Adopted Puppy is Sick

One visitor worries because her adopted puppy is sick. Should she return it to the shelter she got it from, or is there another solution?

Our Adopted Puppy is Sick

Hi,

I recently took my little sisters to adopt a puppy at the animal shelter in our town. The place isn't the greatest for animals, and I felt bad for them all. We ended up adopting a two-month-old male Lab/German Shepherd. He had a sign saying ready to take home today because he had exceeded his stay.

On our way home, he had diarrhea inside of the car. I pulled over and began cleaning everything up. We headed back home, and when we got there he puked. I began to worry. We gave him a bath in warm water due to his awful smell, and took him to the vet for his free check-up.

The vet said he looked fine, and was just a really shy pup. He was a bit skinny, barely weighing in at six pounds, but the vet said that he would be fine.

I bought him the same food he was being fed at the pound. They were feeding the dogs expired food because they didn't have funds. He ate a little, but he hasn't really improved. He's been going outside where he lies down and eats grass a lot. It has been four complete days now since we've had him. He prefers to stay curled up in his crate, and constantly throws up. He still has diarrhea.

I don't know what to do since I can't afford a visit to the vet at the moment. I really don't want to return him to the shelter, but that's what it looks like mom is going to make us do.

Flustered and panicky,

Michelle

Expert Reply

Hi Michelle,

I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy's plight. Unfortunately, the cost of health care is considerable, and is something that needs to be considered before adding a dog to the household.

During this free examination, did you provide a stool sample so the vet could check for worms? Did the vet give your dog a vaccination or do anything other than look at him? I honestly recommend that you take your dog to another veterinary clinic, explain your financial situation and the fact that this is a rescued dog. You may just find that the new vet will be willing to give you a discount under these circumstances.

That said, your dog may just have a bad case of worms and additional stress brought on by the sad conditions he was living in. Dogs sometimes also react like this for a couple of days after a vaccination. He may very well improve with some TLC and the right kind of veterinary care.

It sounds as though this shelter probably started out with good intentions, but is now caught in a very bad situation due to lack of operating funds. At the least, they should no longer be accepting new animals or returns. If you absolutely cannot keep your puppy, please ask your mom to take you to a shelter in a different town. It's the least that can be done for this poor animal.

If you want to do something really positive, perhaps you can talk about this situation with Scout leaders at school. Girl and Boy Scouts do a lot of community service projects, and they might be willing to pool together to do a food and necessities collection to help the animals in your local shelter. If this happens, the collection drive could be brought to the attention of the local media, and perhaps a little news coverage would bring in donations to help with operating costs.

Remember, even though you rescued one dog from this place, there are probably dozens of others there in desperate need of help.

Thanks so much for your question, and I truly hope your puppy recovers.

~~ Kelly

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