Compassion Fatigue

One of the first things you learn in rescue is that the work can be emotionally taxing. This weekend was no different. On Saturday afternoon, I headed out to the kennels to clean, feed and medicate everyone. I noticed one of the seven Husky pups did not run to greet me as they all normally do. A quick check of capillary refill time told me he needed fluids. I quickly finished feeding everyone and ran inside to change clothes and get on the road. I was supposed to be at a sock hop to benefit the feral cat program in just two hours, but figured there was no way that would happen. We arrived, got checked in, and was told he needed to stay for at least a few hours. I drove back home and made arrangements to have my date meet me at the house as I rushed to get ready. We were only an hour late, and of course, people were understanding of my tardiness. During the middle of the dance, the ER vet called to let me know it was a viral infection and he needed to stay overnight. We left the dance and rushed home to check the other puppies, where I found one pup that seemed a bit less active than earlier. I separated her and kept an eye on her, but felt better since she was walking around and drinking water on her own. But the next morning, I found us on the road to the ER vet again. I got back to the house and went back into my routine, graced to have a volunteer join me for the afternoon bathing duties. Within a couple hours, I had a call from another foster home that one of her puppies was not doing well, so I authorized for him to go in and get put on fluids. An hour later, I was sending another puppy from my litter down there as well.

A beautiful Sunday afternoon had been filled with the stench of bleach from disinfecting crates and kennels and a heavy weight as the concern grew for our puppies. But my stress increased as I worried on how we would pay the ER bill, guessing it would be around $1,000 when we only had about $1200 in available funds. Sure enough, our bill was right at around $900 this morning, but we were lucky... the vet did not charge us the hospitalization or office visit fees, which really would have put us in trouble.

So my early morning (which started today at 4 am) was not one anyone would want... being up early to go to the ER vet, pick up our sick puppies and transfer them to our regular vet for more fluids and care, and just wonder all day long how they were doing and how we are going to pay the mounting vet bills. By 2 pm, I was wiped out and crashed for about an hour, but I'm not sure I rested. The vet called me at 6 with an update, which is about 50/50 for the pups... one is in really bad shape, one is doing great, and two are the same as they were this morning. All I can do right now is pray that things work out and some angels come to our aid, but nights like this, it's not always easy to have faith.