Success Stories

Shiloh, November, 1999

Shiloh is a male black Labrador Retriever who was rescued from a shelter in California. No one but Shiloh can speak about his early days, and he's not talking; however, somehow by 8 months of age he had ended up in the shelter as a stray. It was a bad time to be at the shelter because there were 10 total labs at the shelter at that time and Shiloh had reached the legal limit for his stay. In addition to the time factor, it was begining to appear that Shiloh had caught a particularly virulent strain of kennel cough.

Normally kennel cough in dogs is very similar to a cold in humans. The dog gets an irritated trachea and does some coughing, and may feel a little punky, but with rest and good nutrition, the dog's immune system can defeat the virus. Sometimes the dog must go to the veterinarian for some antibiotics to combat any secondary bacterial infections, but rarely is the virus life-threatening. Unfortunately, because of Shiloh's malnourished status coming into the shelter, and the stress of shelter life, Shiloh was unable to combat the virus. In the shelter situation, this often means euthanasia for the afflicted dog.

Luckily, Shiloh had a rescue angel. She adopted Shiloh out of the shelter in the nick of time and took him immediately to her veterinarian. By this time Shiloh was very sick, he had a bloody discharge from his nose, wasn't eating, and was very depressed. His rescuer feared that the infection had gotten into his lungs and caused pnemonia.

The veterinarian started Shiloh on intravenous fluids and antibiotics immediately and Shiloh began to perk up. Although it took two different antibiotics to get the virus under control, Shiloh quickly began to display his true lab personality. The vet's office felt he had a good disposition and would be easily adoptable. Shiloh, however, was one of three dogs his rescuer had adopted that day and she needed help financing his emergency care. Fortunately, she turned to LABMED. LABMED was happy to help out.

Shiloh continued to improve and was soon ready to go home -- he did have to stay an extra 3 days at the vet's to be neutered, but Shiloh didn't hold a grudge. LABMED was glad to be a part of Shiloh's second chance at a forever home and true happiness.