"Canine distemper is a contagious, incurable, often fatal, multi-systemic viral disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems...."
Most people get a puppy at 45 days. We got Mischief at 2 months+.
Our days were centered around him and no one was complaining. The liquid eyes, the soft fur, the lion-like swagger and the wickedly naughty disposition all stole our hearts and kept them captive. He was stubborn, elusive and not too affectionate, but we couldn't get enough of him.
After 3 weeks of normal, hyper, happy puppy life the seizures started. The first one came out of the blue and left Mischief is shock. We were told he had Distemper and there was nothing we could do except wait and watch. He just kept deteriorating, the seizures became longer, fiercer and more frequent. My parents talked about euthanasia, I vehemently opposed it. But then after a particularly bad seizure in which he was paralyzed for 5 whole minutes and just stared into space silently, I decided that it was probably for the best. He was just a baby... I couldn't put him through so much torture. Even if he recovered from distemper, the neurological damage couldn't be reversed. He would never be the happy, gamboling puppy he was, again.
The only problem was Mischief didn't know he was about to die. So I took his head in my hands, kissed his nose and told him. For the first time, he licked my face.
We took him to the vet and just as he was filling the injection, Mischief had another seizure. It was strangely comforting to know it would be his last. I had my hands pressed against his body and as the poison spread his painful, strained, raspy breathing gently slowed and then stopped. He was seizure-free forever now. My mother burst into tears, my dad stepped out in a gentlemanly manner and stood by the car, blinking rapidly.
My grief was beyond tears.
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