The Sweetest Little Pup

It's been over a month with Miss Maisie and she's thriving-ish. The beginning was a bit rocky, but not because of the typical puppy-related problems (like the inability to hold her bladder or the constant chewing). Instead, by week two, she had already been to the vet five times for an incredibly infected and potentially fatal abscess, intestinal parasites, constant vomiting, and a severe allergic reaction. 

According to our vet, the abscess (at her spay site) was one of the worst he'd seen. Maisie was spayed before we adopted her by the Humane Society, so our vet feels that something went wrong during the initial surgery. He was concerned that he'd have to go in surgically to remove the infection if it spread to her belly. Fortunately, her tiny body pulled through and antibiotics were enough to clear the infection. 

Intestinal parasites are pretty normal for pups that come from dense populations of dogs like the Humane society. The vomiting is still a mystery, but it's becoming less frequent. And the allergic reaction was likely in response to the antibiotics from the abscess and intestinal parasites. Goodness, she's a handful!

Needless to say, it was a challenging couple of weeks. On our visit the vet on Saturday, the vet said she was growing beautifully.

I feel like we are also getting into a good groove with her. She sleeps through the night (but manages to make it onto our bed sometime in the middle of the night), dutifully goes on walks, and happily (ravenously) eats her meals. I'm now finding little puppy teeth in the carpet and her adult teeth are starting to poke through. She can rollover, stay, and even heel (sometimes). 

While she's still young (which means we need to take extra precautions), she's still been a blast. Being a puppy mom has definitely been more challenging than I'd expected. But it's also incredibly rewarding, especially when that wiggly little body greets me at the door.