Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

I know most people believe that if a dog gets parvo, he will die and his only chance is a vet. But that is not true. Several years ago I took a pup I had to the vet and was told he had parvo and they would keep him for a day or two and give him a IV to keep him hydrated, but chances of him living was 25% and it would cost me $300 or more. I could nor afford it so we brought him home and gave him Pepto-Bismol (generic), Pedialyte (yes what you give babies) and broth (I gave him chicken and beef broth). The vet gave me antibiotics. His name is BJ and he is a very healthy and active dog now. You just have to be willing to take time to truly care for your dog.

By Laurene from Chillicothe, Ohio

Answers:

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

Never give your dog human medication (including Pepto Bismol and other OTC meds) without first consulting with your vet about safety, dosage, etc. Some human OTC meds are toxic to dogs. (02/18/2008)

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

I had a friend who recently had her two golden lab pups from the same litter get parvo. I helped her take care of them. Both received the same meds and care. Both really had to be coaxed at first to drink any water and forcing them didn't seem to work. I was glad when one started to he drink water on his own. He was sick about 3 days before he started drinking water. Besides the meds from the vet, we then gave him chicken broth, finely cut chicken and rice. He gradually ate more and more of it. The other refused water and quickly became lethargic, and when he was taken back to the vet, the vet said he could do nothing for him. They lost the one pup, but were able to pull the other thru. It depends how sick the the pup gets.

Every puppy that is sick should be taken to a vet to see what he has and only if the vet thinks you can care for him at home, should he be nursed at home. Even then the outcome can't be known. You can lose the animal no matter how much love and care you give it.
(02/18/2008)

By Harriet Schipper

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

When my dog (a Rottweiler) got parvo (he was up on all his shots), we were unable to force feed him any liquids at all, so we did incur that hefty vet bill. He survived, but I believe the mitigating factor was that we caught it early, before he became too dehydrated. (02/19/2008)

By susan

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

I think you may just have been incredibly lucky. A dog of mine got parvo from the dog next door. Mine got taken to the vets and lovingly nursed but he still died. Next door's got left to fend for itself in the garden and it survived.

Actually, implying that people don't somehow care for their pets if they happen to die is insensitive to say the least.
(02/24/2008)

By Su Wilson

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

The best way to force feed a puppy is like what I've been doing for two week's with my 10 month old shepherd/lab puppy, is a medicine syringe that you can get from any drug store, i put the syringe into the bowl of pedialyte or water and suck it up in the syringe ,then put it into my pup's mouth a little at a time. My dog has made it through parvo, but could have heart problems because of the virus now. I hope this helps and good luck to you. (06/18/2008)

By bee37

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

Parvo is a disease of puppies, 18 months of age and younger, so older dogs will not get it, but if you have puppies under the age of 18 months, you would want to preventatively treat them with Parvaid - http://www.parvopuppy.com

Information about treating parvo successfully at home: http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/heal_parvo.html

For less than $50, Paraid (organic herbal formula) helped heal 5 of our puppies (after the vet killed one puppy and euthanized another) at home. We didn't lose one puppy and the worst one was 100% well within 24 hours of starting the Parvaid. So it saved our own puppies and us, since we didn't have $7200 the vet wanted to treat them for his 0% success rate with our first two puppies who got it.

There are retail stores who carry here: http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/retailers.html

(10/24/2008)

By Julie

Nursing A Dog Through Parvo

My 8 month old White German Shephard was diagnosed Parvo-positive a week ago. I have 3 other dogs in the house and the vet suggested I leave her at the vets. Friends of mine had done that twice and both dogs died. I brought her home and kept her hydrated with IV and after 2 days of not eating I tried chicken and rice 1st stage baby food which she ate the whole 6 oz jar in about 10 seconds. The main thing is to keep them hydrated and the IV was the best thing I could of done. I took the antibiotics and anti-nausea pills that too is important.

My opinion is the vets are over-charging for this care that can be done at home and with very little money. She ate boiled chicken and rice Saturday night and I made home made baby food from that and broth which she is now eating with a little of her own food mixed in. The one thing that worried me though is she didn't have a bowel movement until yesterday but she hadn't eaten anything solid for the whole week either. Last week I thought for sure she wasn't going to make it but now I am pretty positive she is coming out of this Parvo-nightmare. (07/13/2009)

By Lydia