Have had a parvo experience

[sheamusmom]

Hi Guys, I've been so busy, I haven't been able to have a minute of peace. On New Years Eve a friend of a friend called me and asked me to take the last 5 lab puppies, 11 weeks old, for rescue. She was planning on bringing them to the animal shelter the day after New Years. Well, being the sucker I am, I called an all breed rescue friend, and she said she could easily find homes for 5 lab puppies, mom is a purebred chocolate lab, pups all black and all chocolate. I went to get the pups at 9 pm New Years Eve and it was clear they were ill, they had diarrhea and some vomiting. 2 were listless. She had refused to take them to the vet ("too expensive")... the prior week friends had been trooping through her house picking out puppies to take (there were 12 pups total).....

I got the babes home, set up a little clinic in the kitchen, wanting to keep them away from my dogs, as I dropped sugar water and gatorade into their mouths, and made up a chicken broth and rice mash for the active pups. Within 4 hours the listless pups started bleeding rectally. I bundled them up and drove them to the 24 hour vet hospital, only to confirm my suspicions that they had parvo, and were dying. They were within minutes of death, and crying out in waves, right before they would expel a wave of blood rectally. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever witnessed. We humanely euthanized three pups in that first 24 hours, all within the last hour of their lives. My efforts at subcutaneous fluids and antibiotics and rubbing their gums with molasses to keep up their blood sugar couldn't help those poor three boys.

However, as the vet reassured me, we had two little miracles survive. 1 chocolate and 1 black lab boy survived. Of course, now they are shedding the parvo virus in their stools for one month and the All breed rescue had no home that would take them. So I've had a couple little visitors in a quarantine exercise pen and crate I've set up in my basement, then stripping and bleaching my shoes after each trip upstairs.
I can't believe how rapid and ravaging that parvo virus attacked those boys, and they were strong 11 week old 20 lb pups. The third boy who died went from playful to lethargic to hemorrhaging in about 4 hours!!!!
I"ve managed to find a good home for the chocolate boy, and his family is keeping him quarantined in his home for the month of January. Little Sully (the black boy, named after my maiden name) still is in my basement. DRC is kind enough to courtesy post him, this little labrador retriever without any doodle!! I think I'll go back downstairs and give his silky little wiggly body some more hugs and loving.

[KingstonTodd]

God blesss you. Bless you. I have never experienced parvo, and nevre want to. What a horrifying experience. You are an angel for saving the two pups that you did.

[Lucky Me]

Been there...the little ones are hard to pull through! And boy does it move fast!
Bless you for taking the risk... and committing to all the work required to deal with it.
I did manage to pull a 1 year old through once with aspirin & tons of water forced every half hour.
I was so happy to see the dog start coming round by morning. When we got him to the vet, it was just a matter of getting the diarrhea to stop.

[Jac]

Liz, I am just crying ... this is the most sad, frustrating thing I can imagine! I feel such hatred for that "breeder" and I hope that they decided that breeding is not for them!

If not for angels like you, pups like this would die horrible deaths...obviously, even when they live it is horrific.

I wish that people would try to comprehend this when we tell them NOT to come to visit...or NOT to take their puppies out before their shots...but everyone just assumes that we are being too protective...or, in the case of a breeder, that we are trying to hide something! Ugh!

I wish we could put a bubble over every babby animal and protect them...but, of course, we can't. You have blessed those tiny lives with love and compassion...I am proud to know you.

[Lucky Me]

I wish that people would try to comprehend this when we tell them NOT to come to visit...or NOT to take their puppies out before their shots...but everyone just assumes that we are being too protective...or, in the case of a breeder, that we are trying to hide something! Ugh!

I recently talked to a breeder that let her defenses down and ended up loosing a whole litter to parvo....... needless to say, she is VERY careful now! This is one thing that you can not let your guard down on.
When I was exposed to it, it was the neighbor across the street. It was a litter of hound pups...he was going to just let them go (too expensive he said), but I had to do something! I felt so helpless. I called a breeder when the one year old got sick.... she told me what to do & I did my best, and pulled him through.
The hunter/owner of the hounds, was on top of the shots after that (this was 20 years ago). I was not breeding then, but after finding out how it worked, was horrified.
I didn't bring any new dogs home after that until they had a few shots under their belt.
What many people don't realize, is that it can remain active in the ground for years..... and our whole neighborhood was a hotbed for years too as many people let their dogs run loose...

