Outbreak of H3N2 in LA County

Notice of the outbreak of H3N2 sent to us from VCAS:
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Hi, all

Dr. Heather, our managing veterinarian, wanted me to share this information with any of you who might have dogs coming into your rescues that may have originated from the Los Angeles County area.  Please read the attached notice of a higher instance of “H3N2”, Canine Influenza, due to an outbreak that was reported on March 11, 2017, involving dogs imported from China into the L.A. area. 

We do vaccinate all incoming dogs to VCAS with the H3N2 vaccine and have for several years.

All the best,

Jane

Jane Gorden

Rescue Coordinator

Ventura County Animal Services

805-388-4235

Download the NEW Ventura County Animal Services App in the Apple store!

Or go to - http://www.ventura.org/vcas-mobile-apps

www.vcas.us

www.facebook.com/vcanimalservices

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Little things...

Being a dog rescuer is hard - if it was easy, everyone would be doing it... But every once in awhile, something happens that just gives you a MAJOR boost of affirmation that what you are doing is the right thing... 

Tanner from CRF Solutions called me a few weeks back and asked what kinds of things that the rescue were in need of... I laughed and asked how much time he had, and then gave him a long, laundry list of things we are consistently buying which then takes from the monies available for vet bills, one of our largest expenditures... 

Yesterday, a few of us TLC volunteers along with Momma and Snookers were asked to come to their office and pick up the results of their donation drive... We were overwhelmed with the generosity of the CRF Solutions' employees... 

And here is where the 'little things' come in... One of the CRF Solution employees had donated a can of milk replacement - something expensive but yet life-saving... 

As it turned out, on Monday evening we got one of those "911" contacts... A momma dog had been killed and left behind three small pups just days old... Usually I have at least one nursing mom in the TLC nursery (always the best solution) but currently there is only one nursing mom (and she's nursing her own three pups and two from another mom's litter who was not taking great care of her pups)... 

I put out the plea to the TLC volunteers Monday evening and one of the volunteers stepped up to bottle-feed the litter... Another rescue took the big, blonde pup in this photo, but Carol from TLC offered to take in the three itty bitties in the top of this photo...  You can tell by the size of this person's hands just how small and fragile these three itty bitties are... 

As it turned out (and a fluke), I had picked up a can of the replacement milk last Saturday as a back-up plan for me one nursing mom not doing a good job... So I had that can of replacement milk to hand over to Carol ahead of time... 

But then to find a second can (and you go through this stuff like crazy when you are bottle feeding) in the CRF Solutions' donation was SO heart warming yesterday... Someone thought enough (or knew) what we go through, trying to save these hard cases and it just touched me so much, I knew I had to sit down this morning and blog about this... 

When the pups are this young and you don't have a nursing mom, they have NO chance at life if you don't have a volunteer willing to feed them every 2-3 hours around the clock for several weeks until they stabilize... There are only three volunteers in TLC that will take on bottle fed litters, in fact... These are so small, they are being fed with a syringe and a squirrel nipple attached to it... Pups don't know to wet and poo either at this age, so the bottle mom needs to take care of this as well... And keep them warm... And clean... And eventually, socialized and healthy... It is a MAJOR undertaking and not always successful... Mother Nature does a far better job than we humans do!

But again - thank you, Tanner, and all of the employees of CRF Solutions for your very generous support and donations to TLC.  Please thank them all, but especially the person who donated that replacement milk... Please share the photos of these itty bitty boys that will immediately take advantage of their donation!

Sincerely,
Linda, Director, TLC