Boza almost died from Tick Parasite…

There are too many types of this parasite to know exactly which one it was. But it was fast acting and almost got our doggy. I am in tune to Boza and when he does not feel good, I watch him…

Therefore, I was monitoring Boza, when he crashed. It happened in a matter of less than 12 hours….Boza went from a happy go lucky doggy, to a collapsed, pissing raw blood, doggy, at deaths door…

It was Thursday evening and the Big Village would be closed down, but I had nowhere else to take him. I grabbed Boza, grabbed all the rubles (later in article explain,) I could find and I set him in the back of the Volga and we tore to town as fast as Sammy the Volga could run…

I got hold of Sveta, she was on the train coming to see us and she found Vova on the phone. Vova had been gone this particular day, but he knew one of the veterinarians in town and called him. We have a big clinic in the Big Village and I knew that was Boza’s only chance, or drive to a city over an hour away. That would be too late…

Boza was at a point of rapidly crashing. The parasites had exploded in his system, they eat the red blood cells and in the case of this parasite, they kill the host 98% of the time in Russia. Boza would be dead in a few hours and or past the point of return to save him. Thus to say, I was upset and thankful to the doctor that helped Boza. The man did all he could and now we have to allow Boza to heal. It may take a month even….Or it could take more…

Nasty parasite, it is one that does not effect humans, thank God, or we would all be dead. Generic version of the protozoic parasite is called Babesia canis…. and the strain Boza got was the worst. Lets hope Boza recovers…

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Boza is my buddy and I feel like I should have been able to catch this sooner, but, alas it is impossible to do that. He could have had this issue from last summer even and or picked it up a few weeks ago. Hard to say and it is what it is. So far Boza is doing better and he lived. Now Svetochka and I are going to keep giving him his injections and hope that he continues on the path to recovery…

Now I am going to mention something that actually shocked me. I mentioned earlier that I grabbed all the rubles I could find! I was prepared to pay what ever it took to get Boza help. I expected to do just that. The price was not an issue. I have had Veterinarians in the US make me pay ahead of time and I had heard familiar stories for Russians. Small town and little care, that is how I look at life, many times. My distant past was different in that aspect, but we are in the present right now…

Therefore, I expected to bribe if necessary a path to get Boza helped…

Surprise!

A wonderful doctor, a wonderful clinic, came after hours, good with Boza. I almost cried when he told me 1200 rubles and almost three hours of work, medications and much more. What you see above in the photo is what we were sent home with to inject Boza with. Huge injections, that make me cringe every time, I give them to him…

I will be honest, I realized, whether he could save Boza or not, I had found a Veterinarian who loves his job. He could have taken me to the cleaners and it would be easy for people who love their pets. For Boza is my buddy and I would do anything for him…

The doctor said, “1200 rubles!”

I said and pointed, “Medicine, needles, time…….?”

He could have taken ever last ruble I had and I would not have flinched. Instead he said 1200 rubles ($18.70 exchange rate, when this written,) after almost three hours of work. Then as I drove to get Sveta from the train station, with Boza in the back sleeping, I remembered the small American towns of my younger years…

I slipped back into an era that money was secondary, people were first, people cared about other people and I found myself, realizing that we need to go to town today and visit this doctor. Take him a box of chocolates and shake his hand again. Keep in touch with this man and…

I thought about the people I meet everyday in this small town area. I thought about a almost (not all the way) drunk Vova, calling the vet and calling to make sure Boza was Okay! I thought about a doctor that cared about Boza and helped him the best he could in such a small town. Village is a better word for what and where we are. I thought about as I waited at the train station for Sveta, how interesting, that train stations are in almost every village and we travel by train to see the world. Sometimes the world we see, is very small, but many times I travel by train to see a big world, even into Europe herself…

I guess what I am saying is; it is not money, it is not new, not modern, not fancy, not colorful, not perfect, but it is real and true. It is what life should be. Always and never but a life of care for all things…

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6 a.m. Svetochka woke up a few minutes. She mumbled about is Boza OK? I kissed her and she went back to sleep. I told her that Boza was sleeping and he had a much better night. Sveta really loves her Boza and I know she loves me also. It is nice to have her here…

We do not know if Boza will make it or not. He is doing better and I am watching his pee. It seems to now be pink instead of bright blood red. He has eaten, drinking water and gets grumpy at us to give him his shots. I guess that is the best we can ask for right now and he sleeps and recovers from a bad thing…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babesia

Life can grab you and wake you up at times…

Boza went from a cat chasing, raven hunting, deer tracking dog to deaths edge in about 12 hours…

Lets hope Boza makes it! I am not ready to say goodby just yet to the little guy…

WtR