[Jac]

That is so true...Liz, unfortunately, this will affect your ability to take in any puppies that have not been vaccinated for Parvo.

One thing that might be a good idea for your business, Liz, is to routinely give NeoPar shots to all puppies (maybe even adult dogs) before they are placed in a foster home. NeoPar is a good vaccine and, with the other puppy shot, breeders have had excellent success. The good thing about NeoPar is that you can vaccinate a 4 week old puppy and the claim is that NeoPar is good from then on...still, to be safe, most breeders still give the 5-way puppy shots on the regular time frame.

[Lucky Me]

Don't know how old this is, buy it was posted on a site I frequent a lot...
Perhaps something to keep on hand for the future?

Tamiflu...the miracle drug used to treat Parvo
I just had the opportunity to experiment for the first time with Tamiflu for the treatment of Parvo. The subject is an 8 week old redbone puppy who was diagnosed on Monday evening. She presented with vomiting (several times) and was quite weak and lethargic. She was given the first dose orally monday night. Tuesday, at around 12 noon an IV catheter was placed and she was given supportive IV fluids, along with some IV antibiotics and antiemetics for good measure. She never did vomit after the first tamiflu dose, and she only had ONE minor blow out with diarrhea on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday morning, we decided to give her water and a small amount of science diet I/D (bland diet) to see if she could keep it down. She did!!! Her next BM came this evening and it was for the most part, very solid and not bloody. Within 36 hours of the first tamiflu dose she was up and running around and was wanting to play. 48 hours from the first dose, she is almost back to her old self. I couldn't believe it. All of the studies I have read suggest that one can get away with subcutaneous fluids and oral antibiotics along with the tamiflu. I chose not to do this with her only because I wasn't ready to experiment that much. But I am amazed at the super quick turn around she has made and am VERY encouraged by what I have seen with this drug.

Please feel free to cross post this information and let your vets know to check it out on VIN (veterinary information network). I truly believe that this drug will change the treatment protocol for parvo and will significantly reduce the financial burden that treating this awful virus places on rescue. The vet that started all of this was experimenting with shelter puppies, using the bare minimum in supportive care and reported a 100% cure rate with tamiflu administration as opposed to a 25% cure rate with traditional
therapies. He also reported a 2-3 day recovery for most of the puppies
he treated. The trick is to start the tamiflu as early as possible, as it inhibits the virus's ability to travel outside the GI tract and into other parts of the body (ie. organ systems). Puppies who die from parvo generally die from dehydration and sepsis. Tamiflu keeps the virus inside the GI tract so generalized sepsis is not an issue.

VERY EXCITING STUFF!!!!

Anyway, Pass this along.

Erika Dillingham
Rescue Support Volunteer
Gwinnett County
Emergency Veterinary Technician
770-513-2987

[Jac]

Wow! Judi, this sounds fabulous!!! I am going to copy it and keep it handy...I pray to God that I never need it, but I am so glad to have an alternative to share with others! Are you going to post this on the breeder's forum? Hope so!
Thanks!

[Lucky Me]

There was some other stuff that I researched..... I think it was this....
Parvaid http://www.ambertech.com/products/parvaid-tm.html/
Here is an article on treating with Parvaid & colliodal Silver....
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/heal_parvo.html

I researched a few years back when a man came to look at one of my Minpin pups....
He started to tell me, while sitting in my living room, how he had just lost a pup to Parvo
I told him that I would not sell a pup to him and that he would have to wait a while to get another & it would have to have a couple shots under it's belt.
When he left, I got on the computer & discovered this stuff...even had it saved as too the closest driving place to get it!
Thank GOD none of my pups were affected!
I had the info saved, but my computer got infected REALLY bad last night. Some Trojans & Mal ware... hopefully I didn't lose my precious medical reference sites & material I had saved! From what has happened, I might have to clean it out and re-install my programs!! "WWaaaaaa"
I use Anti-virus, spybot, Crap Cleaner & Ad-aware. I have heard on other forums about picking things up from forums...when I fix things, I thing I am going to do my forum stuff from my daughter's Mac!
I am now stuck using her Mac when she is not home....

[Jac]

Thank for the links...

OT...there is a great web help for computers... called the Elder Geek. They have helped me when I thought I would need to wipe things out. They do it for free. Just be sure to post in the correct area and give them good info about your system.

