August 30th, 2006 3:00AM or so.


Driving from Florida to Colorado was one of the best days of my life. The roads were clear, the sunrises and sets were just amazing. I drove straight through, 27 hours.

The best thing about my drive was that I found my new best friend. I stopped off I-12 in Louisiana for no real reason. I pulled up and saw a little white puppy sitting outside the doors. He had a (shaggy, dirty) collar, so I assumed he was someones. I pet him anyway.

(PS: you know you are in the South when you see the sign for "Jumbo boiled Peanuts" on the window, lol.)



The store clerk came out and told me a lady drove up threw him out and took off. My first reaction was "If I wasn't going to to Colorado, you would be mine!" Yeah, that thought lasted a whole five minutes. I wasn't even done peeing when I knew I was taking him with me.

We drove off into the night. He stayed on my lap until the sun came up, tossing and shifting once in a while.



We stopped and I got him some food, water dish, H20, and a new collar. He drank water like crazy, but I was surprised that he wouldn't eat any food. It makes sense the more I found out though.




We stopped to get gas, he would pee... and pee out of his butt too


It wasn't until later... when he started puking on me about every half hour... that I thought maybe something was really wrong with him. He didn't have the energy to stand. I could tell he was not feeling well at all.


We kept driving...



Stopping for gas every so often



When my menagerie and I... I didn't mention there was the new puppy, a bird, seven (6ft+) snakes, and a spider crammed into my car... arrived in Colorado Springs it was four in the morning. The little dude could barely keep his head up, let alone walk well. He had a bath, and rested until the first vet office opened.

I got some of the worst news possible. He has fleas, internal parasites... and Parvo. Parvo is a horrible virus that kills A LOT of dogs. Its a bug that kills the micro villi that line the intestine. Without the micro villi, an animal has no way of moving, digesting, and absorbing nutrients. Basically, everything that enters the intestine sits there and rots until it's forced back up. The animal dies over a couple weeks of malnutrition. It is thousands of dollars to treat in the clinic. Just moving, I did not have that kind of money at all.

So, I told the vet I had pretty extensive reptile rehab experience, and she offered to sell me the meds to try and get him better myself. I gave him a shot of baytril once a day, two shots of Cetazolin, and an IV every day.



It was two days until he ate anything, which happened to be a piece of bread. the next day he was walking a lot... after 4 days he was beginning to have puppy energy. He was getting better!! I took him back for his weekly checkup and he was all clear of EVERYTHING!!!

Today, he is doing very well. He's pretty dang smart. We're working on the nibbling, and manners thing, lol.



He is my best friend... we're in the mountains all the time.



Meet Conoco! He's a true survivor and part of my family.