diagnosed with parvovirus. Keep in mind, this is only four days after I brought the puppy home and it takes seven to ten days to have symptoms show. Four days, $800, and lots of emotional pain later, I got my puppy back. Fortunately, I brought him in early enough and he was able to fight this life threatening disease.
My grandmother and I have contacted Jody, who shows no compassion for the situation. We asked for some help paying for these vet bills, but she argues that the vet is trying to 'rip me off' and that the coccidia makes the parvo test positive.
After much research on her website, we noticed she had a health guarantee that every person should receive with every puppy. Because I did not see her website before I bought my puppy, I was unaware of this guarantee. After mentioning to her that I hadn't received one, she changed her website to say basically that all sales are final, with or without guarantee. She has offered to give my money back, but only if she gets the puppy back. This is obviously not an option.
Also, our local newspaper, The Journal, ran an 'Attention' article that a reader asked them to place. This reader also bought a puppy from Jody and the puppy died within days from parvo. Apparently, all the puppies she was selling had this virus.
Although I am extremely grateful my puppy survived and made it through, I am extremely disheartened that a breeder can get away with selling sick puppies. My heart goes out to the puppies she is selling that are getting sick and to the people who buy them.
0 comments