The distemper test came back positive I'm not sure what the rescue is planning on doing with her and the pups now, they don't want to put her to sleep so I think they are going to see if she recovers, but if she gets worst put her down. Still fostering her for now I guess until they can find another foster home that will take her. I don't want to risk my own dogs' health, even though they are vaccinated, there is still that likelihood that they can catch it. I've been a disinfecting bleaching nazi!!

They currently are getting formula every 4 hours along with their meds and IV fluid twice a day. Mommy is doing better too, eating more, is gaining weight, her discharge is almost gone and her stools are getting firmer. The remaining five pups are thriving, two are real active, one is kinda active, and the other two are so-so. They are all feeding good, with one who would eat for all five of them! But lets hope things keep improving and not go downhill from here and that they pull through this and recover. Hope is a sweetheart and would make a perfect snuggle partner to a very lucky person that would open their home and heart to be forever hers and her their heartdog! She deserves to have a real family that won't abandoned her in a shelter to die and the pups had such a rough start in life, need their happy endings too, so keep those prayers and vibes coming! Though it hasn't been easy to deal with everything going on with Hope and the pups, she and her pups have been a joy to care for and they will touch the hearts of anyone who crosses their paths with their sweet nature and will to live and have a 2nd chance in life. Atleast she has been loved and well cared for in a home and has had so much people who cared for her and has felt so loved and warm despite the cold weather these last few days and not of died in the shelter with her last days being in a cold (shelter has no heater) small cage, confused, scared, alone and unloved. She also is a very good mommy though she can't nurse she is still attentive to her puppies.

What chances do you think she'll survive since she seems to be doing better? Her records show that she was vaccinated at the shelter on the 4th I believe and she was there two weeks before I got a hold of her.

One of the rescue workers says the test might of showed up positive because of the vaccine since it was a live distemper virus that was in it? I don't know because she showed alot of the symptoms, even though they are fading away, I for sure thought she had to have something serious and went off to research what she could of had since that shelter is so prone to outbreaks even the vet by just looking at her said it looked like distemper. I don't know how much to rely on the rescue's word for it, because he was also talking about a distemper vaccine like to treat it, and I never heard of that. Vet says its best to put her down, I wanna go with the vets advice, but the rescue people are very against putting any dog to sleep. Being realistically I think with all the treatment they will be spending on this dog and her pups, they could use that towards saving another/more dogs. Its unforunate, but not everyone can be saved, and like I said atleast she had a good few days and not died at the shelter.

I'm a nervous wreck for her and my own dogs. All in all this experience has made me a little apprehensive about fostering dogs who's been at this shelter, but I would still like to foster just aslong as a dog is 100% free of parvo and distemper and its known for sure. Not only for the sake of my dogs, but I've also been walking this dog around my neighborhood, I'm afraid that other dogs could be exposed to the virus.

Also how is it exactly that dogs catch distemper, I've heard thats its just by direct fluid contact like sneezing, but read that its an airborne virus as well.

The whole thing is pissing me off that this shelter doesn't do more to prevent these sort of things from happening. I saw a post on their FB fanpage with another mom and litter and the poster saying how the mom doesn't let the other dogs near her pups. Why would they expose puppies to other dogs at the shelter?! They hardly have any immunity! There is just a whole lotta issues with the shelter, besides the outbreaks...the city mayor's fanpage is just filled with comments on the shelter, especially on the whole not having a heater for the animals.

I tried to get my friend to adopt a pittie from there since dade-residents can't adopt them, so I thought it would help to save a pittie since he's from broward but he was discouraged by the conditions of the shelter and animals, plus they don't keep the pit bulls in public view. He ended up adopting from a broward facility, which was much better well-kept. I understand they have a lot of intake and very few resources, but something should be done, MORE should be done. Image people bringing dogs they adopted to dog parks, ect and then to find out they have parvo, ect and infect more and more dogs in the process.