Friends Pup has Parvo

[FredsMom]

Sort of.

Backstory:

A friend of ours and their roommate both adopted golden retirever puppies. Brother and Sister. The boy is Levi and since I can't remember the girls name we'll call her Sis. They were adopted out way too young but that is here nor there at this point (I think the girl was adopted at 4 or 5 weeks and they got Levi at 6...:ugh:)

My boy was at the vet getting Layas first shot (YAY!!!) when he got a call from our friend. Sis has parvo. :frown:

The couple doesn't have a lot of money and sadly think they can do a at home fix it. We've (boy and i) both told them no, they need to get that dog to the vet ASAP!!!!

And now our friend is terrified that Levi will either catch it or already has since they live in the same house, use the same backyard, etc.

A) What should we tell their roommates to do for sis. We told them get her to the vet and we wanred them that Parvo is VERY hard to treat, even for a vet, let alone them trying to do it on their own with little to no puppy experience. I also texted my guy to tell them to quarentine Sis immediately. But what other advice should we give them to try and save the puppies life (btw I feel like crying, parvo is my biggest fear and these puppies are just the cutest sweetest things ever)

B) What do I tell our friend to do to protect Levi? I suggested they take Levi to the vet anyway because its obviously in their yard and house just to be on the safe side and not to let Levi use the backyard until they can disinfect the area. But I figure they may need to disinfect the house to. So. How do we protect Levi and how do they disinfect their home and yard? They're terrified right now and don't know what to do and since I haven't actually DEALT with parvo (just taken whatever steps I can to protect my own puppy from it and other diseases by not allowing shoes in the apartment and not letting anyonet ouch the dog without cleaning their hands first)

Im very very scared for my friend and their roommate. I want to do whatever I can to help protect Sis and Levi, and if its too late for sis I want to make sure we get Levi protected.

Remember: these aren't my dogs. Our friends listen to our advice as best they can and come to us often with questions but we don't know the roommates very well so all we can do is help our friend and hope they'll do what they can for sis as well.

Any advice?!

[dlaura]

I've never dealt with Parvo either.

Same advice as you've already given - get both pups to vet asap and keep them separate from each other.

You both need to be careful if you help clean up their yard that you don't unknowingly bring something home to your dogs.

[FredsMom]

I dont think either of us plan on going there with our dogs any time soon. Which is unfortunate since we enjoy hanging out with them, but we have to look out for our dogs since they can't look out for themselves.

hopefully we'll find out frmo our vet what we can do to help them out. I know bleach is the only thing to kill parvo... so im wondering if they need to just get one of those spray things that attaches to a hose and put bleach in it too and spray the yard down? and the house?

this just makes me so sad.


Honestly? I sort of attribute it to the pups being taken away so early - not getting the immunity it needed from its mom. If we had known how old the dogs were we would have suggested they wait a few more weeks or find someone who wasn't trying to just unload the pups as qwuickly as possible.

im keeping my fingers crossed for the puppy and i'll update you guys as i get them

[dlaura]

I agree, there are good reasons why pups need to stay with their mom until 8 weeks old. It is so sad when this happens.

I've heard about bleach being used to kill parvo also. Not sure what strength it needs to be when it is sprayed through the hose.

Hopefully both pups will pull through. I'll be watching for updates.

[FredsMom]

ok NOW im upset.

Just found out how the puppy got parvo.

The roommates dont have a lot of money and decided they didnt need to get the dog its second round of shots cause they didn't want to spend the money right away. And were apparently taking the puppy everywhere with them so the puppy was SUPER exposed, didn't have its shots AND was taken away too early so it didnt even have natural immunities.

Honestly how could people be that dumb!

They took the puppy to the vet and got a "parvo shot" which ive never heard of. I heard the dog needs to be admitted to the vet and be put on fluids and whatever else they do to TRY and save it. My guy spoke to our friend. Said the poor thing could barely move and was sick everywhere. Basically all the horror stories you hear about parvo. I dont want to get into detail cause its scary and sad and i hate even thinking about it let alone typing it.

I want to go over there and rip their heads off. Take the puppy away from them. Tell them they can't have it. Of course I can't do that. Thankfully our friends are good about vet visits and all that. He's taking Levi to the vet tomorrow morning and said if the vet thinks the pup should get the shot he'll get it. But im just so mad that their roommates could be so ignorant. I feel like they are the kind of people who got a dog cause its cool to get it, not because of the companionship and taking care of it and everything. They had no idea how much work it was gonna be and were lax and this is what happened.

