Kermit (aka Sam Bo)

I've had a really tough couple of weeks. My kids have been sick with pneumonia and now Allen has been barking for about two weeks, so he's going to the doctor tomorrow, and now I feel a little funny like I'm catching a cold. But what really has me upset, is something that I did that was so stupid. I was bottle feeding four puppies, two cocker spaniels, one toy poodle and a shih tzu. All are about the same age and were having loose stool, so I mixed up some amoxicillin for them; they had been on it for several days and were doing better. Well, I drew up all four doses in one syringe and gave the shih tzu his dose first and the syringe stuck and I pushed harder and all the medication went squirting into his mouth. I tried wiping it out but he swallowed immediately. I thought to myself, well it is a safe antibiotic; he'll be okay. Well, that evening his diarrhea had returned, only it was like water and he was throwing up. I thought, "oh no, this is Parvo", but it didn't look like Parvo or smell like Parvo (if you've ever seen a puppy with Parvo you'll recognize it instantly; they smell of death and have very bloody stool.) I was so worried, because I knew that if he had Parvo; then the other three would get it over the next two weeks. Well, I began treating him for Parvo; I injected him with fluids every four hours just to keep him hydrated, and I felt like he was getting better, but then late Friday evening (after all the vets were closed) he started whinning and crying, like they do before the die. I wrapped him in a puppy pad and held him and rocked him and told him everything would be okay. I prayed so hard that he would recover, but if he couldn't get better for him to please pass quickly and not suffer. Then he started swelling and retaining fluid. At that point I knew it was not Parvo and I began searching my mind for what it could be and I thought of the Amoxicillin from the day before. I looked up Amoxicillin overdose and the symptoms included water like diarrhea, and fluid retention from not urinating. I felt so relieved that none of the others would get sick, but so sad that I had accidentally done this to him. He was of course my favorite; so sweet and so gentle, just an adorable little ball of fur with a flat face and big eyes. His name was Kermit and his best friend the Poodle is Miss Piggy. Piggy is so lonely without him, but she has bonded with Chloe and Drew and they romp and play in the kitchen.

I learned a valuable lesson from this. From now on I will put my medication in a little cup and draw up one dose at a time. Me trying to save time cost that sweet little puppy his life and that is a mistake that I never want to make again. Why do some lessons have to be so hard? I know, it is part of our growth and character development. If life was always easy, fun and happy then we wouldn't have much depth of character. Even in my sadness about the puppy, my first thought was to thank God for having the pleasure of caring for Kermit and to thank him for the health of my children and family.