[sarahcarp]

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions. I wound up taking Boomer to the emergency vet at 1:30 in the morning and it turns out he has parvo. I knew I had to take him because he was no longer able to hold down the liquids I was giving him and had thrown up about 4 times. I could tell he was just getting exhausted so I took him to the emergency vet (CVS in San Marcos) which is about 20 minutes away. It was a horrible experience, I was there for about 3 and half hours during which they only treated my puppy for 15 minutes while the rest of the time they haggled over how much I wanted to spend to treat him. They even offered me a credit card application which I thought was tacky. All the while Boomer was getting worse and remained dehydrated and untreated as they insisted that we agree on a price before treating him AT ALL. Had Boomer not been so ill I would have walked right out. They gave me an estimate for $1,450 to care for him for about 4 hours until his vet opened, so I declined, allowing them to only inject him with fluids, anti biotics and anti nauseous medication. When the Dr. took Boomer's stool to test for parvo, she neglected to tell me that is causes dogs to spew diarhea and since I was not aware of this, poor Boomer soiled his bed and blankies that we had brought from home. When I asked for a towel to wrap him in since he was so cold the nurse said that their washing machine was broken and they were trying to conserve their towels. I demanded a towel when Boomer started shivering with cold, and she reluctantly gave me one. I ended up paying close to $400 for the 15 minutes of treatment.

Luckily Boomer slept soundly from when we got home around 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. when the vet opened. My boyfriend and I were so worried for him, neither of us slept. Both of us could not stop crying thinking that this was the end of our young little baby. This morning I got online and did some more research on parvo and local vets and I got a real answer to all the prayers that have been said for Boomer. The first vet (Rancho Del Oro Veterinary Care in Oceanside) on the list on google answered the phone (the actual vet herself) and was very kind and understanding and concerned. She gave me an estimate for a mere $150 for Boomer to be injected with fluids and antibiotics and anti nausea medication and to be treated at home as he was looking very alert. When I took him into the office, I was greeted by the kindest staff I have ever encountered at any vets office or even Dr.'s office for that matter. Boomer had to be put in his own room to keep from spreading the parvo, and after a short wait he was ready to go home and looking even shinier and more healthy than before. He was happy to let me pet him when the night before he had been too exhausted and had avoided my hand. He even rolled over in his bed and gave my boyfriend a little kiss on the nose. He's feeling much better now although he isn't allowed food or water until tomorrow. For now he has been injected with lots of fluids to nourish him and has to return to the vet at 5 to get more fluids for the night. I have great faith that he will have a full recovery and believe that it is by the grace of God that I found this kind hearted vet who truly cares for her patients. I had called around a few places this morning that I had heard about before or had been recommended to me and they all told me that I would be paying around $1,000-$5,000 easily. I don't have that kind of money and was overjoyed at having by divine chance found an affordable and very caring place to take my puppy. This vet was a far cry from the CVS vet who told us our puppy was not likely to recover and even after possibly paying an absurd amount of money would likely die. The attitude of the new vet was amazing, she was so positive and encouraging about everything and I will certainly recommend her to everyone looking for a new vet, not to mention I will be a returning customer. I wound up spending only $275 for the two treatments Boomer will recieve today along with food he needs to eat while recovering, parvocide spray, and a take home medication. I know Boomer isn't completely recovered yet, but my outlook on the situation has changed drastically by encountering a kind vet. Luckily we caught the parvo early before it got into the really bad stages, and hopefully Boomer will continue to do well. Please keep us in your prayers, and thank you for all the kind suggestions.