This is Tilly.

Tilly and her two sisters appeared in town one day. They were picked up by animal control (also known as Gina) and ended up in our new city shelter. Tilly’s sisters picked on her and she never got anything to eat. The shelter called BARC to see if someone in the network could foster her and fatten her up. We live right down the road and were momentarily dogless* so Michael went and picked her up on Wednesday.

The first thing we do with our furry guests is take them to our vet for a bath and a once-over. Tilly had a fever and a wheeze. Kennel Cough – a generic term for any number of viruses or bacterial infection. And she was already starved. Tilly got dramatically worse overnight and was not interested in food or water on Thursday. She got up and wandered around the house a couple times, but spent the vast majority of the day in her crate breathing raggedly. Friday she went in for fluids. She perked up a little Friday night and had a drink of water. This morning we took her for more fluids and on the way in, noticed yellow puss around her nose. Distemper.

Tilly has gone to where the good dogs go when they stop running. Our shelter is in lockdown for a week to see if there are any more cases and wait for test results to confirm. We can’t have dogs in our house for a month.

Tilly was gentle, loved her cushy bed, wagged her tail for each of us (including Ellie who kept bringing her toys and hats to help her feel better), indifferent to cats, and very smart. She sorted out the purpose of a leash in two trips outside and “inside” and “outside” after a few repetitions. I am happy to have loved her for the few days we were able.

Save lives. Spay, neuter and vaccinate your pets.

*I did tell you about Daisy? We found her many many months ago on the way to the Farm and it took a while to find her a forever home. With a fenced yard and a dog door. Daisy’s idea of heaven.