You might recall that I went through a rather painful vaccination treatment for 7 days. Well, we needed to wait for at least a couple of days so the vet could check me again and give a faithful answer about my condition.

So, we went to the vet last Thursday. Dr. Stone was so nice that he waited at the clinic until 7pm to check me. First, it was the usual check-up: temperature (I hate it! sticking a thermometer up my butt is not necessarily fun), my eyes, nose, ears, neck glands, heart rate... And then, THE test. Tests, actually. Two things had to be done: First, the vet took a sample of fluids from my nose and eyes and it was mixed with a couple of liquids (I don't know what they were, they looked like water to me). This mixture was then put on a stick. My mom says it was like a pregnancy test stick. Apparently they work the same way, you wait a couple of minutes and then look at it, one line negative, two lines positive. This stick tells you if the distemper virus is present or not. 

At the same time, the doctor started test number 2: a blood sample to check the amount of antibodies I have. The nurse filled up a whole tube with my blood, mixed it up with some other stuff and put it in a machine. We had to wait for about 6 minutes.

Now, it's important to know that the stick is never a 100% accurate, that's why you need the blood test. If the stick says negative and the blood test says that antibodies are low, then you must follow a treatment because it means distemper is still present. 

Lucky me, my stick had one line and my antibodies were super high!!!

No more shots!! (at least for a while)

Woof!
 

Last week I really didn't have time to continue with my story and I have a very good reason. We have to fast forward to the present and continue later with how I got from the Hutongs to my actual home.

Last Sunday, something unexpected happened. My mom took me out for a walk around noon, and after a few minutes I saw my dad walking into the compound, holding a kind of bag. When he got to us, he put it on the grass, opened the zipper and Isabela came out. She was such a beautiful puppy; smaller than me, walking in a cute clumsy way white with some brown highlights on her back. I liked her immediately! My dad put her back because she started to cry (she wasn't wearing any jacket and it was very cold) and walked towards our building. I got a bit scared because I thought for a moment that I was being replaced, I started crying but since my mom stayed with me I figured it would be ok.

When we got back home, she was walking around the apartment, sniffing around, checking everything. She was my sister, my parents said, and I was happy about it. I went to her and we started playing, bitting a bit (sometimes too rough for her), running a bit, chewing stuff, I borrowed her my toys (which I NEVER do) and late at night, I even let her have my bed! I slept on the sofa in my parents room instead, they let me do it to show me they were not replacing me and I was still their baby. It was a great Sunday. 

On Monday,  we played around again, but something was a little different, in the morning, she had diarrhea. It got worse and worse through out the day and by night time she was already doing it almost every hour. I even heard my mom saying that there was blood in her poo and I could hear Isabela coughing and sneezing. My mom said she thought she had a cold and will take her to the vet next day.

On Tuesday, I heard my mom talking to my dad on the phone, then she rushed to get dressed, got me dressed and we went to the vet. Isabela was there with my daddy, and he didn't seem happy, on the contrary, he seemed very sad. The vet had discovered Isabela had Distemper, they kept talking about a virus and although I couldn't understand what the fuss was about, it worried me. They were talking about "putting her to sleep" and I thought that was strange, I had given her my bed so why would a 3 months old puppy like her need to sleep at the vet's?  A few minutes later, they put us on some tables and gave us injections, 3 for me, and 7 for her. It hurt me just a bit, but she was crying so much. This distemper thing can not be good I thought.

After that, we were not allowed to play together anymore, she was placed in an area in the living room where I could not go in, she was trying to come to me to play, but every time she did it, my mom would put her back. She wasn't eating and was sleeping a lot. I felt very sleepy too, and tired, like I didn't have energy anymore, it was caused by the injections I heard.

She was still in a bad condition the next day and after we came back from the vet with our shots, Isabela was this time put aside in another room and now we were completely separated, she was crying and every time I saw her in there, unable to come out and play, and sick, I would cry too. I was so sad.

At night, my parents didn't sleep much. My dad slept with me and my mom stayed up all night with Isabela, who was having a very hard time breathing and didn't sleep all night. My parents were very sad, I saw them crying during the night..

On Thursday, she could hardly stand up or walk. We went to the vet's again. He checked Isabela and said she was not so bad, but that since she was little, not eating with respiratory problems and without any previous vaccinations, her chances of living were just 10%, puppies don't really survive this disease apparently. Then, my parents said they will "put her to sleep". I thought that was a good idea considering that she didn't sleep the night before, but they seemed so sad with this decision. Another doctor came inside the room and for some reason I knew there was something wrong. I hid under the sofa where my parents were sitting and didn't want to come out. When I saw they were taking Isabela out of her box I calmed down a bit and came out. Then, they placed her on the table, shaved a little part in her leg, and the doctor gave her a shot. I didn't know why but this made me feel really sad, maybe because my parents were crying and telling Isabela how much they love her. She fell asleep a minute after her shot and her breathing problem was gone and she seemed so peaceful, as beautiful as always.  Then, the doctor and a nurse carefully wrapped her, along with her blankets and her new jacket, in a kind of cotton diaper, then put her inside a plastic bag. Now I understood, she was not going to wake up, ever.

We walked home after my shots, just the 3 of us. We arrived to the apartment and they started to put everything she ever touched in garbage bags, toys, my bed, blankets..., the doctor instructed them to do so, otherwise this virus will attack me severely, too. They are cleaning the apartment now with a mixture of detergent, water and bleach, bleach is the only thing that can kill this virus, for full 2 weeks, my parents will be cleaning like this. They removed the carpet to have it disinfected and won't put it back until at least 3 months have passed (the time it needs to be virus-free) and they are bleaching all the clothes they wore since Isabela arrived the first time, also the pillow cases, bed sheets and who knows what else.

"She is in puppy heaven" my mom said, "where she can run with a lot of energy, play all she wants and be a happy little girl'. I really hope so.

Woof! for my beloved sister, Isabela.