:( :( :( :(

[Kittybits]

Oh goodness, this is such a horror story! I know I can't offer a whole lot of advice because I'm no dog expert, but I just wanted to wish the puppies the best! Also, have you maybe asked the roommates if they considered finding the puppy a better home? I know that would be hard to do, but IF she survives Parvo, she would be better off in a home ready to take care of her properly. I know I'm not going to get a dog until I'm completely ready (aka, place that allows dogs, money for all the bills, time for puppy raising, etc). Anyway, I really hope for the best and keep us updated!!! How do puppies get Parvo anyway?

[Macawpower58]

If one pup has it, and neither have had full sets of shots, the second pup coming down with it is very likely. They need to get both pups to the vet. It's very expensive once they need vet care. You also need to worry if you've been to their house lately. It's carried by you walking where the pups have been. I pray you haven't visited lately.

How sad when a relatively inexpensive shot could have prevented this problem. Poor babies, I'll keep them in my prayers.

[theresa92841]

I've also been told that parvo can infect the environment for a long time. So I would definitely wait a long time to bring any pups to their house.

And I've also known where it happens to pupsters that are staying with the mother. My friend got her Akita from a breeder who had several puppies come down with parvo at the breeder's. They believe that the puppies were exposed at the vets when they were getting some shots. So sometimes it can be a chancy thing. Not saying that the friends should have been exposing the pupster so much without protecting it. But even for me it is hard to know the balance. When they are young it is also critical to expose them to as many new things and people and experiences as possible . . . but then you are also suppose to not take them anywhere they can get exposed.

[Macawpower58]

Another thing I've learnt is if you give the vaccinations to early, I think before 7 weeks, the immunities passed from mom to pup will kill the vaccine. So people thinking that first early shot helped, are mistaken.

My vet also told me the other day their are airborn strains. This I've never heard, and wonder if it's true, or if she was trying to sell me on yearly shots for life (I'd rather titer).

[FredsMom]

Unfortunately my guy HAS been to their house but thankfully, what is most likely going to be our saving grace is Layla nursed for a VERY long time. In fact she just stopped nursing about last week. We THOUGHT she was getting weened off at around 4 weeks but she kept suckling until about last week when the mom went dry. So she nursed till about 7 weeks. She had her first round last night also.

As far as how we treat humans in our home, we have a spay bottle that is 30:1 water:bleach. We don't allow any shoes on inside our apartment and before we bring them in we spray them down with the water/bleach solution (it doesn't stain). We also take paper towels with the solution onto the dogs (our foster rescue and vet gave us the thumbs up) and clean off their feet wtih it before they come in after playing at the park.

My friend is taking the dog to the Vet today. They, thankfully, are as responsible as they know how to be and want to do what is best for the dog. Thankfully THEY are smart and are keeping up with their vacs and not taking the dog out to random places before its had all of them. Sadly that dog was taken away pretty early too, although not as early as his sister.

Since my guy did have to stop by their place, I know he was meticulous in cleaning of fbefore coming in. He washed up before he came into the apartment and the disinfected himself and left his shoes outside. Plus Layla got her Parvo shot yesterday too. So we should be ok. (Plus the fact that she had moms immunities for so long).

Unfortunately NOW??? She has worms. Or she had them. I dont know which but we gave her a deworming pill from the vet last night and within an hour or two she was pooping out, what I assume are, tapeworms. Is that normal? To give a dog a dewormer and then find them in her stool? My guy is taking a stool sample into the vet as we speak and asking but that worried me. And do we need to worry about the other dogs? We have a habit of looking at their stool as it is and so far have noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Good healthy poops, regularly, etc.

Im liking our new vet a lot though. My guy said the lady seemed really competent, theys upport raw feed so we're getting advice from a vet on what we need to do (although I do have our Mandy here too!) AND we dont have to pay any more "office visits" for her shots. Just come in, get them, go home. And she doesnt try and force stuff on us. They did all the tests they need and were like Heartworm is rarely an issue here. We'll test her for it but if she doesnt have it we can just leave that be. She also said flea and ticks aren't a problem in our area so just watch out for thema nd we wont ad any unnecessary medicines to the puppy unless needed, which i really like. She gave us just what was NEEDED told us what we need to look out for and prepped us for the future. Ive never had a vet like that before.

