# surviving parvo



## picklespickles (Nov 3, 2007)

:angel:

hi my pup just survived parvo when she "should" have died. i don't know what will work in all cases, certainly, but here are the things that helped her. parvo is very very prevalent in our area and there are many stray dogs. also, even with vacs, there is a window when they can still get it. anyway....

pups don't actually die from parvo itself, they die from dehydration most often as the vomitting and diarhea dry them out and from vomtting so much they refuse to drink anything. if mouth forced open and even a drop of water put in, at least in my case, the dog threw it back up. she lost half her body weight in two days. i was ready to put her down but she didnt' seem to want it. so here is what i tried and it was succesfful. she is now healthy and normal again. yeah :hobbyhors

i know there is a ringers iv you can get, but we didnt' have access to that. so i gave shots of distilled water subq in the scruff of her neck for two days. boy she hated me for it. (subcutaneously means under the skin as opposed to in the vein or in the muscle) i did enemas which is another way to get water in that she can't throw back up. some say these don't work. i am no expert but my dog is alive. so it didn't hurt. i also moistened her in anyway i could think of that couldn't be thrown up, as in drops of water in eyes.

as any amount of water she woudl throw back up even a drip, i could pry open her gum more easily than her whole mouth so would put a tiny dab of sugar paste (i mixed wine, tiny bit of salt and aspirin in the paste) in her mouth every fifteen minutes for almost a day. except for when i fell alseep. lol

after about two days of these three things, she got her thirst desire back. but if she drank more than five sips every fifteen minute's, she'd puke it bak up. so i was watchful and did her like this for about two days gradually uping the amount she could drink but not hte time limit. any less, in her case, than fifteen minutes and she'd puke again. i had her driking homemade pedialite which i used distilled water, sugar and salt. 

after two days of that, then she got a small appetite, so i soaked her dry food in hot water for half an hour before she ate it. after a day of that, she was ready to eat more regularly, stools were nornmal and no vomiting even with unlimited access to water. 

anyway. i jsut wanted to offer this info in case any of could be useful if something similar happned to you. 

ps 

it strikes pups as the virus likes areas where there is renewing of cells and the intestines of a puppy renew themselves every few days so this is where it attacks most often and why older dogs are less sucesptible or if tey do get it why it is not realy noticable and seldom deadly.


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## picklespickles (Nov 3, 2007)

re sugar paste, by in her mouth, i mean just on her gums. it was less invasive and she fought me less and finally got used to it.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

What a great post. Thank you for sharing your experience. So so so happy your puppy made it through, with the diligent care of her mommy. :clap:


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

They have a product called Parvaid. It helps pups get over it, but needs to be given before symptoms start for best results *for instance, if you have a litter and a pup tests positive and is symptomatic, give to it and all the littermates. Another product that will help is Tamiflu. Your vet can write the script, but it is very expensive.


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## PrincessFerf (Apr 25, 2008)

Our English Coonhound came to us with Parvo. The day we adopted her she was fine, and two days later she was clearly sick. We took her to our vet immediately and went through their aggressive treatment. Within two days she was back on her feet... and several weeks later was recovering nicely.

Now she's nearly 4-years old, sassy and full of "Ar-wooooooo!" (that's coonhound speak for "let's go for a run")


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

I am so glad you were able to pull your pup through. Parvo is such a deadly, quick killing disease. So many people don't realize how sick their puppies are until it is too late.


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## picklespickles (Nov 3, 2007)

oddly, i think her being so ill is what allowed me to save her. it was so clear to me that either she would die, or i would have to put her down myself. so it seemed like it was okay to try anything and everything. translation: even if i killed her by accident with something i tried, that was her fate in all certainty regardless. so i used every single idea i could think of. more stuff than what is posted here, but the part about the dehydration and the way to give nutrition were the essentials i think. she is so much better that today she tore off the doggie sweater i had her wearing to keep her warm and i'm sure it will never be found again. :nana:


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## kentuckyhippie (May 29, 2004)

my rottweiler pup came down with parvo the second day I had him. (he was a stray who found me) my vet gave me antibiotics for him and suggested that every hour I put a spoonful of beef or chicken baby food on the back of his tongue so he would have to swallow it and a spoonfull of water. every four hours he got a spoon full of liquid antibiotic the same way and twice a day a spoonful of pepto bismal. sometimes it would all come back up but enough stayed down to keep him alive and after about 4 days he was eating soft food and drinking and now he is 130 pounds of happy mama's boy LOL My vet also said that a spoonful of plain yogurt would be good because it would help get his digestive system back to normal I hadn't known before this that pepto bismal was ok for dogs but apparently it helps their sick stomach and diareaha same as for kids


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Depends on the pepto as it has changed formulation. Personally I would not use pepto- I would use endosorb instead. It comes in liquid or tablet form and most vets carry it, or you can order it offline.


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## picklespickles (Nov 3, 2007)

hi. today i would say she is fully back to normal. i even gave her parts from a chicken i'd processed. before i would not have done that. she was so excited and took it and hid it right away. yaay.

glad for everyone else who was able to help and save their animals. sorry for those who've not been able to.


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## HOTW (Jul 3, 2007)

Be aware that parvovirus can survive 6 months to a year in the ground or on surfaces not properly disinfected.Do not allow other people's dogs onto your property! Keep all your dogs shots current! Parvo tends to come back to haunt you. Which is why its so bad when an outbreak occurs!Bleaching is the most effective way to kill the virus.


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## qutes (Dec 30, 2005)

We had 12 puppies come down with parvo(we had given shots 3 days before hand)
Out of those 12 we lost only 2. Vet kept one(he lived) and my husband DD and I took care of the others. We lost the 2 pups on the 1st day. 

What we learned... Get a "Snap-Test" done at vet. Corona virus has some of the same symptoms as parvo. But it is not as deadly.
Yes to the sub q fluids lots of it. 
Get a pennicillin injectable from a vet. NOT the stuff you get at feed stores for hoofstock. 
Molasses on the tongue every 3 hrs for energy.(We were using nutra-Cal but ran out) 
We did use pepto.. vet oked it. DO NOT give a puppy any asprin if it has bloody stools!!! 
If you don't think you can handle constant nursing put the pup down! 
Bleach Bleach and more Bleach! Bleach the yard and your house. Set a pan of bleach water by every door and have everyone step in it before they come into your home. 

I now use a puppy vaccine that uses both killed and MLV. 

Vikki


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

The problem is not the vaccine in most cases (unless we are talking ft. dodge) it is the fact that the puppies have maternal immunities that will block the effectiveness of the vaccine. That is why pups get "boosters" in hopes of providing immunity when the maternal antibodies get to a low enough level that they will be effective. Personally, I give neopar. It over rides maternal antibodies better and as a result provides protection earlier. I start my pups with neopar at 4-5 weeks old followed by another dose 3 week later. Yes, I start early, but I am very paranoid about parvo having been through it before with 6 mo old's many many years ago.


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