They recommended SpyDoctor and Registry Mechanic (PC Tools) and I use them, running them several times a day. The registry mechanic cleans things that have taken hold of your registry...a bad thing for hackers to get to!

Our computer guy says to use AGV but now they are having malware that mimics them so I don't use it.

I would NEVER use McAfee or Norton...they are okay but whenever I have discontinued their service...coincidentally (I am SURE...not) I was infected with a serious virus and trojan!

SpyDoctor has a free program...but I bought their full service. It is worth it.

You can also use a program called UnHackMe (Elder Geek referral) and it works well too...it is free.

Good luck!

By the way, visiting the Zoo and the Breeder's froum always infect me...always. So I run my programs right away.

[sheamusmom]

[quote="Lucky Me"]Don't know how old this is, buy it was posted on a site I frequent a lot...
Perhaps something to keep on hand for the future?

"Tamiflu...the miracle drug used to treat Parvo"
When I took the first puppy to the overnight emergency vet, and the parvo test registered "very strongly positive", the vet got on the computer and checked the latest research data on tamiflu. According to her, the scientific evidence is not conclusive to suggest it makes a difference in the course of the parvo. It also isn't cheap. I believe a human dose pack of tamiflu is about $150. The leader of the All Breed rescue told me about a preparation called "parvaid". She said that if you catch the illness in the early stages it has helped her save a few pups. Of course that is anecdotal and not scientific evidence. Also, parvaid isn't sold by the vets, you have to purchase it over the internet. I tried to look it up, seems like it may be a form of probiotic.
Thanks for everyone's support.

[SamsonsMom]

How sad! I'm so glad you were there for the little guys. And how wonderful that 2 of them made it! That's just GREAT!!!

A good friend of mine had a situation similar. They had moved into a house, and didn't know that the previous tenant's dog had parvo right before the previous tenant moved. The backyard was infested. So unknowingly, my friend brought hom a 8 week old blonde lab. Did everything according to the book, and than the playful pup got horribly sick. Trip to the emergency vet confirmed parvo, and the pup had to be put down. It was horrible for them.

[4ever doodles]

Just want to talk about the miracle of Tamiflu. We are one of the breeders that allow families to visit their pups, after the first set of shots is given. We have strict guidelines families follow when visiting, and bleach everything as soon as they leave. A few weeks ago, 10 days after we had puppy pick ups, our little female started acting off. She just didn't want to play. She was alert, no temp, no gastro issues... just didnt want to play or eat. We took her to the vet, she tested positive for Parvo. He sent us home with the normal protocol, and warned us of the odds for this litter. Late that night, I found info on Tamiflu on the internet. It sounded like our only hope. Our little girl had started to decline. We took her immediately to an all night clinic that offered Tamiflu. I was told they did not know much about the treatment, but offered it. We started her on it. By the next morning the rest of the litter was off their feed. All were playing and acting normal, just not interested in food. I called my regular vet and got prescription for Tamiflu for the whole litter. By that night they were all eating normally. They never developed a symptom. The little female's numbers continues to decline, she was not getting well. The vet suggested putting her down. I just couldn't do it. She was still alert, just not doing well in any other way. I read an article that said to double the dose if no progress was being made. We did so. Within 24 hours this little girl was fully back to normal... ravenously hungry and wanting to play. I truly believe that the Tamiflu ( and multiple prayer lists!) saved these pups. The entire litter is healthy and happy. BTW, each of these pups had begun their shot series... and had already received two. So be careful... and remember Tamiflu. As for keeping it on hand... it has a short shelf life. So it can not be kept on hand. However, human pharmacies can fill the script. If anyone ever gets Parvo in the house, Tamiflu is worth a try. If your vet does not offer it ( two of mine did not) they can still write the script and should if you request it. It must be started very early to be effective. The earlier the better. It is expensive, but much much less than the $350 daily hospital fees, plus meds. Totally worth it...

[Lucky Me]

4ever doodles...
THANKYOU so much for sharing that story!!
Nice to know that there is hope...

[4ever doodles]

Anytime...my hope is that Tamiflu will someday make Parvo a much less horrific disease! Here in Fl it is just so prolific, and absolutely a breeder's worst nightmare.
If anyone ever needs it, I have a link to some Tamiflu research that states treatment,dosages etc...