[FredsMom]

OH and yes, I would LOVE LOVE to rehome the puppy. Actually, some friends of ours want a second dog (these friends are STELLAR puppy parents... in fact, shes come on here to ask a question ... HIII DA NINA). I dont know if they want another one RIGHT NOW, but I dont know. I'll talk to thema bout it. Assuming the puppy survives. So sad.

They have a 5 (?) month old BC right now though so they can't take in another dog that already HAS parvo until the dog is safe. I know they took Sis (parvo pup) to the vet yesterday too and got her a shot (200 bucks) But i feel like that was lackluster. Doesn't that poor dog need to be on an IV and getting fluids? I heard parvo kills because it dehydrates the dog.

[Llamalady]

Yes. Ivs should be used. Even with ivs and proper vet attention, nearly 60% of dogs brought in with parvo die at the vet's. Left to their own devices at home, it kills almost all. It is a dangerous infectious preventable and horrible disease that lives in the ground for up to 17 years, so this is why vaccinations are MANDATORY to be humane, and not just for little puppies but for their lifetime. I have lots of horrible horrible experience with parvo. We would put 40-50 puppies down at a crack a lot of days at the animal shelter in Mississippi I worked at because they had parvo because people wouldn't bother to get their puppies shots, would know they were sick and dump them off on us, and they would infect the rest of the puppies.

Bleach can kill parvo off of your clothes, and out of house environments to make them safe for a puppy again, but using it outside (on grass, dirt, etc.,.) is kind of like peeing in the wind. It might sound like a good idea at the time, but it's not really going to be effective for anything except perhaps to make a person feel proactive. It's better with a current parvo outbreak to make a new outside closure until the pups are fully vaccinated again.

And if a puppy has parvo, does not mean they can't get it again. There are less chances, but it is still essential to get puppies vaccinations.

[MandyPug]

I have to disagree about vaccinating for the dog's lifetime. In my opinion it does more harm than good. Immunity isn't like putting minutes on a cell phone, each shot isn't going to extend the amount of time the dog is immune. In fact some studies have show dogs to be immune up to 7 years after their first shot. Loading the body up with the suspension that the virus (live or killed) is not good, and does harm the dog's system. Plus if there are still antibodies in the dog from previous vaccinations, when you put more in they just get killed off and the vaccination is basically useless.

My stance is give puppy shots, but not before 8 weeks cause then they're just useless, then a booster at 1 year (it's not really needed to be honest) then titres for the rest. I do not give shots at all to my dogs, never will either, with pugs it's especially dangerous cause they're prone to reactions.

[dlaura]

fredsmom - I was looking for an update on how the pups are doing please.

[FredsMom]

Diane,

Im still waiting to hear bakc myself. They are my boyfriends friends moreso than my own so I have to wait for him to check in. I did ask him about it last night. He said Levi was getting bigger... but I have no idea if the other puppy made it. I'll see what I can find out for you guys today.

[FredsMom]

Mandy - Yea. I think the MAIN reason the dog got sick was because of how early it was taken from its family. The pup was adopted out at 4 weeks of age. This means it was weened too early and never got the immunities it needed from its mother. Then I think they started with the shots between 6 and 7 weeks and then just stopped all together.

I just think they were COMPLETELY irresponsible iwth the puppy and were more concerned with having fun with it than taking care of it. They just didn't realize that until a certain age, your job is to take care of the puppy, not show it off. We keep our house quiet and don't invite too many people over right now because we know Layla is suseptable to a lot and want to take our precautions. And my guy is like you. He doesn't want to inject the puppy with everything constantly. We'll be doing the puppy shots, and after the third round is done, I think we'll be too aside from the yearly booster. We'll talk to our vet about a vac plan for the future as well. She's hollistic too so we dont feell ike we'll have medicines shoved down our throat.

[Kkye]

My vet and the assistants tend to tell me "watch it for a day or two and see how it goes" kinda thing, which is good for me I guess because it gives me a bit of peace of mind. I try not to call for everything. Like right now, Kye kinda has this funny thing happening on her upper lip, but I think it's because she got some skin taken off right where her muzzle turns into nose (ouchie) and then after that healed, one day she had a little scratch there and a few days later she had another one, and it looks a little tender but nothing is oozing and it's not hot. I think it's cuz she's flipping her tongue up there and licking it beccause I've noticed that lately.

Anyways, lol, kinda off topic there.

While we're on the topic of hollistic vets, my friend is becoming a Holistic Practitioner and she said she'd do Reiki (or however you spell it..I don't even know exactly what "Reiki" is) on my dogs. We'll see how that goes :)

[MandyPug]

I know 2 reiki practitioners and i might actually go for my level one certification
... It's basically healing through energy and it actually works, i've seen it. This one lady explained to me how her ficus was dead and she used reiki therapy on it and it's now flourishing (which i need to know how to do since i can't even keep bamboo alive!).

[FredsMom]

So Im very very sad to report some sad news.
Its a bit graffic though so Im going to go post it over in the adult section.

I WILL post good news here though. Levi is doing fine. He's had all his shots, is growing and happy and healthy. Our friends took this scare VERY VERY seriously. They bleached their ENTIRE house (seriously) and back yard and have been watching him like a hawk.

The other couple actually said "OH well, that sucks, but our friends German Shepard just had puppies so we'll get one of those"

The good news about that?! OUR FRIENDS WON'T LET THEM! WOOOOO. They said if they DARED adopt another dog while they lived under the same roof they'd take the dog away. These people have no learned their lesson at all. Thankfully our friends are smart enough to put their foot down and do what is right for dogs everywhere. And that means not allowing their roommates to adopt one!

[sbc1203]

I had a Doberman pup back in my twenties and he was at least 8 weeks before I got him. He was in the middle of getting all his shots, including parvo, when he came down with it. I had never even heard of it at that time. It was bad. He didn't make it even though we took him to the vet and they kept him on IV's. We later found out someone near us had a dog that had it so I'm not sure if that is how he got it or not.

However, just a few weeks ago, a new friend that fosters dogs got a puppy that had it and a wonderful vet that she goes to on the Navy Base took it home with her and pulled it through. The vet decided to keep the puppy for her own.

I hope they take the puppy to the vet!

[FredsMom]

I had a Doberman pup back in my twenties and he was at least 8 weeks before I got him. He was in the middle of getting all his shots, including parvo, when he came down with it. I had never even heard of it at that time. It was bad. He didn't make it even though we took him to the vet and they kept him on IV's. We later found out someone near us had a dog that had it so I'm not sure if that is how he got it or not.

However, just a few weeks ago, a new friend that fosters dogs got a puppy that had it and a wonderful vet that she goes to on the Navy Base took it home with her and pulled it through. The vet decided to keep the puppy for her own.

I hope they take the puppy to the vet!

Yes it is absolutely horrible to go through. I wont even let my own puppy out of the apartment right now unless she is being very closely watched. She is 8 weeks now and has yet to touch the ground outside of our own apartment. I am also watching her very closely.

The thing with Parvo is a puppy is still very very highly at risk, even after the first round of shots, at risk after the second round AND I hear there is still risk after the third. I can't shelter our puppy forever and the reality is this dog NEEDS to be able to run around and get that energy out, but I havet o think of her health first.

We kept saying that we'd start takingt he puppy for walks after the third round but I have to tell you, I don't think I'll allow her to walk on the pavement outside of our apartment complex. There is poop EVERYWHERE and its always on the sidewalks. Its really gross. I think I would rather wait to get our own place and our own yard before starting outdoor training. This sucks though because our garbage can is DISGUSTING right now. When we move Im throwing it out and we'll buy a new one. Preferably a steel one too to help block the smell. We cant throw the poop away in our toilet either because the paper clogs it up. Its a no win situation.

SB Im very sorry to report the puppy has already passed away. I put the details in the adult lounge because its a bit graphic. (BTW I spelled it graffic last nigth and I kept sitting there going WHY does that look so wrong... lol)

[AnimalStars]

Parvo, as a condition amongst hounds, has been given full attention by vets and medical experts sinc the 70s. This virus is primarily spread through contact. There are now specific treatments for parvo, the most popular of which are the intestine and the heart treatments. The intestine treatments targets the virus that has attacked the dog’s bone marrows. The latter focuses on the virus along the blood stream. The most important consideration for these treatments is the discovery of the parvo virus as early as possible.